Anheuser-Busch Announces Plans to Introduce "Natty IPA" to College Markets

In the beginning, there was nothing. Then, Anheuser-Busch created Natural Light in 1977. More than a decade later came Natural Ice, a higher ABV ice beer introduced in 1995. In 2012 came the infamous Natty Daddy, a malt liquor to supplement the already-great offerings of the Natural brand. Now, a fourth member of the family is born.

Anheuser-Busch has long been the champion of the American college student, producing beers both cheap and generally palatable. Capitalizing on a clearly underserved niche on college campuses, the company has announced plans to bring a Natural-branded IPA into production. 

"We're proud to unveil the Natty IPA, and we're confident that consumers are going to love it," Anheuser-Busch spokesman Hop Barlman told reporters at a press conference this morning. "It has all your favorite aspects of the Natural brand with a more grown-up, complex flavor."

Like other Natural-brand products, the Natty IPA will be suspiciously cheap and marketed towards young adults. Breaking from tradition, though, is the flavor profile of the Natty IPA. "It's going to taste real sour," Barlman assured the press. "It's going to taste truly terrible, which is what people like to see in an IPA. Where previous Natural products are known for being relatively unobtrusive in flavor, the Natty IPA is changing things up."

Market researchers for Anheuser-Busch say that they saw an excellent opportunity to expand into the market of juniors and seniors in college who are moving away from only drinking pale lagers, but do not have the money to afford top-shelf IPAs. "These guys are looking for a beer that tastes awful and is a chore to drink, a beer that makes them feel like adults," said Mark Weatt, head of the company's New Product Development department. "Natty IPA is right up their alley because it says 'IPA' on the bottle and tastes bad, but won't empty their wallets."

"Our research told us that consumers would respond favorably to a drink that brought together the economy and accessibility of Natural products with the uncomfortable, ego-inflating experience of 'enjoying' an IPA," Barlman explained to us in a telephone interview early this afternoon. "A product like this is a real no-brainer," he continued, "and I'm proud that the Natural brand is still synonymous with innovation."

You shouldn't expect to see Natty IPA in beer pong games or at darties anytime soon, but you can be sure that any affiliated upperclassmen who invites you to "have a beer upstairs" will be serving ice cold Natty IPAs all night.