Walgreen's Gets Into Private Label Brew Biz
CHICAGO (CBS) -- More than a decade after it got out of the alcohol-selling business, drug store giant Walgreen's has cracked open its own private-label beer.
Big Flats 1901 costs about $3 a six pack and is available in about 4,600 stores, the Chicago Tribune reported. Deerfield-based Walgreen's stopped selling alcohol in the 1990s and announced plans to begin selling it again about 18 months ago.
"In this tough economy, consumers are looking for value" a Walgreen's spokesman told the Tribune.
Big Flats is distributed by Novato, Calif.-based Winery Exchange.
On its website, Winery Exchange says Big Flats is "brewed in upstate New York. Big Flats 1901 Premium American Lager pays homage to the flat boats that traveled the area's rivers delivering goods to early settlers."
Reviews of Big Flats on rateabeer.com are less then stellar, but drinkers do give it high marks for value.
"To be honest, I wish cheap beer was this good in Canada," one reviewer wrote. "We pay twice as much for something that tastes like hooker spit."
"You cant go wrong if you just want some easy drinking," wrote another.
