Boulevard Brewing Co. (Kansas City, Missouri) has officially announced that several of its most popular Smokestack Series beers will get an upgrade from 4-packs to 6-packs in the coming weeks.

The good folks at Boulevard Brewing Co. recently conducted a quiet market test and discovered that many of their fans would prefer to purchase the brewery’s more established Smokestack Series offerings in 6-packs of 12 oz. bottles rather than the currently available 4-packs.  After running the numbers and talking it over with retailers, the brewery has agreed that the change just makes sense. The affected beers are as follows:

• The Calling IPA – “The Calling is an undeniable IPA we were driven to make. It’s our tribute to like-minded dreamers, adventurous spirits, and glass half-full optimists. It’s also our most heavily hopped beer ever, bursting forth with unmistakable tropical fruit and pine hop aromas and flavor supported with a slightly sweet malt character, tapering to a crisp, dry finish. Heed your call and enjoy.”  ABV – 8.5%  IBUs – 75
• Dark Truth Stout – “Throughout the ages, man has been fascinated by the quest for hidden knowledge, the search for the secret to transforming the elemental into the extraordinary, the simple into the sublime. Ladies and gentlemen, we present for your consideration this exotic, inky concoction, the almost magical creation of our modern day alchemists who have turned humble grains—barley, wheat, rye, and oats—into black, liquid gold. Layers of complex flavors slowly emerge from the glass: espresso, roasted fig, crème brulée. Belgian yeast provides a plum-like fruitiness, noble German hops reveal spicy, herbal notes, while the rich, velvety mouthfeel mellows to a dry, smoky finish.”  ABV – 9.7%  IBUs – 60
• The Sixth Glass Quadrupel Ale – “‘Do you know what dwells in a glass?’ asks Ole, in Hans Christian Andersen’s The Watchman of the Tower. Better known for stories such as The Little Mermaid, Andersen wrote this short, cautionary tale for a somewhat older audience. Our quadrupel ale, also meant for the mature connoisseur, is a deep and mysterious libation, dark auburn and full-bodied, its sweetness deceptive. As Ole describes the glasses in turn, their contents become more ominous until, in the sixth glass…”  ABV – 10.5%  IBUs – 22
• Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale – “When our brewers were experimenting with variations on a traditional Belgian-style farmhouse ale, the perfect combination of elements came together in fermenter number seven. You could call it fate, but they called it Tank 7, and so it is. Beginning with a big surge of fruity aromatics and grapefruit-hoppy notes, the flavor of this complex, straw-colored ale tapers off to a peppery, dry finish.”  ABV – 8.5%  IBUs – 38

“We tested the idea in a few markets and confirmed our suspicion that consumers enjoy getting two more bottles of their favorite Smokestack beers for what ends up being a lower price per bottle,” said Bobby Dykstra, Boulevard’s vice president of sales. “It makes sense for our retail partners as well, aligning our portfolio from both pricing and space management perspectives.”

6-packs of The Calling IPA, Dark Truth Stout, The Sixth Glass and Tank 7 will begin rolling out in October, and the brewery expects that these “Smokestack Series six-packs will generally carry the same retail price as four-packs of its year-round barrel-aged beers, Bourbon Barrel Quad and Whiskey Barrel Stout.”  Once released, you can expect to find these new 6-packs at craft beer establishments located in Alabama, Florida, Missouri and throughout the rest of Boulevard Brewing Co.’s distribution footprint.  Prost!