SHNACK Gets a Bigger Playground
What exactly is a SHNACK?
That question has gotten a little harder to answer lately.
And we think that's kind of what a SHNACK is actually.
SHNACK has been part of TailGate for years (since 2020!) as a home for some of the weirdest beers we make. Heavily fruited sours, dessert-inspired cobbler beers, a couple of pastry beers and whatever else our brewery team could dream up have all lived under the name.
This year, we’re opening that definition up even further.
SHNACK is our playground.
If a beer reminds us of a favorite dessert, piece of candy, a soda, snack or completely ridiculous flavor, there’s a pretty good chance we’re going to ask whether it should become a SHNACK.
Four SHNACKs. One Release Day.
We’re putting that idea on full display today with four SHNACK releases dropping at once.
SHNACK: TailGate Blast is back after disappearing the first time around faster than we expected. It's colorful, nostalgic and tastes suspiciously like a certain favorite soda.
SHNACK: Root Beer Float debuts with all the creamy, soda-fountain & creamy inspiration its name suggests. What makes it even cooler is it’s completely Gluten Free & Lactose Free! Pure Magic.
SHNACK: Grapefruit Glitter Shandy brings bright citrus, an easy-drinking body and just enough weirdness (glitter) to earn the SHNACK name.
And SHNACK: PB&J brings back a longtime TailGate favorite with fresh artwork and the same ridiculous inspiration and gluten free!
Four completely different beers.
All SHNACKs.
That's sort of the point.
Serious Beer. Not-So-Serious Ideas.
We take making great beer seriously. That doesn’t mean every beer has to take itself seriously. TailGate has brewed thousands of different recipes over the years, and some of our favorite releases have started with somebody throwing out an idea that sounded a little ridiculous at first. Can we make a beer taste like this? Should we put that in a beer? Can we actually pull this off? SHNACK is where we get to find out.
The series started with heavily fruited beers, but we wanted to give it a much bigger playground. You’ll still see plenty of fruit, but you’ll also see releases inspired by soda, candy, desserts, nostalgic flavors, collaborations and probably a few things that don’t fit neatly into any category. The ideas can get weird. The standard doesn’t.
SHNACK also gives us room to keep exploring something we’re hearing more and more from our guests: better gluten-free options. Moving forward, every monthly release day will include at least one new gluten-free SHNACK alongside the rest of the lineup. Same approach, just more ways for people to be part of it.
If the idea sounds fun, the beer tastes great and our team is excited to make it, it belongs in the conversation. That’s SHNACK. And we’ve got plenty more coming.
