One of Australia’s most iconic beer brands, Victoria Bitter (VB), has made what it calls one of its biggest launches of the past century, delivering a new twist on a classic, with the new VB Xtra (VX) going on sale this week.
The new range, delivered by independent strategic brand and design firm The Contenders, features a new red, white and black logo, along with the new slogan, ‘For a Hard Earned Night’.
VX comes in 250ml bottles, produced by glass bottle manufacturer Owens-Illinois (O-I). It has six per cent alcohol compared to 4.9 per cent in the classic VB, will be sold in four-packs of stubbies, and comes with a bolder and more intense taste than the classic range. The four-pack clusters are produced by Westrock, while Visy deals with the outer carton.
VB was first launched by Thomas Aitken at the Victoria Brewery in East Melbourne in 1854, and today is part of the Asahi Beverages family.
“The VX launch comes as VB enjoys a resurgence, after beer lovers reverted to trusted brands during Covid,” said Sarah Wilcox, brand director for VB.
“We’ve launched VX to give beer lovers a slightly bolder and more intense version of the great VB taste they’ve enjoyed for generations. It is brewed to be enjoyed with mates and to offer more choices of great-tasting beer for various occasions.
“Australian are increasingly moderating their alcohol consumption, however, higher-alcohol beers are increasingly popular in the craft segment, and we think there’s a market among traditional beer lovers who also want bolder and more intense flavours.
“We didn’t want to mess too much with the iconic VB recipe for the new VX. Beer lovers with long memories will remember we did that once before, and we definitely won’t be rushing to do it again. This time we are listening to our customers and giving them what they want.”
VX will be on sale at major bottle shops from this week and will retail for $16 for the four-pack, and around $60 for a slab of stubbies.
