Steve Albert, Larry Blackwell and Jason Conroy brought Brewer’s Cow Ice Cream to the Tank. Steve had been creating unique premium ice cream recipes for years and found a way to add beer flavoring to the ice cream. A woman dressed as a German barmaid handed out samples, and the sharks were really impressed, except for Daymond who didn’t touch his sample. He’s lactose intolerant and, therefore, not interested in the ice cream business. Mark shared that he also is lactose intolerant but didn’t care—the ice cream was that good. He didn’t invest but advised them to try to license the ice cream to a big beer company. Kevin passed because he is “lack-of-sales intolerant.” In one year, the trio only grossed $5,000. Larry added that they had an outstanding order from Whole Foods, but got tripped up when the sharks asked for more details. All the sharks were out.
The trio continued on their own. At first, they were active on all social media channels with frequent posts telling of sales growth and media attention. Their website was live and the product inventory was frequently updated. In 2014, they sent out a tweet that they needed an investor to help fulfill their distribution and production needs. Shortly after that, the website went down, and there were no more social media posts. In 2015, there were brief signs of life, but the activity did not last long. Last we heard is that they are laying low as they re-structure their business model.
There are now many companies that make beer ice cream, both boutique-type breweries and big companies, such as Yuengling and the ice cream giant Ben & Jerry’s.
Brewer’s Cow is no longer in business.
