The one and only naturally sweetened, 80-calorie, vodka cooler

KITCHENER, ON, March 18, 2013 /CNW/ - Brick Brewing Co. Limited (TSX: BRB) today announced the launch of "Seagram 80" in two great flavours of the season, blood orange and black cherry. "Seagram 80 is the one and only naturally sweetened, 80-calorie, vodka cooler in the Canadian market" declared Russell Tabata, Chief Technical Officer, Brick Brewing. "It's a clear, sparkling drink sweetened with all-natural Krisda Stevia. Seagram 80 has 4% alcohol, which is responsible for the relatively few calories in each serving. Eighty calories is about one-third of the calories of the leading cooler brand."

"Krisda Stevia is becoming increasingly popular in a number of food and beverage categories because it's an all-natural alternative to the artificial sweeteners found in many earlier generation low-calorie products" offered Sean Dennis, Director of Marketing. "The vodka cooler category is a summer favourite of many people in Ontario, especially women, and there really haven't been many low-calorie options available, and certainly none that were naturally sweetened. We're thrilled to bring an industry first to the Ontario market."

"We had great plans for the Seagram brand when we purchased it in March of 2011 and Seagram 80 complements the recent announcement of Seagram Wildberry, Classic Lemonade and Iced Lemon Tea malt-based brands at The Beer Store." offered George Croft, President and CEO of Brick Brewing. "Seagram 80 is a tremendous innovation, achieved in collaboration with the outstanding team at Group Krisda Stevia.  Seagram 80 will be sold exclusively at the LCBO" added Croft. "Seagram now offers a great family of subtly flavoured, all natural, vodka coolers, malt based coolers and ciders made with pure spring water."

About Brick Brewing
Brick is Ontario's largest Canadian-owned and Canadian-based publicly held brewery. The Company is a regional brewer of award-winning premium quality and value beers and is officially certified under British Retail Consortium (BRC) Global Standards for Food Safety, one of the highest and most internationally recognized standards for safe food production. Founded in 1984, Brick Brewing Co. was the first craft brewery to start up in Ontario, and is credited with pioneering the present day craft brewing renaissance in Canada. Brick has complemented its Waterloo brand premium craft beers with other popular brands such as Laker, Red Baron, Red Cap and Formosa Springs Draft.  In March 2011, Brick purchased the Canadian rights to the Seagram Coolers and now produces, sells, markets and distributes Seagram Coolers across Canada.  Brick trades on the TSX under the symbol BRB. Visit us at www.brickbeer.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
All statements in this press release that do not directly and exclusively relate to historical facts constitute forward-looking statements as of the date of this press release. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "intend", "anticipate", "seek", "plan", "believe" or "continue" or the negatives of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology. Although the Corporation believes that the expectations and assumptions reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements, which are not guarantees and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which may cause actual performance and financial results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only at the date of this press release and, except as required by applicable securities laws, the Corporation does not undertake to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future events or otherwise.

Image with caption: "Seagram 80 (CNW Group/Brick Brewing Co. Limited)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20130318_C5604_PHOTO_EN_24601.jpg

SOURCE: Brick Brewing Co. Limited

George Croft President and CEO at [phone]