Here's What Happened To Brewer's Cow Ice Cream After Shark Tank
Are beer and ice cream a match made in heaven or a food disaster? That's the question raised on a 2012 episode of "Shark Tank" featuring three friends-turned-entrepreneurs in search of sweet success for their business, Brewer's Cow Ice Cream. When the time came to meet the Sharks, buddies Steve Albert, Larry Blackwell, and Jason Conroy arrived on the scene with a buzz-worthy ice cream formula that they had perfected over 10 years.
In an interview with Connecticut's Morning Buzz, the guys at Brewer's Cow elaborated on their product's inception, describing the decade-long process of trial and error they endured to ensure their ice cream recipe filtered out the beer's bitter undertones. Instead, each flavor takes on the malty qualities of the type of beer it's infused with, some of which include Guinness, Ten Penny Ale, and Sam Adams.
Regardless of how perfectly delicious a product tastes, flavor alone won't be enough to impress the Sharks. Folks serious about their start-ups need to put in the work before appearing on the show so the gurus can see some evidence of success that might inspire them to strike up a deal. For this reason, Brewer's Cow Ice Cream had a rough time receiving backing after Albert, Blackwell, and Conroy made their pitch.
What happened to Brewer's Cow Ice Cream on Shark Tank?
Brewer's Cow Ice Cream's beer-infused treat maintains the integrity of the beer's original flavor while giving the ice cream a little kick. The three entrepreneurs asked the stoic panel on "Shark Tank" for $125,000 in exchange for a 15% stake in the company. An assistant dressed as a German barmaid gave each Shark some of the ice cream to sample. The episode's experts — Daymond John, Kevin O'Leary, Barbara Corcoran, Robert Herjavec, and Mark Cuban — liked the flavor, giving Brewer's Cow a hopeful start.
John dipped out immediately on account of his lactose intolerance, while Cuban enjoyed the ice cream so much that he continued eating it despite his own lactose intolerance. O'Leary, on the other hand, had Brewer's Cow Ice Cream's actual numbers on the brain and followed up with a rather blunt statement that he was "lack-of-sales intolerant."
Brewer's Cow Ice Cream sold $5,000 of product in its first year of selling to restaurants, totaling out to only about $400 in profit. Though the trio had an outstanding order with Whole Foods, they were unable to explain this arrangement's finer details, and the confusion pushed Corcoran into "no" territory. Cuban gave the business owners salient advice — license the product to a big beer company — before he dipped out, as well. O'Leary then threw the nail in the coffin, saying, "I think you're ice cream bozos."
Did Brewer's Cow find success after Shark Tank?
Judging by Brewer's Cow Ice Cream's lack of presence on socials, and without a website pushing their products or business goals, it appears the trio has abandoned their beer-infused venture. These days, it's hard to find much info about Brewer's Cow Ice Cream. The company's Facebook and Twitter accounts haven't been updated since around 2016. Though its LinkedIn page reports that it's still an active business, it went under in 2020 during the pandemic, and its former website domain is up for sale. Steve Albert is now listed as a Manager of Respiratory Services on LinkedIn — a far cry from ice cream entrepreneur.
Beer-infused ice cream as a concept, however, has now broken into the market. While Brewer's Cow seemingly couldn't find sustainable success after "Shark Tank," ice cream giants such as Ben & Jerry's have their own ale-based flavors. Even Yuengling's and Miller's have their own adults-only ice cream. Craft breweries have also adopted the beer-and-ice-cream combo with a twist — several have made beers flavored to taste like ice cream. Ice cream parlors and dessert artisans around America have since capitalized on this novel combo, such as Georgia's Frozen Pints, San Francisco's Slocombe Ice Cream, and many more.