White Mountain Coolers

A product line created by the Stroh Brewery, White Mountain was the top selling brand of malternative beverage that was very popular in the mid-to-late 1980s. White Mountain was often called a wine cooler but was more accurately labeled a beer cooler by many as its base was an alcoholic malt beverage rather than wine. White Mountain Coolers were very sweet and came in strong fruit flavors such as Citrus, Orange, and Berry that obscured the taste of its alcoholic base. They were sold in 12 oz. bottles and with an alcohol content similar to that of beer (approximately 5% ABV), they were considered a popular alternative to that beverage, and were often targeted toward women and younger audiences.

Competitors to White Mountain included Gallo's Bartles and Jaymes wine coolers, Seagrams Coolers, Brown Forman's California Cooler, Sun Country Cooler Miller Brewing Company's Matilda Bay Coolers and Anheuser-Busch's Dewey Stevens coolers and malt based beverages like G.Hielmans Champale and Malt Duck. Wine Cooler sales started to fall sharply by the end of the decade, and White Mountain along with the entire industry virtually disappeared in the early 1990s. The emergence of Zima as the new malternative marked the death of White Mountain. Miller and Anheuser Busch exited the wine cooler market. California Cooler and Sun Country ceased production. Gallo and Seagrams switched their Cooler's to Malt based in the late 80's. Oddly Strohs switched White Mountain to a wine base shortly before discontinuing the product line. White Mountain was also available on draft(draught) and in 32 and 40 once bottles in select markets.

A renaissance in the malternative industry that began with Zima and continued through the late 1990s introducing brands such as Mike's Hard Lemonade and Smirnoff Ice has been marked by more clever advertising and crisper tasting products than the White Mountain Cooler. However, for many members of Generation X, White Mountain marks the genesis of beer-based beverages for people who did not like to drink beer.