Last year, during Air Max Day 2023, sneaker enthusiast Craig Stroud introduced the ALE MAX 1 - a craft beer with a design inspired by the Air Max 1. The ALE MAX 1 was a big success and even caught the eye of Complex. This year, Stroud partnered up with two breweries to release two versions of his beer, with big plans for the next couple of years.
In an exclusive Sneakerjagers interview, Stroud tells how his ideas came to life.
Craig Stroud
After working for about 25 years as a marketer alongside brands such as McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Nike, and many more, Craig Stroud, had an idea to create a new experience focusing on sneakers and craft beer, more specifically the Air Max 1. On March 26th of last year, on Air Max Day, the ALE MAX 1 (@alemax.official) was launched.
“Creating the ALE MAX 1 started as a passion, combining the two things I love”, Stroud, a Detroit native, starts to tell. “In Atlanta, where I’ve lived for over 12 years, there’s a thriving craft beer scene. Everything you see or taste here is made locally. It’s a vibrant culture, just like the sneaker culture.”
Creating the ALE MAX 1
Let’s set the scene: it’s the year 2021, coronavirus has taken over the world and everybody is sitting inside their houses. “We couldn’t go outside, but on Air Max Day, we still would show our sneakers on social media”, Stroud said. A year later, this luckily changed. “On Air Max Day 2022, I invited some of my friends to a brewery to hang out and have a beer. It was the perfect blend of two cultures.”
Stroud proudly presents a picture from this day, showing all his friends wearing Air Max’s and having a beer in their hands. “The brewery is a real nice place to come together during these events”, Stroud says. When the pandemic flew over, a lot of things were happening again, but something was missing, that being the events where people could learn about the culture “I saw a gap that could be bridged with the ALE MAX 1.”
Air Max Day 2023
The idea for the ALE MAX 1 happened quite spontaneously. “Just a few weeks before Air Max Day 2023, I developed a plan for a beer with launch experience that would rival some of the most hyped local sneaker launches”, Stroud says. “After quickly sharing the concept with a few friends and seeing their excitement, I said let’s do it, let’s get it out to the masses. We did just that” - Stroud.
Stroud met up with a famed beer ambassador and one of the best brewers in Atlanta, who ultimately were Air Max 1 enthusiasts as well. “This was a bit of a full-circle moment for us, seeing a group of well-respected guys from different backgrounds all in Air Max’s talking about craft beer.” The group quickly started creating a beer, inspired by Tinker Hatfield’s Air Max 1 design.
Just in time for Air Max Day, the ALE MAX 1 launched in Atlanta. The beer was sold alongside a capsule collection of t-shirts, posters, and postcards commemorating the inaugural event. Celebrating the 30 years of culture, style, and design innovation of the Air Max 1 - one of the most iconic sneakers in history. An experience filled, with music, sneakers, and good beer.
It’s a tale of two tales
With the ALE MAX 1, Stroud wanted to bring the sneaker and craft beer cultures together. The two cultures that have a lot more in common than you’d probably think. “There are quite a few parallels between sneakers and craft beer”, Stroud says.
Here, he refers to the sneaker scene back in his days: “When I was younger, kids used to camp in front of the stores just to get that sneaker. That’s the same with beer, people are lining up for limited beer bottles or collaborations as well. Sneaker enthusiasts go to Sneaker Con, craft beer lovers go to beer festivals, you see?”
Stroud’s passion for sneakers goes way back. He especially has a big love for the Air Max 1 and the Air Jordan 1. Picking just one is impossible, he says while grinning: “They’re like siblings to me, I love them both, I just treat them differently.” Even though the sneaker scene has changed quite a lot over the last few years, one thing remained the same: the community. Something he wanted to embrace with the Air Max 1-inspired beer.
Cultural phenomenon
Stroud: “The fun thing about Air Max 1, is everybody has a pair. My kids are walking around in Air Max 1’s, but hell, even my father owns a pair. That is the fun thing about sneakers; they transcend age. Sneakers are a part of a cultural phenomenon. Something that goes on for generations.”
It’s the same with craft beer, Craig explains: “Grabbing a beer with your son or father is something cultural as well.” Even though beer is (obviously) age-related, it’s also something that has been around for ages. From drinking your first beer when you just turned 18 years old, to brewing your beer at 40 years old: beer is for (almost) all ages.
2024
Stroud’s first ALE MAX 1 launch was a big success. “Our work got covered by Complex, which was a great moment for us. This showed us that we could go even bigger next year.” And that’s exactly what Stroud is doing leading up to this Air Max Day. The team is doing two events, one in Atlanta with Monday Night Brewing, and one in Nashville, Tennessee with Bearded Iris, two of the most respected breweries in the region.
The focus lies on two OG colorways of the Air Max 1: the ‘Fire Red’ and ‘Royal Blue’. Both designs have a vintage look, hinting at the history of the OG colorways. The ‘release’ of the ALE MAX 1 will take place on two different days, the 22nd and 23rd, at the two breweries mentioned before.
Stroud: “We’re doing a limited release, with both breweries having custom packages that are exclusively sold at the brewery. Just like collaborations between sneaker brands and their partners, where the sneaker is also exclusively available at that place.”
Future ideas
Even though the second launch of the ALE MAX 1 still has to take place, Stroud already had big ambitions for the next years. “In the future, we want to do more events in different regions of the United States. To explore each state in America with its breweries and sneaker shops”, Stroud says. There are also plans to roll out to the United Kingdom, and even the Netherlands in the next three years.
Looking at the Air Max series, you could go crazy big, picking another Air Max silhouette out of Nike’s archive each year. For now, Stroud decided to stick to the Air Max design to establish the brand and its design language.
“I’m not sure exactly what ALE MAX is going to look like in the next five years, but I am looking forward to seeing where this goes”, Stroud says. “The sneaker culture can differ so much per region, I think it’s fun to search that out.”