By Bobby Tanzilo Senior Editor/Writer Published May 10, 2021 at 11:54 AM

It’s finally happening. Miller is launching a seltzer. But not in the way you might think.

No, there will not be a Miller brand seltzer at bars and local stores. Instead, this week Miller will launch a seltzer ... into space, on a 21-foot rocket from an airfield in Los Angeles.

“Miller makes beer for people who love beer,” said Sofia Colucci, VP of the Miller Family of Brands. “Other brands, including some of our siblings, make other things, too. That’s great. We launch beers, and we launch everything else into space.”

The "launch" will take place at 4 p.m. on Thursday, May 13, broadcast across the brand's social media channels.

According to a statement issued by the Milwaukee-born brewer, “At Miller we’re unapologetically beer, so no, we would never launch a seltzer. We’re beer’s beer. The launch is a major statement about what the Miller Family of Brands stands for: beer for people who love beer.

“The Miller portfolio is squarely focused on beer and the hundreds of millions of beer drinkers across America.”

Added Colucci, “For years, Miller has been an expert in brewing – from Lite to High Life to MGD – and we’ve never changed or compromised our love of great beer. Because we’re a beer. Not a seltzer. In case we haven’t made that clear yet.”

According to a video produced to announce the intergalactic malt beverage launch, “Which seltzer? Who cares? But I guarantee it’s not gonna be ours. We might launch it into the sun or into a black hole or into the mouth of an active volcano. We really haven’t fully sorted out all the logistics. New product launches can be, uh, tricky.

“See, we absolutely have no problem with launching a seltzer, just as long as we don’t have to brew it, or get anyone to drink it or perpetuate its existence in the physical world as we know it.”

Want to watch the launch? Sign up here.

Bobby Tanzilo Senior Editor/Writer

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.

He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.

With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.

He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.

In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.

He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.