By Julie Lawrence Special to OnMilwaukee.com Published Dec 24, 2008 at 9:55 AM

If you're a Sparks fan, your days of fun-filled caffeine-fueled bar time buzzes are quickly coming to a close.

MillerCoors, producer of the highly caffeinated alcohol beverage, recently announced its voluntary plan to reformulate the beverage to remove caffeine, taurine, guarana and ginseng.

You might want to consider stocking up early for New Year's Eve and for the new year, as the originally formulated drink will be completely phased out by Saturday, Jan. 10.

Anheuser-Busch InBev also recently reformulated its Tilt brand to remove caffeine and other ingredients. This trend comes from growing health concerns pushed by attorneys general, despite the drink's federal approval.

"As a responsible company, we are always willing to listen to societal partners and consider changes to our business to reinforce our commitment to alcohol responsibility," said Tom Long, president and chief commercial officer of MillerCoors.

"These changes will allow MillerCoors to continue to market and sell Sparks to legal drinking age consumers."

So yeah, MillerCoors will continue the Sparks franchise, but it'll never again be the drink that keeps you up 'til dawn. That's probably a good thing.

Julie Lawrence Special to OnMilwaukee.com

OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.

As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”