{"id":26129,"date":"2021-07-20T01:13:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-20T01:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=26129"},"modified":"2021-07-21T01:34:18","modified_gmt":"2021-07-21T01:34:18","slug":"for-some-craft-beer-drinkers-less-can-mean-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/for-some-craft-beer-drinkers-less-can-mean-more\/","title":{"rendered":"For some craft beer drinkers, less can mean more"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Colleen C. Myles<\/a>, Texas State University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My prepandemic summers were always packed with travel \u2013 trips to Europe for work and play, and, most recently, a road trip across the American West. At the end of a sweltering day of activities, I\u2019d routinely wind down with some social drinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, though, I started to notice a shift. Beer lists had grown to include more and more low-alcohol options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether I was in Braunschweig, Germany, a suburb of Salt Lake City, or at home in Central Texas, I found myself no longer forced to choose between the likes of Stella Artois or Miller Lite if I wanted something that wouldn\u2019t put me under the table. Now I could expect to find a bevy of local or national options with an alcohol by volume, or ABV, in the 4% to 5% range \u2013 below the 5.9% average of a craft beer and well below the 7% India pale ales that had been flooding the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I even started seeing more nonalcoholic beers like Heineken 0.0<\/a>, which was first released in Europe in 2017 and then in the U.S. in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seemed to me that low- and no-alcohol beers were becoming much more popular, but I wasn\u2019t sure. So like a good scholar, I decided to look to the data to find an answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a recent study<\/a> I conducted with my colleagues at Texas State University<\/a>, we looked at industry literature and social media mentions, popular media articles and changes to alcohol regulations. We found that there is, in fact, a growing interest in consuming \u2013 and improved technology for producing \u2013 beer with less alcohol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rise of big \u2018small\u2019 beer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Beer has a complicated history in the U.S. Prior to the industry consolation that is the contemporary norm, small, local breweries dotted the country. Prohibition devastated the industry<\/a>, but, when it was repealed in 1933, there was a period of rebirth<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although brewing and the consumption of alcohol did not completely stop<\/a> during Prohibition, overall consumption was drastically reduced. Any drinking that did take place was driven behind closed doors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the repeal of Prohibition returned alcoholic beverages to the public arena. As alcohol restrictions and regulations were loosened or removed altogether, the volume of production rose rapidly<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the course of the 20th century, technological innovations<\/a> \u2013 ranging from improvements to the pasteurization process, to better transportation infrastructure, to advancements in packaging engineering \u2013 allowed breweries to scale up their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was during this period that American brewers like Budweiser uncovered an untapped market for light-colored, low-ABV beer<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To this day, the U.S. is known for its bland macro brews<\/a>: Budweiser, Miller and Coors. But despite that long history \u2013 or perhaps because of it \u2013 the country\u2019s craft beer industry<\/a> has exploded over the past couple of decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1983, there were 14 craft brewers in the U.S.<\/a> In 2000, the Brewers Association<\/a> counted 1,566 craft breweries. By 2020, the number had swelled to 8,884.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What brewers have dubbed the \u201ccraft beer revolution<\/a>\u201d is characterized by its sophistication and specialization; craft brewers have traditionally produced a dizzying array of brands and styles, moving the market<\/a> toward \u201cbigger\u201d \u2013 meaning bolder, stronger \u2013 brews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This has led to a paradox. Large-scale producers became known for brewing \u201csmall\u201d \u2013 low in alcohol and, ostensibly, low in flavor \u2013 beer. Meanwhile, smaller breweries became known for making \u201cbig\u201d \u2013 more flavorful, higher in alcohol \u2013 beers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Changing times, changing tastes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While among most beer aficionados, heavy, high-alcohol beer is still popular, demand for lower-alcohol or nonalcoholic options is rising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Brewers Association highlights a shift toward \u201cmindful drinking,\u201d indicating that consumers are increasingly keeping an eye on the carbohydrate, gluten or alcohol content of their drink of choice. In fact, two-thirds of drinkers<\/a> say they take into account one or more of these attributes when drinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, more Americans are \u201csober curious<\/a>,\u201d insofar as they are willing to take a short break from drinking or choose to abstain from alcohol altogether. These individual choices are part of an overarching social shift making, as NPR put it, \u201cteetotaling trendy<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s long been the cultural belief that only people recovering from alcoholism drink nonalcoholic beer. In our study, though, we found that people were increasingly drawn to nonalcoholic beers for a number of reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Someone may be allergic or intolerant to alcohol, taking a medicine that contraindicates alcohol consumption, or have religious or personal preferences that tend toward abstention. Others want to retain the ability to be responsive or responsible for later activities, like serving as a designated driver, operating heavy machinery or being \u201con-call\u201d for work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making lower-alcohol beer more palatable<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Low-alcohol beer in the U.S. long has suffered from an image problem \u2013 namely, the perception that low- and no-alcohol brews taste bad. (And, let\u2019s be honest, many do.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"An
Budweiser has pulled off what some might call an act of wizardry: a low-alcohol beer produced in huge volumes with a relatively inoffensive taste. Jim Heimann Collection via Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s because the brewing process can be especially complicated<\/a> for low- or no-alcohol ferments, which has made it difficult to brew high-quality, low-alcohol beer that tastes good. Some even say<\/a> that Budweiser isn\u2019t given nearly enough credit for brewing a consistent, relatively palatable, low-alcohol product at such a big scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in recent years, several studies<\/a> have been dedicated<\/a> to improving the production protocols and flavor of low-alcohol beer. Although brewing is an ancient art<\/a>, it has also shown impressive adaptability<\/a> as times and technology have changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The state of the art<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Combine the better taste with low-alcohol beer\u2019s real or perceived health benefits, and there\u2019s a real niche developing<\/a> for the style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That doesn\u2019t mean standard-alcohol \u2013 and even high-alcohol \u2013 beers are going anywhere anytime soon. Among craft brewers and craft drinkers, IPAs remain the most prominent beer style by far<\/a>: Over 2,000 brands make and sell them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet the craft brewing industry is increasingly aware of these shifts in drinker preferences and the social benefits of moderating alcohol intake<\/a>. Recent trends toward appreciating beer with no or low alcohol make space for moderate or nondrinkers to participate<\/a> in the craft beer movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Six-packs
Lagunitas\u2019 DayTime IPA \u2013 which has 4% ABV \u2013 is part of a shift among smaller brewers to offer something for everyone. Scott Olson\/Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Now, thanks to the work of food and fermentation scientists, the creativity of brewers and the willingness of consumers to keep experimenting, the list of options that have lower-than-average alcohol and that are actually tasty is growing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

German beer giant Beck\u2019s nonalcoholic lager and Athletic Brewing\u2019s Run Wild nonalcoholic IPA<\/a> are just two examples of how breweries large and small are trying to tap into the nonalcoholic beer market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Over 100,000 readers rely on The Conversation\u2019s newsletter to understand the world.<\/em> Sign up today<\/a>.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, most craft brewers now offer some kind of \u201csession beer<\/a>\u201d \u2013 so called because, thanks to their lower alcohol content, they\u2019re suitable for longer drinking sessions. Sales of session IPAs, for instance, increased 199% in 2015<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even beyond session IPAs, lower-alcohol brews across styles \u2013 gose, Helles lager, K\u00f6lsch, saison, and pilsner \u2013 are increasingly visible, available and popular<\/a> in both pint and<\/a> print<\/a>, which is just another way of saying that, now more than ever, you can readily find a low-alcohol or nonalcoholic brew in your glass or on your screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colleen C. Myles<\/a>, Associate Professor of Geography, Texas State University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Colleen C. Myles, Texas State University My prepandemic summers were always packed with travel \u2013 trips to Europe for work and play, and, most recently, a road trip across the American West. At the end of a sweltering day of activities, I\u2019d routinely wind down with some social drinking. In recent years, though, I started […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":26130,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[293,8025],"tags":[165,3601,631,635,638,634,3180],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26129"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26129"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26135,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26129\/revisions\/26135"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}