You Will Drink Good BEER ... And It Will Be Delicious!

[Bammer]

Utah is probably the only enforcement state

[Bammer]

I had about 6 Rainiers at the tailgate today.

There Whiteclaw’ish seltzers in the cooler but I abstained.

[oasisfan35]

BeerFest this weekend with a little over 2500 tickets sold, going to be a long day with the last session running til 9:30.

[dad]

i do love the lactose IPAs. too bad i don't have more of this one. bought a single of it last night.

luckily, i have other bevs.

[tree_]

I hope you read that warning label at the bottom, dad

[dad]

it’s just a suggestion.

[washing machine]

Guys, those non-alcoholic IPAs that Athletic Brewing is putting out are really good. I've had NA craft in the past that always comes up short in the body, but this beer feels right.

[B]

I had one of these yesterday instead of a soda. Interesting. Guess it could sub for a beer if I was hanging with friends and couldn't drink.
It's just water, yeast, and hops, so it doesn't taste like a beer. I don't know what to tell you it tastes like.

[B]

So this is pretty fucked up and haha if you live in any of these places:

“Many states, such as Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia, still have laws on the books, dating back to the Prohibition era, that caps beer at 5% ABV.”

How’s that IPA Lite?

Yeah not true here either. I had an 11% the other night at dinner. Who the fuck did their research

Yeah, you're welcome. I worked my butt off in 2005 talking to Senators and shit to get that changed.

https://www.ourstate.com/pop-the-cap-north-carolina/

[oasisfan35]

I had one of these yesterday instead of a soda. Interesting. Guess it could sub for a beer if I was hanging with friends and couldn't drink.
It's just water, yeast, and hops, so it doesn't taste like a beer. I don't know what to tell you it tastes like.

The brewer's yeast is really only there for the 'idea' of nutritional value and it gives the drink a hint of something else, not really body but some mild heft over water and a semblence of balance. When I was going through recipes at home I felt it definitely aided the end result.

Recently did a bigger batch of essentially the same thing, less the other 'natural flavors' of Lags' (whatever those are), with solely Mosaic hops and it came out fantastic. Have it on draft at the brewery as a non-alc alternative.

Lags' other non-alc IPA offering, which is another sub-point-five-percenter is not nearly as refreshing and suffers from what most non-alc beers do in the balance realm really regardless of how they're pulling the ABV down. A huge step up from the Odouls, Kaliber, etc. that we've had for years but still severely lacking.

Not a fan of Athletic's non-alc brews personally and their seltzers are actually horrible.

[washing machine]

The interesting thing about Athletic's beers for me is their process.

https://www.fastcompany.com/90404650/in ... iting-beer

Traditionally, there are two methods to make nonalcoholic beer: vacuum distillation and reverse osmosis. In layman terms, you can either cook off the alcohol in beer after it’s brewed, or you can filter the alcohol out. Both require recarbonation. Early on, Athletic decided neither of these approaches would work. “We think all the traditional methods of brewing nonalcoholic beer don’t do the ingredients justice,” says Shufelt.

It took Shufelt and Walker two years of research and a year of trial-and-error home brewing to develop an entirely new process. Since it’s patent-pending, Shufelt won’t give away too many details, but he claims to have replaced the industrial-strength de-alcoholizing equipment with “a mosaic of different natural elements that we’ve intertwined.” He calls this all-natural approach totally unique: “Everyone looks for a single step answer. It’s really like 12 to 15 changes versus traditional brewing. We only use traditional beer ingredients, water, hops, yeast, and barley, and we just control natural variables at different times.”

Drinking their hazy in a glass, I actually get lacing. Cool to think that someone's figured out a way to do this, which to me, feels like beer brewed intentionally the wrong way. The story of Athletic Brewing's growth as well as the new fad of NA beers hitting the mainstream market is endlessly fascinating.

[EJ]

The interesting thing about Athletic's beers for me is their process.

https://www.fastcompany.com/90404650/in ... iting-beer

Traditionally, there are two methods to make nonalcoholic beer: vacuum distillation and reverse osmosis. In layman terms, you can either cook off the alcohol in beer after it’s brewed, or you can filter the alcohol out. Both require recarbonation. Early on, Athletic decided neither of these approaches would work. “We think all the traditional methods of brewing nonalcoholic beer don’t do the ingredients justice,” says Shufelt.

It took Shufelt and Walker two years of research and a year of trial-and-error home brewing to develop an entirely new process. Since it’s patent-pending, Shufelt won’t give away too many details, but he claims to have replaced the industrial-strength de-alcoholizing equipment with “a mosaic of different natural elements that we’ve intertwined.” He calls this all-natural approach totally unique: “Everyone looks for a single step answer. It’s really like 12 to 15 changes versus traditional brewing. We only use traditional beer ingredients, water, hops, yeast, and barley, and we just control natural variables at different times.”

Drinking their hazy in a glass, I actually get lacing. Cool to think that someone's figured out a way to do this, which to me, feels like beer brewed intentionally the wrong way. The story of Athletic Brewing's growth as well as the new fad of NA beers hitting the mainstream market is endlessly fascinating.

I've bought these recently as I'm trying to cut back my overall beer consumption: both the Free Wave (hazy) and the Run Wild (reg IPA). Enjoyed both quite a bit and far more than any other NA beer I've had. Definitely helps scratch that beer itch. Just wish they were priced a bit lower.

[washing machine]

Yeah, same here. It'd be great if their website had bulk pricing or something. The prices I see don't seem to be any different than supermarket prices.

[oasisfan35]

The interesting thing about Athletic's beers for me is their process.

https://www.fastcompany.com/90404650/in ... iting-beer

Traditionally, there are two methods to make nonalcoholic beer: vacuum distillation and reverse osmosis. In layman terms, you can either cook off the alcohol in beer after it’s brewed, or you can filter the alcohol out. Both require recarbonation. Early on, Athletic decided neither of these approaches would work. “We think all the traditional methods of brewing nonalcoholic beer don’t do the ingredients justice,” says Shufelt.

It took Shufelt and Walker two years of research and a year of trial-and-error home brewing to develop an entirely new process. Since it’s patent-pending, Shufelt won’t give away too many details, but he claims to have replaced the industrial-strength de-alcoholizing equipment with “a mosaic of different natural elements that we’ve intertwined.” He calls this all-natural approach totally unique: “Everyone looks for a single step answer. It’s really like 12 to 15 changes versus traditional brewing. We only use traditional beer ingredients, water, hops, yeast, and barley, and we just control natural variables at different times.”

Drinking their hazy in a glass, I actually get lacing. Cool to think that someone's figured out a way to do this, which to me, feels like beer brewed intentionally the wrong way. The story of Athletic Brewing's growth as well as the new fad of NA beers hitting the mainstream market is endlessly fascinating.

An additional method is through the yeast used for fermentation. The cultivation of various strains around the world has really been prolific, science gonna science though it is also something that can be patented so...

The mention of recarbonation is pretty superfluous there as practically any brewery under a very large regional is going to force carbonate, reclamation systems are bonkers and only turns a true profit with some pretty high volume and the equipment to utilize it. I'd love for the tech to get to a smaller scale but it isn't there as far as I know, I do have to make it out to Grey Sail again and see how that has been going.

Athletic has definitely been an interesting company to watch. When I first got word of them I immediately thought of other non-alc options and said "really?" I ended up selling them some equipment very early on and had only kept a cursory eye until the funding rounds started really making waves in the industry and non-alc entered more business conversations.

[epilogue]

Been drinking a lot of Clown Shoes beers this past week or so. Really into their stuff right now. The Storyteller
Imperial Stout aged in WhistlePig Rye barrels is especially wonderful.

[oasisfan35]

Been drinking a lot of Clown Shoes beers this past week or so. Really into their stuff right now. The Storyteller
Imperial Stout aged in WhistlePig Rye barrels is especially wonderful.

Blast from the past with CS, don't see much of their stuff in CT surprisingly but would definitely pick up Hoppy Feet if it was still brewed. I also need to get to Harpoon for a tour.

I got some beer from Belgium the other day which went straight to the cellar but immediately had a hankerin' for a Duvel... just plain old Duvel and my stars is it still a perfect beer.

[B]

Here's my list from the Voracious and Rare Beer Fest in Wilmington, NC.

1. Broomtail - Intricacy
2. Flytrap - Blueberry Gose with Coffee
3. Mother Earth - Tequila Aged Silent Night
4. Fullsteam - Ava Red Wine Barrel Saison
5. Tobacco Wood - The Moose
6. Panacea - Strawberry Rhubarb Kettle Sour
7. Firestone Walker - Cherry Barrel Blossom
8. Highland - Bon Bon Stout with Earl Gray
9. Munkle - Rum Barrel Upstrike
10. Wilmington - Demagorgan
11. Wooden Robot - Botbier
12. Mad Mole - Blueberry Pentinent
13. Wicked Weed - Dark Arts
14. Old Mecklenburg - Bourbon Alt
15. Sycamore - Double IPA
16. Westbrook - Pecan Cookie Stout
17. Bill's Brewery - P.O.G.
18. Bhavana - Cellar Door #3
19. Bhramari - Nightward Nimbus
20. Bhramari - Arcane Princess
21. Panacea - Hard Kombucha
22. Casatia Stout
23. 1718 Pieces of Eight
24. Watermark - Shorebreaker
25. Salty Turtle - Blackbeard's Gold

18 and on is pretty hard for me to read.

[oasisfan35]

7. Firestone Walker - Cherry Barrel Blossom

This one sounds tremendous. With their anniversary just released it is a very painful reminder that FW pulled distro out of CT.

[B]

7. Firestone Walker - Cherry Barrel Blossom

This one sounds tremendous. With their anniversary just released it is a very painful reminder that FW pulled distro out of CT.

The tequila aged stout and The Moose stand out. The lower list is a bit blurry. That was a brutal festival.

[oasisfan35]

7. Firestone Walker - Cherry Barrel Blossom

This one sounds tremendous. With their anniversary just released it is a very painful reminder that FW pulled distro out of CT.

The tequila aged stout and The Moose stand out. The lower list is a bit blurry. That was a brutal festival.

I'd imagine it to be a bit of a palate destroyer, Extreme Beer Fest in Boston was definitely like that.
I'd like to get out to GABF again some day, that was one of the best run events I've ever been to or involved with and it's size really made you have a valid plan of attack.
We have some barrel-aged selections getting released over the month, looking forward to those.