Nonalcoholic beer's bad reputation shifts as craft brewers join a booming trend

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Until recently it's been particularly challenging for avid beer geeks to find nonalcoholic alternatives that satisfy their quest for interesting flavors. But more craft brewers — many who've been skeptics — are brewing tasty nonalcoholic beers.

Notch Brewing owner and brewer Chris Lohring pours a nonalcoholic version of their New England IPA into a glass at the taproom at the Speedway in Brighton.

“Nonalcoholic beer has been the dusty bottles in supermarket markets next to the mixers in some aisle you never go down,” Chris Lohring said, “and they taste like light lager that has been cooked on a stove for 10 days.”“There was probably the sense of that's not real beer, what am I doing?” he remembers thinking. “I'm a brewer, I make beer, I make alcohol.”

Brewers use different methods to take the alcohol out of beer. There's arrested fermentation, where they stop the yeast before the booze is created. Boiling it off is another option. Lohring is relying on membrane filtration. He said his peers have been playing a game of “nonalcoholic bingo” to find what works best for them., a nonalcoholic brand that's exploded onto the craft scene.According to the Brewers Association, Athletic Brewing Company's production increased 400% in 2020.

There are a plethora of reasons why people are turning to nonalcoholic beverages. Maybe they have health concerns. They could be designated drivers. Maybe they just don't want to feel crummy the next day at work. Infante added consumers these days are more interested in things that are better for their bodies.

“When you stop drinking, you feel like you have to explain yourself — which is really strange,” McKeehan said. “People feel like they need to ask you why you stopped, or they automatically assume there was an issue, there was a problem.” Even so, McKeehan's inner beek geek has yearned for the ritual of visiting and supporting her local brewery. She recalled taking that first sip of Notch's new nonalcoholic Pilsner.

 

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