Are Lower-Alcohol Beers The Next Big Shift In Beer?
For years, craft beer seemed to operate under a pretty simple idea: bigger could be better. Bigger hop aroma. Bigger flavor. Bigger stouts. Bigger IPAs. And, quite often, bigger alcohol numbers. But one of the more interesting beer trends developing right now is moving in the opposite direction. Breweries are beginning to explore flavorful beers around 2.5% to 3.5% ABV — a space that sits somewhere between traditional-strength beer and the growing non-alcoholic category. Recent examples include Sierra Nevada 's Go-Two IPA at 2.8% ABV, while other breweries have been experimenting in a similar “mid-strength” range. direction. That raises a question worth watching: are beer drinkers looking for less alcohol without giving up beer? THE MODERATION STORY IS GETTING MORE COMPLICATED For a while, it was easy to look at the growth of non-alcoholic beer and assume consumers were splitting into two camps: people drinking regular beer and people avoiding alcohol. The reality looks more nuan...
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