More brew and less buzz, with low-alcohol beers

ONE summer day in 2018, Sean Boisson was washing his car in Sonoma, California, when a bubbly little epiphany arrived. He asked his younger sister, Brittany Rossi, who was helping, if she wanted a second beer - a domestic lager low in alcohol, but not quite low enough. "She was like: 'No, I've got to drive. I can only have one,'" Boisson recalled.

What about a lower-alcohol beer? "I had the spark on a Wednesday, and I quit my job on Friday," said Boisson, who has worked for SpikedSeltzer and for Vita Coco, a coconut-water brand.

Boisson partnered with a friend, Mathew Rohrs, to found Bella Snow Soft Ale, focusing on ales with no more than 2.4 per cent alcohol by volume (ABV), about half the strength of a Budweiser. (The federal government lets breweries label beers less than 2.5 per cent "low alcohol.") "There's just this completely unexplored space," he said.

American brewing excels at extremes, delivering brawny stouts and IPAs as well as non-alcoholic beers that are growing in quality and sales. But for drinkers seeking a moderate option, not abstinence, breweries are increasingly making compelling beers that weigh in at 2 per cent and 3 per cent alcohol, below the typical 4 per cent floor for light lagers. (Bud Light is 4.2 per cent.)

Jack's Abby Craft Lagers, in Framingham, Massachusetts, created a series of low-ABV beers it calls the 2 per cent Beer Initiative, and one of the bestsellers at Hermit Thrush Brewery, in Brattleboro, Vermont, is Party Guy, a sour ale with an alcohol level of 3 per cent.

"I would much rather have two beers and not fall over," said Christophe Gagne, an owner and the brewmaster.

Lower-alcohol beers are stitched into the drinking fabric of Scandinavia and pub-rich England, where taxation increases as alcohol content rises. In the United States, lower-alcohol beers align with the growing popularity of moderate-strength wine and spirits like Easy Wine and Lo-Fi Aperitifs.

"You don't need to blast people in the face with alcohol," said Todd DiMatteo, an owner and the brewer of Good Word Brewing & Public House, which in April will host its second annual Little Beer festival in Duluth, Georgia.

American craft brewing is entering its fifth decade, and the industry's audience is maturing as well. "We're not surprised that lower-ABV beers are coming of age because, well, millennials are coming of age," said Lester Jones, chief economist for the National Beer Wholesalers Association.

As people get older and responsibilities stack up, they tend to consume less alcohol. "The 40-year-old liver is not the same as a 25-year-old liver," said Garrett Oliver, the brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery, which introduced Fuzzy Details, a hazy IPA that is 2.5 per cent alcohol, at its taproom in December.

He fondly recalled the brewery's Black Light, a 2.2 per cent stout. "I could have a pint and just go straight to the gym," Oliver said.

When Luc Lafontaine brews, he doesn't drink much water. "I drink beer," said Lafontaine, an owner and the brewmaster of Godspeed Brewery in Toronto. His go-to is Baby Svetlý, his Czech-style pale lager that, at 1.5 per cent alcohol, is a warm-weather favourite.

Building quality low-alcohol beer is a balancing act. Brewers must use less malt - the grains supplying the sugars that are fermented into alcohol - and too many hops can create clashing bitterness and flavor. Lafontaine uses imported Czech malt and hops, and carefully adjusts water chemistry. "I want to go as low as 1 per cent," he said of Baby Svetlý's alcohol level.

One complaint about low-alcohol beers is that they can taste watery. To brew Buzzard, a 3 per cent "hoppy small beer" released in January, Matt Young, director of brewing operations at the Chicago brewery Half Acre, boosted the body with wheat. He also leaned on fragrant hop extracts and Cosmic Punch, a yeast strain that imparts complementary tropical aromas. Buzzard costs US$10.99 for four 16-ounce cans, or US$1 less than several stronger IPAs.

"Just because there's less alcohol doesn't means that it was cheaper to produce," Young said.

Boisson released 2 versions of Bella Snow Soft Ale, flavoured with mandarin or grapefruit, in 4-packs of 12-ounce cans sold for US$7.99. "It was a low enough price point where people would try it," Boisson said, adding that half the return customers are baby-boomer men. After decades of drinking, "they just know they shouldn't have as much", he said.

Going low while others go high can also help breweries stand apart. Wild East Brewing, in Brooklyn, conceived Temperance, a 3.5 per cent English-inspired dark mild, as a one-off, "but it sells consistently year-round", said Brett Taylor, a founder and the head of brewing. Wild East produces other low-alcohol beers, like a 3 per cent farmhouse ale aged in oak and scheduled for release in April. After years of high-intensity beers,

When Cheyne Tessier and his wife, Erika, opened Origin Beer Project in Cranston, Rhode Island, in fall 2020, their first release was Small Victories, a 3.5 per cent Czech-style pale lager aged on oak staves. "No one was doing that in Rhode Island," he said.

Five lower-alcohol beers to try

Hermit Thrush Brewery: Party Guy (3 per cent ABV) Brattleboro, Vermont, 16 ounces, US$3 to US$4 - Lemony and lively, this sour ale is an ideal aperitif.

Wild East Brewing Co: Temperance (3.5 per cent ABV) Brooklyn, New York, 16 ounces, US$4 - English brewing traditions inform this midday-friendly dark ale redolent of roasted coffee.

Live Oak Brewing Co: Grodziskie (3 per cent ABV) Del Valle, Texas, 12 ounces, US$2 - Inspired by an ancient Polish beer, the spritzy Grodziskie stars oak-smoked wheat malt. Try one with barbecue.

Bell's Brewery: Light Hearted Ale (3.7 per cent ABV) Comstock, Michigan, 12 ounces, US$2 - The lower-strength sibling to the well-known Two Hearted Ale, an IPA, delivers scents of citrus and pine.

Jester King: Le Petit Prince (3.4 per cent ABV), Austin, Texas, 750ml, US$11 - This bone-dry farmhouse ale is fermented with wild yeast and bacteria captured near the brewery. NYTIMES