SLO LIFE Oct/Nov 2020

| BREW
MARKET
TRENDS
BY BRANT MYERS
eltzers have been slowly taking over the beer aisles
across our grocery and liquor stores, so when will
their reign of terror end? Not likely soon from the
look of things. As a matter of fact, it seems that
the industry is trending more and more towards
“lifestyle” beverages that represent a growing
consumer base of people who enjoy the social
aspect of drinking beer, but aren’t fully on board
with the flavor or alcohol within them. I’m not
judging, I also drink water sometimes when I Sdon’t feel like beer. But what happens when the beer industry makes
something that doesn’t look like beer, taste like beer, or have alcohol in
it? Let’s take some sips of the growing trend that is not-beers.
I’m a huge proponent of personal health and wellness, so there are
some conflicts of interest when I’m also a huge proponent of full-
fledged craft beer. That being said, why not have a “Sober October” or a
thirty-day cleanse after New Year’s Eve if it makes you feel better? Maybe
you just want to wake up tomorrow morning and go for a ride or jog instead
of craving a breakfast burrito and mimosa. There is a compromise available:
non-alcoholic (NA) beer. And if the predictors are correct, you’re going to
be seeing a lot of these in the future. Already, Heineken has their 0.0 beer
with a huge marketing budget pushing it across social media and traditional
platforms, taking the success of their rival’s Bud Light Ultra to the next
level by making an even healthier post-workout drink. Aside from them, the
big news in big brews is that Sam Adams posted record profits from selling
seltzers and hard kombucha last year and will be following up those successes
with a new NA Hazy IPA. Imagine that, a craft brewery making nonalcoholic
IPAs. I have a feeling this will trickle down fast through the smaller
breweries and we’ll be seeing them en masse soon enough.
Obviously, the global brewing conglomerates have the resources and >>
92 | SLO LIFE MAGAZINE | OCT/NOV 2020