啤酒界的下一大事件，未必与啤酒有关

在今年的全美啤酒节上，白爪牌酒精苏打水效应贯穿了整个节日。

虽然啤酒节不允许含酒精气泡水登台亮相，但在今年，混合了波本桶陈酿和比利时四发酵黑啤的轻量酒精选项越来越多。明年估计会更多。

精酿啤酒无所适从，今日的酒精消费者与数年前的已经有着不同口味。这令一些酿酒商担心。

“我担心的是21到29岁这批人，他们是大量饮酒的一批人，但现在他们不再优先考虑精酿啤酒，不像十年前这一年龄段的人。”说这话的是Dogfish Head的创始人桑姆·卡拉吉奥尼。“有很多原因——健康饮料的广泛传播、这一代人更注重健康、他们会考虑卡路里以及喝啤酒的频率。合法的大麻也是一个因素。”

尽管含酒精气泡水未能亮相这次全美啤酒节，但要找一个低酒精啤酒并不费事。酿酒协会还12年来首次把奖项颁给这一领域，一些“低酒精酿酒商”就有展台展出。生产商也是马力十足。

亮相的很多，随便举几个，WellBeing酿酒、Bravus酿酒、Two Roots酿酒和Athletic酿酒。蓝月亮的创始人凯斯·维拉还推出了Ceria饮料，有含大麻的也有低酒精啤酒。这些公司的产品与啤酒节上的大牌不同，不免引起参与者的巨大兴趣。

这些产品的受众是谁呢？据酿酒商说：每个人。

“受众很年轻，尤其是千禧一代，他们考虑着要少喝酒。”Athletic酿酒公司的首席酿酒师兼联合创始人约翰·沃克说。“受众是那些带孩子出去玩的父母，是想要寻乐子搞社交，却不想在第二天因为宿醉而头昏脑胀的人。”

大的酿酒商并不打算在其旗舰产品中取消酒精，但他们也注意到了这一潮流。比如Avery酿酒在啤酒节上展示了Pacer IP，这是其主流Hoppy饮料的仅含100卡路里的改版。

各家公司挤破头进入这一领域，这会损害每一家的收益。

“趋势是追求低糖、低卡路里的更健康饮料，所以高糖、含酒精的柠檬水或许不会受消费者欢迎。”Sierra Nevada的创始人肯·格罗斯曼说，“它们仍然会留在市场上，但是否能像以前那样增长，就很难说了。”

格罗斯曼说，他期望看到浑浊型精酿这一类啤酒的持续增长，这种酒在过去几年获得爆炸性增长。Sierra Nevada的符合潮流的Hazy Little Thing，目前就以每年100%的速度增长。该公司也指望在此基础上继续扩张。

“我们将制造一种疯狂的版本，一种微酸的酒，明年会上市。”格罗斯曼说，“我们还在制作一个浑浊的升级版（双份精酿）。目前在搞，估计也在明年上市。”

除了低酒精啤酒和新出现的浑浊型酒，你还可以看到更多能够盈利的酸型啤酒。美式水果型酸麦芽类是今年全美啤酒节上获得最受关注奖的第三名（第一和第二分别是比尔森和双份精酿），获得215次关注。

一般来说，酸型酒只对很少的受众有吸引力。这些酒未来能否受更多人欢迎，或者它们只是酿酒商的奇思妙想试图标新立异而已，这事得让时间来检验了。（财富中文网）

译者：宣峰

The White Claw effect was felt in full force at this year’s Great American Beer Festival.

While hard seltzers weren’t allowed on the show floor, there seemed to be an increased number of lighter alcohol options mixed among the bourbon barrel aged stouts and Belgian quads this year. And you can expect more in the year to come.

While the IPA isn’t going anywhere, today’s alcohol consumer has different tastes than those of a few years ago. And that has some brewers nervous.

“I’m worried the 21- to 29-year-old demographic, which is the volume alcohol-drinking demographic, is less excited about prioritizing craft beer than the 21- to 29-year-old of a decade ago,” says Sam Calagione, founder of Dogfish Head. “There’s lots of reason why—the proliferation of wellness beverages, coupled with that generation is more health conscious than ours was, so they’re thinking about calories and how often they’re drinking beer. Legalized marijuana is [also] a component.”

Hard seltzers might not have been permitted on the GABF floor this year, but you didn’t have to search too hard to find a nonalcoholic beer. For the first time in 12 years, the Brewers Association gave awards in that category, with several “no-alc brewers” hosting booths on the show floor. And its manufacturers were there in force.

WellBeing Brewing, Bravus Brewing, Two Roots Brewing, and Athletic Brewing were just some of the nonalcoholic brewers on the show floor. And Blue Moon creator Keith Villa has launched Ceria Beverages, which makes both cannabis-infused and nonalcoholic beers. While the lines for these companies weren’t as long as some big-name breweries at GABF, there was definite curiosity among festival attendees.

Who’s the audience for these products? According to the brewers: everybody.

“It’s shockingly young, particularly millennials, who are thinking of drinking less,” says John Walker, head brewer and cofounder at Athletic Brewing. “It’s parents who are out with their kids. It’s people who want to have fun and be social and not pay for it the next day with a hangover.”

Bigger brewers aren’t planning to go booze free in their flagships, but they’re taking note of the trend. Avery Brewing, for instance, unveiled Pacer IP at GABF, a 100-calorie version of its hoppy mainstream offering.

The rush of companies looking to fill this space, though, could reduce the financial rewards each sees.

“Certainly the trend is for lower carb, lower calorie, better-for-you beverages, so the high-sugar, alcoholic lemonades are probably not going to be what resonates with the consumer,” says Ken Grossman, founder of Sierra Nevada. “I think those are here to stay, but whether it will continue to grow at the rate it has been is hard to say.”

Grossman says he expects to see the hazy IPA category, which has exploded in the past several years, to continue to grow. Hazy Little Thing, Sierra Nevada’s take on the style, is currently growing at over 100% year over year. And the brewer is looking to expand on that base next year.

“We’re making a wild version, a slightly sour version that’s on the way early next year,” says Grossman. “We’re doing a bigger version of Hazy as well [a double IPA]. That’s in the works right now and will be out next year as well.”

Beyond lighter beers and new offshoots of hazy, you could be seeing more fruit-forward sour beers as well. The Fruited American–style sour ale category was the third most entered at this year’s GABF awards (topping Pilsners and Double IPAs), with 215 entries.

Sours, though, typically appeal to a more narrow audience. Whether there is broad consumer demand for those beers or if they’re simply a style that has caught the fancy of brewers who are looking to make something different, that theory won’t be checked out for months to come.