Athletic Brewing Co. Aftershift Non-Alcoholic IPA
Photos via Athletic Brewing Co.
There’s no denying that non-alcoholic beer has come a long way in the last half-decade in particular. It’s been been a renaissance, helped along by a double-pronged revitalization of the category, via both improved taste profiles and rehabilitation of N/A beer’s deeply uncool cultural image. The category itself had simply been the butt of jokes for so long that the enthusiasm we’ve seen for N/A beers in the back half of the 2010s feels fresh and exciting. And it certainly doesn’t hurt that there’s far more variety in the category than there’s ever been before.
One arena where N/A beer has struggled more, however, has been in accurately translating beloved craft beer styles to satisfying non-alcoholic versions. Whereas several big brewers have pretty much nailed the profile of a crisp, drinkable N/A/ lager at this point—I still feel like Heineken 0.0 honestly tastes better than Heineken’s flagship 5% ABV lager—exemplary brands of N/A pale ale, stout or wheat beer have been harder to come across. It hasn’t necessarily been for lack of trying, but all too often these attempts at styles such as non-alcoholic IPA end up stranded in craft beer’s own uncanny valley. One might conclude that alcohol is simply a more important aspect of these styles than in light lager, whether we realize it or not.
Progress has been made, however. Brooklyn Brewery, for instance, released one of the better N/A craft brews I’ve had to date last winter, in the form of their hoppy amber lager Special Effects—and word on the street is that there’s another version coming this winter as well, with Dry January firmly in mind.
But there are also companies that have built themselves entirely around this emerging market, and it certainly seems like the demand has been there to see them thrive. One of the most notable is Stratford, CT’s Athletic Brewing Co., which focuses entirely on N/A versions of classic craft beer styles, including golden ale, lager, IPA and even stout. They’re one of the few companies that has hitched its wagon entirely to the N/A horse.
Now, to date I’ve never had a chance to sample Athletic Brewing Co.’s product, although I’ve always been curious to do so. I’ve had some other attempts at non-alcoholic styles such as IPA, and although I’ve wanted them to be satisfying, they can rarely make that claim. And so, when I received a press release about Athletic Brewing Co.’s newest release, an N/A IPA brewed in collaboration with farm-to-table chef Chris Cosentino, I was particularly intrigued. This seemed like the time to revisit the concept of non-alcoholic IPA once again, and see how things have progressed. Here’s how the company describes what they’re calling AfterShift IPA:
The limited-release IPA, AfterShift, is a crisp and complex beer born out of an unlikely camaraderie between chef and brewer—both rule-breakers and taste-makers colluding to bring something to the table like never before. AfterShift boasts a refreshing blend of Lemon Verbena and Bay Leaves, made even more dynamic with Cascade hops. A delicate malt profile made of Triticale and Organic Vienna varieties plays backup to the assertive and aromatic symphony of the hops and herbs. The finish is a bright and effervescent burst of freshness and is both fragrant and mouth-watering.