Another craft brewery is entering the growing craft non-alcoholic beer market.
Boston Beer Company will launch a Samuel Adams branded non-alcoholic hazy IPA, Just the Haze, nationally in early 2021.
Boston Beer — whose portfolio includes Dogfish Head, Truly Hard Seltzer, Twisted Tea, and Angry Orchard hard cider, in addition to Samuel Adams — said it was entering the non-alcoholic beer market to “accelerate category growth and introduce new drinkers to what a craft, non-alcoholic beer has to offer.”
“I may have once said that we would never brew a non-alcoholic (NA) beer, but I’ve learned over the years never to say never,” Boston Beer founder Jim Koch said in a press release. “The NA category has been both fascinating to watch and a unique brewing challenge that the Samuel Adams brewers have taken on with pride and ingenuity. I’m extremely proud to enter the NA race, and we’re ready to take it to the top.”
Just the Haze will be line priced with Boston Lager, and sold exclusively in 6-pack and single-serve 12 oz. cans.
Just the Haze’s launch will come after two years of research and development. Boston Beer said it consulted with “the best brewers and brewing scientists globally, including those at Germany’s Weihenstephan” to develop a non-alc beer with “the complexity, balance, and full-flavor of a high quality IPA.”
“We’ve kept a close eye on the international non-alcoholic beer space for years, recognizing its significant growth as a wellness option, and we saw the opportunity for a full-flavor craft version in the U.S.” manager of brewing research Christina Hahn said in the release. “It’s no secret that it’s a challenge to remove the alcohol from beer without losing the rich, complex and balanced flavors of craft beer. We visited some of the best NA breweries in the world to learn more about the existing technology; we reviewed hundreds of yeast strains; and we brewed countless iterations before arriving at what we, as brewers, believe is an uncompromising world class IPA.”
The end result of that research is a hazy IPA with 0.5% ABV, brewed with Sabro, Citra, Mosaic and Cascade hops, 2-row summer barley, white wheat and oats, which the company said creates “a full-bodied, easy drinking NA IPA.”
“Unlike the watery mouthfeel and unfamiliar taste of many today’s NA options, Just the Haze is full-bodied with a smooth finish,” the company said in its press release.
Boston Beer enters a craft non-alc beer segment that includes independent brands Athletic Brewing (Stratford, Connecticut), Partake Brewing (Canada), Ceria Brewing (Arvada, Colorado), Wellbeing Brewing (St. Louis, Missouri), Surreal Brewing (Campbell, California) and Hairless Dog Brewing (Minneapolis, Minnesota), among others.
Other larger craft brewers have also entered the space, including Brooklyn Brewery with Special Effects and Heineken-owned Lagunitas with its Hoppy Refresher, an “IPA-inspired” non-alcoholic beer with zero carbs and calories.
Heineken launched its 0.0 two years ago and has supported it each year with $50 million in marketing investments. And Anheuser-Busch InBev launched a new non-alcoholic beer, Budweiser Zero, with retired NBA star Dwyane Wade.
For the 26 weeks ending August 8, low- and non-alcoholic beer sales have increased 182.2%, to $3.4 million, in off-premise retailers tracked by market research firm Nielsen.