Summit N/A?

Lol. No.

 

Bauhaus, Fulton and probably some other local breweries have non-alcoholic taproom-only beers. I talked with a guy who works for Bahaus and apparently the technology involved in removing the alcohol is very expensive and limits batch sizes to a few barrels, so no hope for packaging.

 

That Bauhaus NA Homeguys Helles is fantastic, a legitimately good craft beer in general, not just a great non-alcoholic beer. I'm going to try to stop by to try Summit's soon; looks like it's still on. Thanks to the OP for the heads up. I'd love it if high-end non-alcoholic beer became a trend. It's way healthier and has the potential to be just as tasty because of new technology (which likely will get cheaper if the market supports investing more resources into it).

 

The Bauhaus NA Homeguys Helles and a few other local NAs are made using technology from a St. Paul firm called ABV Technology. Their equipment and process for removing alcohol from beer are briefly described here: https://www.abvtechnology.com/how-it-works/

I've tasted a few different NA beers they've had a hand in and they're really hit or miss. The Bauhaus one is very drinkable.

It's been a year since I worked at Summit, but I talked to a few of their brewers last week and they were fairly quiet on the details regarding their new taproom NA. I was able to confirm ABV Technology isn't involved with Summit's new NA beer, though, so they've gone a different direction to produce this. I tasted a sample and it's grain-forward with a hint of hop bitterness. The apple flavors and aromas are very pleasant. It was a bit under-carbonated, but I think it'll be pretty damn good if they make more.

All that said, I like alcohol and won't be drinking much of anyone's NA. That's no reason to laugh about this stuff, though. It's an awesome development for craft beer and great news for all kinds of drinkers.

 

I'm pretty interested in this. I'll likely swing by the brewery today or tomorrow to give it a taste.

 

Y'all got an NA on the brew schedule yet?

 

We've monkeyed around with it a little bit, but haven't been really happy with the results. It's not a super high priority for us, but I'm interested on a personal level.
As someone in the industry, being able to be out in the world supporting accounts, while still being able to pilot a vehicle and attend to the myriad of other duties that require sobriety would be a real benefit. Also, I'm getting old, and simply can't indulge the way I used to, but I still enjoy the game.

 

I'd be curious as to the calorie count on these newer NA beers. If we're talking in the 50-60 range I'd be interested.

 

Talk to Jim Koch!

How to Drink All Night Without Getting Drunk

 

I tried it. It's drinkable and respectable as a beverage but definitely not as good as just about anything else Summit ever has produced when judged as a craft beer. It has some strange (but not disgusting) flavor elements that are difficult for me to put my finger on because I've never really experienced them in a beer (oyster crackers? yogurt? apple sauce? kombucha?).

Bauhaus' tastes legitimately like a regular beer and a good one at that. Summit's tastes like a pretty good approximation of a beer. It reminds me of the best of truly gluten-free beer in that way.

 

I agree. Still hoping to find the calorie counts. If I could do a sixer of a good NA during a game for 300 calories vs 1200+ calories I'd be up for that on occasion.

 

I drink Partake NA beer out of Canada. The cans have nutrition labels and the pale lager has 15 calories per 12 ounces.

 

The collaboration that never was (probably BBC was putting all their effort into hard seltzer.... ):