Athletic Brewing: non alcoholic beer
I remember going to a coffee shop that was serving non alcoholic drinks in college. Yes, college. I like trying new things and the concept intrigued me. I saw Athletic Brewing’s ad come up, and they brew non alcoholic beer.
A six pack runs $13 and they are pretty low calorie at around 50-70 calories each. Shipping is free if you buy two packs or more, otherwise it’s $10, which is steep. That’s the challenge with shipping heavy items like beverages. Every beer company has been coming out with their own seltzer, so it figures Athletic would have their own too except it’s seltzer with hops. I’m not sure what on the hops in seltzer part. There’s also a beer subscription where you can get beer delivered every month. You can choose 12 / 18 / 24 beers at a discount of 5% / 10% / 15% discount respectively. Their can designs are pretty and remind me of being outdoors with their landscape backgrounds.
There is a purpose beyond profits initiative in the company where they donate 2% of their sales to support the outdoors like trails and outdoor groups.
Athletic Brewing is based in Connecticut, and they have a decent following of 63k on Instagram. One of the cofounders was a trader at Point72 (Steven Cohen’s fund), while the other has brewery experience. The brewery originated out of one of the founders quitting alcohol, but still craved a refreshing drink.
It’s definitely a niche space because people associate the taste of beer with… well getting drunk. But the focus of the brewery is definitely on the beer taste. They’ve received support from people who are sober and how they can “participate in all sorts of societal traditions - in a positive, non-shameful way. “ I think it’s more telling that people feel like they can’t go to events without drinking. I could see regular breweries entering this space and offering non alcoholic options for people who don’t like beer or want to hang out at breweries with their beer loving friends. I don’t think you need to drink at social occasions or even at a brewery. Your presence should be enough.