在今年的全美啤酒節上，白爪牌酒精蘇打水效應貫穿了整個節日。

雖然啤酒節不允許含酒精氣泡水登臺亮相，但在今年，混合了波本桶陳釀和比利時四發酵黑啤的輕量酒精選項越來越多。明年估計會更多。

精釀啤酒無所適從，今日的酒精消費者與數年前的已經有著不同口味。這令一些釀酒商擔心。

“我擔心的是21到29歲這批人，他們是大量飲酒的一批人，但現在他們不再優先考慮精釀啤酒，不像十年前這一年齡段的人。”說這話的是Dogfish Head的創始人桑姆·卡拉吉奧尼。“有很多原因——健康飲料的廣泛傳播、這一代人更注重健康、他們會考慮卡路里以及喝啤酒的頻率。合法的大麻也是一個因素。”

盡管含酒精氣泡水未能亮相這次全美啤酒節，但要找一個低酒精啤酒并不費事。釀酒協會還12年來首次把獎項頒給這一領域，一些“低酒精釀酒商”就有展臺展出。生產商也是馬力十足。

亮相的很多，隨便舉幾個，WellBeing釀酒、Bravus釀酒、Two Roots釀酒和Athletic釀酒。藍月亮的創始人凱斯·維拉還推出了Ceria飲料，有含大麻的也有低酒精啤酒。這些公司的產品與啤酒節上的大牌不同，不免引起參與者的巨大興趣。

這些產品的受眾是誰呢？據釀酒商說：每個人。

“受眾很年輕，尤其是千禧一代，他們考慮著要少喝酒。”Athletic釀酒公司的首席釀酒師兼聯合創始人約翰·沃克說。“受眾是那些帶孩子出去玩的父母，是想要尋樂子搞社交，卻不想在第二天因為宿醉而頭昏腦脹的人。”

大的釀酒商并不打算在其旗艦產品中取消酒精，但他們也注意到了這一潮流。比如Avery釀酒在啤酒節上展示了Pacer IP，這是其主流Hoppy飲料的僅含100卡路里的改版。

各家公司擠破頭進入這一領域，這會損害每一家的收益。

“趨勢是追求低糖、低卡路里的更健康飲料，所以高糖、含酒精的檸檬水或許不會受消費者歡迎。”Sierra Nevada的創始人肯·格羅斯曼說，“它們仍然會留在市場上，但是否能像以前那樣增長，就很難說了。”

格羅斯曼說，他期望看到渾濁型精釀這一類啤酒的持續增長，這種酒在過去幾年獲得爆炸性增長。Sierra Nevada的符合潮流的Hazy Little Thing，目前就以每年100%的速度增長。該公司也指望在此基礎上繼續擴張。

“我們將制造一種瘋狂的版本，一種微酸的酒，明年會上市。”格羅斯曼說，“我們還在制作一個渾濁的升級版（雙份精釀）。目前在搞，估計也在明年上市。”

除了低酒精啤酒和新出現的渾濁型酒，你還可以看到更多能夠盈利的酸型啤酒。美式水果型酸麥芽類是今年全美啤酒節上獲得最受關注獎的第三名（第一和第二分別是比爾森和雙份精釀），獲得215次關注。

一般來說，酸型酒只對很少的受眾有吸引力。這些酒未來能否受更多人歡迎，或者它們只是釀酒商的奇思妙想試圖標新立異而已，這事得讓時間來檢驗了。（財富中文網）

譯者：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.