'Try Dry': Athletic Brewing crafts non-alcoholic beers that support trails across US
(Photo: Athletic)
(FOX 2) - What started with homebrewing in an empty warehouse has ballooned into a non-alcoholic brewery canning dozens of different beers.
Athletic Brewing, a non-alcoholic brewery with locations in California and Connecticut, is using the time to encourage people to "try dry." It's only appropriate we talk about non-alcoholic beer during Dry January, right?
"We don't want to take away drinking occasions, we just want to give people more of them," founder Bill Shufelt said.
When Shufelt stopped drinking alcohol 10 years ago, he said he didn't want to give up beer.
"I wanted non-alcoholic beers that met every moment," he said.
That meant finding a way to imitate different styles of beer, sans the booze. What followed was starting a brewery that makes numerous non-alcoholic brews, from IPAs and lagers to the typically heavy-hitting stouts.
It started with experimenting in an empty Connecticut warehouse to perfect non-alcoholic brews. Rather than removing alcohol when a beer is made, Shufelt said the beers are fully fermented to be alcohol-free.
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So, they got to work and Athletic was born.
With a long lineup of beers now available, the brewery is working to "reframe how adults think about drinking," Shufelt said.
Beyond the brews, Athletic use proceeds to support trails around the country, including here in Michigan. Through its Two for the Trails program, Athletic donates 2% of sales to restore trails. The Lowell County Trail Association in Kent County has benefited from this program.
Some varieties of Athletic beers can be found at Michigan stores. Beers cannot currently be ordered to the state from the brewery's website, but it is working to make that possible in the future.