Low-alcohol or no-alcohol beer is gaining popularity, especially as a large portion of the adult drinking public is observing dry or damp January. Light beer isn’t a new concept in the United States. For instance, Anheuser-Busch brewed an alcohol-free beer during Prohibition called Bevo.
In the years since, especially in the Northwest, beer aficionados accustomed to fresh, tasty brews have been unlikely to substitute their favorite IPAs with watered-down, mass-produced malt beverages. But they have become willing to consider well-crafted, flavorful lower-alcohol beers made from smaller Northwest producers.
“I think it’s happening across the board,” says Vice Beer owner Michael Perozzo. “People want to enjoy multiple beers and still be safe. You can’t do that with an 8% double IPA.”
Perozzo has noticed that many West Coast IPAs and American IPAs have moved from seven to 8% ABV (alcohol by volume) to under 7%. At his Vancouver, Washington, brewery, he’s offering a 3.8% micro IPA called Micro Machine. This lighter brew may have been called a session beer, but he prefers the term “micro” – nomenclature also used by Kings and Daughters Brewery in Hood River, Oregon, to describe their lower-ABV IPAs.
Micro Machine is made with less grain which means less sugars and lower alcohol content. A light American lager offered by Vice, called Vice Lite, is made by brewing a 5% ABV lager then adding water to lower it to 3.8% Other methods to reach this lower alcohol content include using a flavorful base and specialty malts or adding special yeast strains.
For those seeking lower-ABV beer, crystal-clear pilsners, lagers and kölsh style beers often hover around the 4% ABV mark and are commonly available in taprooms around the Northwest. Pfriem, in Hood River, has a 4.7% Kolsch, as well as a 4.6% Mexican Lager. On the Washington side of the Gorge, Recluse Brew Works offers an array of light, lower-ABV brews like their signature beer, RBW Lager (4.9%), and Ghost History, a Czech-Style Dark Lager (4.7% ABV). Down the street, 54:40 Brewing continues to brew their crisp Kascadia Kolsch (4.8%) as part of their Wheelhouse Series. No-Li Brewhouse in Spokane, Washington, offers their award-winning, Threezy Does It, a low-calorie Hazy IPA at 3.5% ABV.
Bend, Oregon, based Deschutes Brewing has introduced a series of non-alcoholic beers including Fresh Squeezed, a non-alcoholic IPA that won a gold medal at the 2024 United States Open Beer Championships in the non-alcoholic IPA category. This NA beer gets its citrus and tropical fruit notes from Citra and Mosaic Hops. Their NA series also includes Black Butte, a malt brew that tastes like a porter.
The onetime claim of Miller Lite ads that their beer tastes great and is less filling may not ring true with beer drinkers seeking fresh beer with complex flavors, but many Northwest craft brewers are recognizing an interest in lower ABV-brews and working to satisfy this thirst by using traditional brewing methods and creating new ways to lower alcohol content without compromising taste and quality.
