Review: Athletic Brewing Company

One of the ways in which the pandemic has been bad for me has been in terms of booze.

Historically, my rule of thumb is that I mainly drink alcohol at home, not when I'm out doing stuff. This was a good way to keep things balanced when I was out several evenings a week. But for the past two years, not so much.

Moreover, the amount I've been drinking has slowly crept up, to 2-3 drinks a night. That's not really scary levels (I rarely get noticeably tipsy, much less drunk), but it's certainly not great for me: at that point, the alcohol starts interfering with my sleep patterns, and it's a lot of calories, contributing to me getting decidedly doughier this year.

So in recent months I've been exploring the wide world of Fake Booze, to replace at least some of that. Results have been mixed, ranging from the interesting-enough-to-do-occasionally (eg, Curious Elixirs' complex fruit-based mocktails) to the genuinely intriguing (eg, Ritual Whiskey Alternative, with a rich (if artificial) texture and warm caramel notes) to the just plain awful (eg, Lyre's Dry London Spirit, which purports to be gin-like but is just watery and bitter).

But it's worth celebrating the one unambiguous win that I've come across: the wide range of "beers" from Athletic Brewing Company.

I first encountered their Run Wild IPA in Whole Foods a few months back, and was astonished. It was the first fake-beer I had encountered that tasted basically right -- good flavor, balanced bitterness, even the right mouthfeel of a real IPA. And at 70 calories a can, it is significantly lighter than soda, much less the 180-200 of the real deal. It immediately became one of the standards that I keep in the fridge.

From there, Whole Foods starting broadening the line that they carry; I've been trying them as they come in. And pretty much all of them are right -- from the Upside Dawn Golden to the Cerveza Atletica Light Copper, each has been an entirely credible version of its style -- just low in both calories and alcohol.

Last night, I tried the latest, the All Out Stout, which really fills out the line. I will note that it doesn't really come across as a stout -- it just isn't sweet and rich enough, so it comes across more as a porter -- but it's a good dark beer. And while it's the most fattening of their line at 90 calories, that's still a big win over a real stout's 250-plus.

Expectations should remain measured: these are all solidly good, but none of them quite compare with the best beers, and there are still only half a dozen of them -- I'm still stocking a wide variety of the real thing, for evenings when I want that. And the labels conspicuously say "less than 0.5% alcohol", which means that they are legally non-alcoholic but they are clear that there is a little in there. (Although, as they point out in their FAQ, the same is true of a lot of non-alcoholic drinks.)

But in practice, I'm probably drinking their stuff with dinner about 2/3 of the time now. When I specifically want a great beer, I'm still pulling out the real thing. But when I just want something that goes well with a meal, these fit the bill wonderfully: good flavor and better for me.

Obviously, none of this matters if you don't like beer in the first place. But if you do, I recommend checking it out -- it is, at the least, a worthwhile addition to your stock.