The Low Calorie Beer Backlash Has Begun

One of the beer industry’s biggest trends lately is lower calorie beers. It’s a reaction, and some breweries think an overreaction, to the success of products such as Michelob Ultra and the migration of millennials to lower caloric beverages like hard seltzers.

It seems like every week, some brewery is introducing a new, low-carb low-calorie, low ABV beer. It’s as if everyone feels a need to offer one nowadays.

But a backlash to all this health consciousness is brewing…with renegades like Denver, Colorado’s Epic Brewing offering an aggressive alternative.

And it’s not like Epic has ever played things safe…They moved the majority of their production to Denver to escape Utah’s restrictive liquor laws…And their sometimes irreverent beer names like Big Bad Baptist speak to the brewery’s playful spirit…a sense of humor that hasn’t been tamed by craft beer’s increasingly competitive environment.

Which brings us to Epic’s newest release…a super-sized spoof on the whole low-calorie beer trend which will be released February 28 in the brewery’s Denver taproom before hitting distribution.

Described by the brewery as “an intentionally high-calorie, juicy India Pale Ale” Epic Super IPA Me is an unapologetically MASSIVE 12% ABV Hazy India Pale Ale. It’s brewed with apricots, pumped out of its mind on Grungeist, Styrian Dragon and Citra hops, and clocks in at 500 calories a pint!

So healthy? Probably not….

Fun? We’re thinking YES!

According to Westword  several Colorado breweries have released low-calorie beers including Oskar Blues, Odell Brewing, Avery Brewing, Blue Moon Brewing and Breckenridge. And even New Belgium has one in the works.

But Epic Brewing is bucking that trend with a super-sized vengeance….And Super IPA Me’s brewer Jordan Schupbach explained the beer’s creation this way…

“We opted for high protein malts, sugar to help boost the gravity and hit a high ABV, and fruit to push the calorie count over the edge. We landed on using apricot because the hops we decided to use… Grungeist and Styrian Dragon, smelled very stone-fruity. I still want to dry hop with gummy bears. Maybe next batch.”

But Epic’s not alone in championing the Super High Calorie IPA.

On February 27, Deschutes will also be releasing a small batch offering that’s proudly high in calories. Deschutes Bulk pHaze IPA is a full-bodied 8.4% ABV India Pale Ale brewed with 5 pounds of hops and over 3 pounds of milk sugar per barrel.

Whether deliberately high calorie beers catch on to the same degree that these low-cal, low-carb offerings have remains to be seen.

But the concept’s sense of humor is definitely in the right place and has American Craft Beer’s total support.