The Emergence Of Low/Mid-Strength ABV

As the non-alcoholic sector continues to flourish, low or mid-strength ABV options have begun to appear in the U.S. market.

“It’s impossible to keep up with Gen A and Gen Z slang, but apparently, ‘mid’ is a bad thing. It’s like, you’re so mid.”

So said Ryan Kutscher of Dad Strength Brewing Company during our U.S. of N/A conversation back in the summer, just weeks after their launch. But clearly, mid isn’t a bad thing, at least for a handful of producers in the U.S. who are stepping in to fill a perceived gap in the industry. In addition to Kutscher’s Washington D.C. based label which makes craft IPAs between 2.5 - 2.9% ABV, Arlow Wines launched even earlier this year with the same idea in wine form, featuring a trio of California-made varietals all coming in at a 6.5% ABV, or roughly half that of a conventional vino.

Beverages with intentionally lower alcohol are not new on a global scale. As Kutcher noted in our talk, while researching for their venture they came across an article touting the top 25 mid-strength beers in Australia, noting at the time there weren’t really any in the U.S. who were dedicated to the category. Consumers abroad have always been a little more accustomed to a spectrum of options, something that appears poised to grow stateside as well.

The mid-strength category is not without its own consumer education challenges, making it no different than the adjacent non-alcoholic category. There is not a clear line or definition in the U.S., which is particularly evident in mid-strength beer. While breweries like Dad Strength are separating themselves at under 3%, many breweries have already been responding to consumer desires to go low, sporting sessionable craft beers such as vienna lagers and english ales that often come in between 3 - 5% ABV. Duluth, Georgia’s Good Word Brewing Company hosts an annual beer festival called Little Beers which features lagers and pilsners that fit into that category, promoted as a “low gravity beer event”. But while those ranges are appreciably lower than many craft options, that only brings them roughly inline with your average macro light beer.

So where is the category going? At this stage, it’s difficult to predict. You could argue that filling in the middle ground between NAs and full-strength options has some parallels to the blurring of adult drinking occasions created by the non-alcoholic movement. While you’re not likely to see any greasy-spoon diners promoting a “three beer lunch” with some Athletic brews just yet, the lack of alcohol makes that perfectly feasible, without falling asleep under your desk in the afternoon. Similarly, zebra-striping (or, ‘malternating’, as Kutscher suggested) could soon commonly include mid-strength drinks for an extremely fine-tuned adult drinking experience.

Wherever the category is headed, both low and “in-between” ABV beverage options are on the rise and likely here to stay. Just maybe don’t call them ‘mid’ if you can help it.