John R.
Yelp
TLDR: a finance bro gets healthy by leaving the industry, quits drinking and brews awesome non-alcoholic beer and takes his company public, inventing an awesome lifestyle brand in the process.
Athletic Brewing is the premier brewer of nonacholic beer in the US. Full stop. When I found them a few years ago, AB was hidden in back warehouse in Stratford. They were operating on a hope and a prayer. I'm guessing they built out that first taproom themselves with a few trips to Home Depot. The beer was the star of the show, awesome but hard to get, the market not yet realizing this was a "Good Thing."
I could go on and on about their standard fare which has expanded to Run Wild, Upside Dawn and Free Wave but the two things made them different, and special, to those who were in driving distance: the taproom and the limited run, special varieties available there.
Taking the second point first, the head brewer must be a made genius and/or he decided to let taproom patrons be his guinea pigs for testing. (Bring back Single Hop Mosiac!@) For several years, especially before the main flavors weren't widely available, I'd stop at the taproom and pick up strange and unique hop blends and experimental formulations. Each was in a nondescript silver can. As time passed and the overall brand grew, some of those experiments have become seasonal or special flavors, graced with a distinctive can design - these include Downinder, All Out and others.
The taproom was a special place. AB smartly staffed it with a personable and knowledgeable staff who excelled at both introducing NA beer to the uninitiated and expanding the palette of veterans to the growing rotation of flavors. Regrettably, since the closure of the Stratford location and move to the modern, larger Milford brewery, the taproom has been "paused." I can't see why they would delay reopening the taproom as the customer connection and experience there strongly differentiated AB from every other brewer NA or not in CT. Further, the Milford location has a boss patio with styling branded umbrellas that would be a perfect spot for a cold NA draft while picking up a selection to go. Hopefully, AB will be able to balance their meteoric rise to the nationally dominant NA brand with a local Milford taproom. For now, you get still get six packs to go, albeit warm, and no opportunity for tasting on site. The knowledgeable staff is still present to guide your beer selections.
Final notes: Putting aside the flavor (which is great) most of these beers are less than 100 calories. Most are like 65 or 70 calories. The Downwinder Gose is the perfect summer thirst quencher. I could stick with the Run Wild IPA and the Hazy IPA and nothing else. The available one off limited run flavors take AB from good to excellent. They remain price competitive even after present widespread availability nationwide. IMHO no other NA beer comes close on flavor, and on the price/flavor combination, AB is the lead by a mile. Enjoy!
