Maine craft brewery looks to change the nonalcoholic landscape
Kit NA Brewing is the first craft brewer in Maine to make only nonalcoholic beers
Updated: 7:44 PM EST Nov 23, 2022
TIME NOW FOR THIS WEEK’S MADE IN MAINE….. IT’S A CRAFT BEER COMPANY THAT HAS, TRULY, SET ITSELF APART FROM ALL THE OTHERS… HERE’S STEVE MINICH WITH THE FOUNDER OF PORTLAND’S ‘KIT BREWING’,,, MAINE’S FIRST AND ONLY CRAFT BEER COMPANY BREWING áONLYá NON-ALCOHOLIC BEERS. (20-59-17) “SO WHEN ROB AND I STARTED THE PROBLEM WE WERE TRYING TO SOLVE BASICALLY WAS MAKING N.A. BEER TASTE BETTER.” WILL FISHER BELIEVES,, AFTER TWO YEARS OF TESTING,,, HE AND HIS BUSINESS PARTNER ROB BARRETT HAVE SOLVED THAT PROBLEM,,,,, THEIR BRANDS OF KIT NON ALCOHOL BEER, THEY TOUT AS TASTING LIKE ANY REGULAR BEER.. (20-59-52) “OUR ACTUAL PROCESS IS VERY MUCH LIKE REGULAR STRENGTH BEER SO, IT’S THE SAME INGREDIENTS, IT’S REALLY THE SAME PROCESS JUST A LITTLE MORE CONTROL OF TIME AND TIME AND TEMPERATURE AND FERMANTATION BUT GENERALLY, IT’S THE SAME PRINCIPLE.” FISHER IS WELL VERSED IN THE BEER MAKING PROCESS,, OWNER OF PORTLAND’S AUSTIN STREET BREWERY,,, HIS COMPANY PRODUCES MORE THAN 4-DOZEN VARIETIES OF ALCOHOLIC BEER,,,, KIT IS FISHER’S FIRST VENTURE INTO NON- ALCOHOLIC…. (20-58-42) “IT’S EVERYWHERE, THE MARKET IS HUGE..” IN FACT, KIT WAS BORN FROM BOTH FISHER’S AND BARRETT’S RECENT CHOICES TO CUT BACK ON ALCHOL,,, BARRETT GIVING IT UP COMPLETLY IN 2019 — THOUGH BOTH STILL ENJOY A GOOD BEER TASTE — AS DO. ACCORDING TO THEIR MARKET RESEARCH,, A STILL GROWING NUMBER OF OTHERS,,. (20-58-44) “THERE’S FOLKS WHO ABSTAIN FROM DRINKING COMPLETELY SO THEY CHOOSE NON ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS, THERE ARE PEOPLE THAT SWITCH BACK AND FORTH, THE TERM IS CALLED STRIPING WHICH IS DRINKING REGULAR BEER SOMETIMES, SIMETIME DRINK A NA BEER AND I FALL INTO THAT CATEGORY MYSELF.” KIT CURRENTLY SELLS TWO BEERS,,, AN AMERICAN BLOND ALONG WITH AN I-P- A,,,,, A THIRD IS SET FOR RELEASE IN SPRING OF 2023… THOUGH CATORAGIZED AS NON-ALCOHOLIC,,,, TECHNICALLY, SINCE KIT’S BREWING PROCESS DOES NOT INCLUDE REMOVING ALCOHOL,,, IT STILL CONTAINS A SCANT ZERO -POINT FIVE PERCENT…. MANY REGULAR CRAFT BEERS CAN BE AS HIGH AS 15 PERCENT.. (20-01-32) “I LIKE TO PICTURE THIS AS JUST BEING AT THE END OF THAT RANGE AND ON ITS WAY UP” BY NO MEANS IS NON ALCOHOLIC BEER ANYTHING NEW — THOUGH BY CREATING THIS FIRST IN THE STATE CRAFT BREWERY — AND TACKLING, THEY SAY, THAT TASTE PROBLEM,,,, THE FOLKS AT KIT HOPE THEY’RE BREWING NOT JUST A BETTER BEER – BUT A DIFFERENT TYPE OF ATTITUDE.. (20-59-24) “AND SO THE MIND SET W
Maine craft brewery looks to change the nonalcoholic landscape
Kit NA Brewing is the first craft brewer in Maine to make only nonalcoholic beers
Updated: 7:44 PM EST Nov 23, 2022
A craft beer company in Portland is setting itself apart in a crowded field. Kit NA Brewing is the first and only craft beer company in Maine to brew only non-alcoholic beers.”When Rob and I started, the problem we were trying to solve basically was making NA beer taste better,” said Will Fisher, founder of Kit NA Brewing.Fisher says he believes that, after two years of testing, he and business partner Rob Barrett have solved that problem and that their beers taste like any regular beer.”Our actual process is very much like regular strength beer. So, it’s the same ingredients, it’s really the same process just a little more control of time and temperature and fermentation but generally, it’s the same principle,” said Fisher.Fisher is well-versed in the beer-making process. His company also owns Portland’s Austin Street Brewery and produces more than four dozen varieties of alcoholic beer. Kit is his first venture into nonalcoholic drinks, but he says the market is huge.Fisher and Barrett decided to get into the nonalcoholic business after making personal choices to cut back on their own alcohol consumption. Barrett says he actually gave it up completely in 2019, though both still enjoy the taste of a good beer. And they say research shows a lot of people in the same position.”There’s folks who abstain from drinking completely so they choose nonalcoholic products. There are people that switch back and forth — the term is called ‘striping’ which is drinking regular beer sometimes, sometimes drink an NA beer — and I fall into that category myself,” said Fisher.Kit currently sells two beers, an American Blonde along with an IPA. They are set to release a third in spring 2023.Though categorized as nonalcoholic, since Kit’s brewing process does not include removing alcohol, it still contains a scant 0.5%. Many standard craft beers can have an alcohol content as high as 15%.Nonalcoholic beer is certainly not new, but Fisher says he hopes that by creating this first-in-the-state craft brewery and tackling the taste problem, they can brew a better beer and a different kind of attitude.”And so the mindset we think of is having an NA beer, not that you have to drink but want to drink it,” said Fisher.Fisher says the process to reduce the alcohol requires equipment he does not have in Maine, so the actual brewing takes place in New York, but the company headquarters, along with marketing and packaging, all happens in Portland.Kit currently serves about 6,000 different accounts.
A craft beer company in Portland is setting itself apart in a crowded field. Kit NA Brewing is the first and only craft beer company in Maine to brew only non-alcoholic beers.
“When Rob and I started, the problem we were trying to solve basically was making NA beer taste better,” said Will Fisher, founder of Kit NA Brewing.
Fisher says he believes that, after two years of testing, he and business partner Rob Barrett have solved that problem and that their beers taste like any regular beer.
“Our actual process is very much like regular strength beer. So, it’s the same ingredients, it’s really the same process just a little more control of time and temperature and fermentation but generally, it’s the same principle,” said Fisher.
Fisher is well-versed in the beer-making process. His company also owns Portland’s Austin Street Brewery and produces more than four dozen varieties of alcoholic beer. Kit is his first venture into nonalcoholic drinks, but he says the market is huge.
Fisher and Barrett decided to get into the nonalcoholic business after making personal choices to cut back on their own alcohol consumption. Barrett says he actually gave it up completely in 2019, though both still enjoy the taste of a good beer. And they say research shows a lot of people in the same position.
“There’s folks who abstain from drinking completely so they choose nonalcoholic products. There are people that switch back and forth — the term is called ‘striping’ which is drinking regular beer sometimes, sometimes drink an NA beer — and I fall into that category myself,” said Fisher.
Kit currently sells two beers, an American Blonde along with an IPA. They are set to release a third in spring 2023.
Though categorized as nonalcoholic, since Kit’s brewing process does not include removing alcohol, it still contains a scant 0.5%. Many standard craft beers can have an alcohol content as high as 15%.
Nonalcoholic beer is certainly not new, but Fisher says he hopes that by creating this first-in-the-state craft brewery and tackling the taste problem, they can brew a better beer and a different kind of attitude.
“And so the mindset we think of is having an NA beer, not that you have to drink but want to drink it,” said Fisher.
Fisher says the process to reduce the alcohol requires equipment he does not have in Maine, so the actual brewing takes place in New York, but the company headquarters, along with marketing and packaging, all happens in Portland.
Kit currently serves about 6,000 different accounts.
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