I’d like to think that U.S. airlines are, at least to some extent, in line with passengers when it comes to the food and beverages they offer. All airlines have always offered a selection of soft drinks to choose from (although y’all who offer Diet Pepsi…ew.). Peanuts were phased out as snack items on Southwest as the prevalence of peanut allergies became more noted. And who can forget the backlash when United Airlines stopped serving Biscoff Cookies?
JetBlue, meanwhile, has always been an airline that does things a bit differently. Their snack selection was always forward-thinking, with gluten-free, nut-free and healthy options available long before they became mainstream. And now they’re the first ones to sell another popular food and beverage offering.
Non-alcoholic beer.
JetBlue has announced that, starting this month, it will be the first major U.S. airline to offer non-alcoholic beer as part of its inflight drink service. As announced in Simple Flying, they’re partnering with leading non-alcoholic craft beer maker Athletic Brewing Company, in order to offer, “a healthier alternative to traditional craft beers in flight that will allow [passengers] to enjoy the great taste of their favorite beverages without the side effects of consuming alcohol.”
A recent survey suggests that one-third of Americans are trying to drink less alcohol this year. Not coincidentally, year-to-date dollar sales of non-alcoholic beer are up 34%. So what better place to sell non-alcoholic beer than in a plane?
“In our continued effort to provide customers with an onboard experience customized to their needs and preferences, JetBlue is proud to be the first major U.S. airline to serve non-alcoholic beer,” said Mariya Stoyanova, director of product development, JetBlue. “We’re thrilled to partner with industry leader Athletic Brewing to offer our customers the refreshing, balanced taste of a classic craft Golden without the alcohol.”
The N.A. beer served on JetBlue will be Upside Dawn Golden beer. “Crisp with floral and earthy notes, it is made with premium Vienna malt and a combination of English and American hops.” It’s been described as a bright and light-bodied brew that has been crafted to remove gluten (Note: according to Athletic Brewing Co.’s website, “This product is fermented from grains containing gluten. The gluten content of this product cannot be verified, and this product may contain gluten.”)
Athletic Brewing is the most decorated non-alcoholic brewer in the world, and Upside Dawn, which contains 45 calories and 10 grams of carbohydrates, has won over a dozen international brewing awards for taste and quality.
Launched in 2018, Athletic Brewing developed a proprietary brewing method to craft its award-winning non-alcoholic beers. The company doesn’t rely on any alcohol removal techniques and fully ferments its brews to be less than 0.5% ABV, which is the legal limit for non-alcoholic beer in the U.S.
Non-alcoholic beer has been around for centuries. It was available in the U.S. during Prohibition (well, duh), when it was known as “near beer,” but didn’t reach the mainstream until the late 20th century, in the form of O’Doul’s. During the late 2010s and early 2020s, craft NA beer started becoming more popular, as it followed in the footsteps of its alcohol-laden craft beer brethren. Then Athletic Brewing came along.
And apparently, no other airline until now has considered offering a non-alcoholic beer onboard.
Dum-dums.
Upside Dawn costs $13.99/six pack on Athletic Brewing Co.’s website. No word on how much a single can will cost on JetBlue.
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