“We are proud to drive responsible change within the beer industry, and we’re thankful to the farmers, suppliers, and retailers who are on this journey with us,” said Peter Skrbek, CEO of Deschutes Brewery, in a statement. “Their trust in Deschutes and Patagonia Provisions allows us the opportunity to source and scale organic and regenerative ingredients for our beers. We are also proud to be able to offer a full-fidelity non-alcoholic option brewed with Kernza. This will be the first organic non-alcoholic beer broadly available in the United States. 

“After more than five years of research and development into non-alcoholic technologies we recently made a significant investment to install Sustainable Beverage Technologies’ patented BrewVo system,” Skrbek continues. “We are thrilled to launch non-alcoholic Kernza Golden Brew and bring awareness of organic and regenerative organic agriculture to the non-alcoholic beer fan.”

Paul Lightfoot, general manager of Patagonia Provisions, added: “We sought to make radically responsible beer that delivers on our values with exceptional quality and approachable taste, brewed with organic and regenerative ingredients, and widely distributed across the U.S. There are thousands of craft breweries making amazing nationally available beers, but less than 1% of craft breweries make certified organic beer. Deschutes Brewery is one of them. In addition to being a world-class, award-winning independent brewery that prioritizes outdoor recreation, the community, and the environment, we believe Deschutes can bring organic beer mainstream. Our shared goal is to make damn good beers — and inspire more breweries to adopt organic and Regenerative Organic Certified ingredients.”

These premium beers are brewed with certified organic Kernza (a soil-saving, carbon-capturing perennial grain), certified organic Helios and Adeena hops, certified organic malted 2-row barley, and Regenerative Organic Certified rye. The ingredients for both brews are grown in ways that improve soil health, minimize erosion, preserve biodiversity, and protect waterways, the companies note. 

The Kernza Lager is 4.7% ABV and the Non-Alcoholic Kernza Golden Brew is less than 0.5% ABV. Deschutes brews all of its non-alcs in-house using Sustainable Beverage Technologies’ (SBT) patented BrewVo technology in combination with Deschutes’ proprietary brewing methods, it says. This groundbreaking technology allows Deschutes to gently remove alcohol from the beer, while retaining all of the flavors, aromas, mouthfeel, body and head retention the brewery’s award-winning beers are known for, it adds.

Patagonia Provisions and Deschutes work with Mad Agriculture to source organic Kernza from the Perennial Promise Grower’s Cooperative, a farmer-led ingredients company committed to scaling the impact of perennial grains and advancing regenerative and organic farming methods, they note. The Regenerative Organic Certified rye is malted by Admiral Maltings; the organic 2-Row barley malt is sourced from Briess Malt & Ingredients Co.; the organic Adeena hops come from Roy Farms; the organic Helios hops from Hopsteiner; and Imperial Yeast supplies the organic yeast.

The Kernza Lager and Non-Alcoholic Kernza Golden Brew now are available nationwide in six-packs of 12-ounce cans at chain retailers, including Whole Foods Market, Sprouts Farmers Market, Kroger, Total Wine & More, Fred Meyer, Raleys, Frys, King Soopers, QFC, Smiths, select Albertsons and Safeway stores, as well as independent retailers. 

www.deschutesbrewery.com