New Zealand's most awarded craft brewery, Garage Project, is about to launch its first low-carb beer, Good Shout, a couple of years behind most craft breweries.
"Our approach is that if you're going to turn up late to the party, you better bring something awesome," said Garage Project Head brewer and co-founder Pete Gillespie.
"It's taken us almost 18 months of research and exhaustive trial brewing for us to get this beer to exactly where we wanted, which is to create a beer that people wanted to drink rather than resort to drinking."
Good Shout is a beer that boasts nutritional statistics that are right up there with the best in the market, but all backed up with an outstanding balance of hop character and drinkability.
Good Shout is dry hopped with a blend of New Zealand-grown Nelson Sauvin and hand-selected American Citra and Simcoe hops, giving it a fantastic bright passionfruit and white grapefruit aroma.
Gillespie continued that a lot of low-carb beers taste thin and watery. The trick with Good Shout is that it's full-flavoured and super drinkable. It's perfect for people wanting a low-carb option without sacrificing flavour and hop character.
"We've used a complex mix of brewing techniques and natural enzymes to make Good Shout more than 99 per cent carb-free. We've also engineered it to have less than 20 parts per million of gluten, which is great news for people who find that normal beers don't agree with them."
Good Shout comes at around 90 calories per can and a modest four percent alcohol by volume.
"We're late to the party, but we reckon this beer was worth the wait."
Two years ago, Garage Project was late to the no-alcohol party with its Tiny no-regrets no alcohol hazy. The company was late because it took the brand years to get the recipe right. But now Tiny accounts for over 30 percent of no-alcohol beer sales in New Zealand and is Garage Projects' single biggest-selling beer.
The health-conscious or wellbeing section of the beer market is essential, rapidly growing and represents a significant component of the industry's future. Good Shout will become a staple of the Garage Project lineup.
Despite its early days, Garage Project has had a strong interest in Good Shout from major supermarket chains and retailers. It will be supplying it progressively from the first of September.
