Most are familiar with Coors Light, Miller Light, Bud Light, Natural Light and Keystone Light.
But now craft brewers are tackling the definition of light beer and creating new brews that are not only low calorie or low in alcohol content, but also gluten free and environmentally conscious.
Tempe-based Four Peaks Brewing Company released Gilt Lifter in January. The brew is a low calorie and low ABV version of the brewery's flagship Kilt Lifter Scottish Ale.
Holidaily, a brewery in Colorado, recently introduced its gluten free beer to Phoenix, and Gilbert-based Arizona Wilderness Brewing Company's mission is to brew beer will as little impact on the environment as possible.
As consumers become increasingly more health and environmentally minded, craft brewers are creating new beers to meet that need and challenging the traditional definition of what it means to be a light beer in the process
"People seem to be shifting to healthier drinking, we are seeing that with the growth of seltzers," Zach Fowle, Four Peaks communications manager, says. "Craft breweries are realizing that there's a market."
Meet Four Peaks Gilt Lifter, a darker light beer
Four Peaks' Gilt Lifter, a new low calorie and low alcohol beer launched in January, pays homage in name and flavor to its predecessor, Kilt Lifter.
The brew is made to offer the same flavor but with only 99 calories per can, about 50% fewer calories than Kilt Lifter. The beer also clocks in at a much lower alcohol content, with 3.4% ABV opposed to Kilt Lifter's 6% ABV.
Brewing a low calorie beer is something the brewers at Four Peaks have been experimenting with for a couple of years, Fowle says.
"It's taken a while for craft brewers to come up with their own recipes to have craft beer flavor with less of an impact," he says.
While designed after Kilt Lifter, Gilt Lifter is made using a new recipe, Fowle says, and is actually a different style of beer. Gilt Lifter is a Scottish Light Ale, a beer style in the same family as Kilt Lifter and offers the same light, toasted caramel flavor.
One of the main differences between Gilt Lifter and traditional light beers is its color. Most light beers fall in the lager category but Four Peaks' low calorie brew is much darker, something Fowle hopes will help introduce customers to new styles of beer.
"We are seeing this beer placed in grocery stores not with the other Four Peaks beer but closer to the light beer section," Fowle says. "It's a good intro to Scottish Style Ale and darker, more malty beers."
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Holidaily brings gluten-free craft beer to Arizona
In addition to low calorie or low ABV beers, consumers also now have more options for low or no gluten beers at grocery stores around the state.
Holidaily Brewing Company is based out of Golden, Colorado. After expanding to grocery stores and pubs around the state, owner Karen Hertz decided to bring her beer to Arizona.
But her beer isn't just an out-of-state addition to Phoenix's local brewing scene, it's also entirely gluten free.
Hertz developed her gluten free beer after she was diagnosed with melanoma in 2007 and thyroid cancer in 2008. Hertz had worked at Coors for ten years and when her doctor prescribed a gluten free diet, she wasn't sure what to drink, she says.
"Working in beer, living in a big beer state, there were not a lot of gluten free options," Hertz says.
So in February 2016, she opened Holidaily with three beers on tap and a taproom open three nights a week. By the end of the year, the brewery had 10 beers on tap and two being distributed around Colorado.
A few years later, with a new production brewery built and a new distribution partnership, Holidaily has expanded into Arizona, it's first location beyond Colorado.
"It turns out that warm weather and beer go hand in hand," Hertz says, laughing. "But Arizona is a leader for a couple of reasons."
Shared love for an active and healthy lifestyle along with a growing love for craft beer made Arizona the perfect place to expand to, Hertz says. Another reason is the general lack of gluten free options for beer lovers, Hertz explains.
"The U.S. has 8,000 breweries and only 15 are dedicated gluten free," she says.
One of the reasons is making gluten free beer is difficult, Hertz says. The grains she uses, including millet and buckwheat, are much less efficient than barley. They're also a different size, meaning the brewing equipment must be customized.
But as the demand for gluten free products increases, Hertz's company continues to expand. She now sells Holidaily beer at 900 locations in Colorado and 75 in Arizona.
Customers can find her beer at locations of Whole Foods and Sprouts Valley wide along with smaller liquor stores and restaurants including Tops Liquors in Tempe, Jewel's Bakery and Cafe in Phoenix, Sun Devil Liquor in Mesa and Deli Sports Bar in Peoria.
Arizona Wilderness works to reduce environmental impact
For love of both beer and the environment, Arizona Wilderness Brewing Company is challenging the definition of light beer to include low impact brews.
At the Gilbert-based brewery, reducing the impact of beer production on the environment is not limited to just one beer. It is part of the company's philosophy, which includes constantly looking for ways to protect the Arizona wilderness.
The company creates beers with locally-grown barley, Arizona citrus and prickly pears, local hone,y and foraged ingredients like lavender and mesquite naturally growing around the state.
The company's new flagship beer, Don't F#%k It Up, can be bought in cans as of late April. Through creating this blonde ale, Arizona Wilderness brewers hope to support local honey bees by using wildflower honey from Valley Honey Co. and conserve water, according to the can.
The company's dedication to the natural world played a large part in why lead brewer Ashley Benson started working at the brewery.
"I love how we go the extra mile ethically, it really drew me," she says.
After starting as a hostess, making her way up to keg washer and now to lead brewer, Benson has an increasingly large role in Arizona Wilderness' conservation efforts.
She helped brew Human Kindness, a beer the Wilderness team experimented with early this year. The beer was gluten-reduced, low-impact and low ABV, ringing in at 2.3% ABV.
The beer was special as it spread a message of kindness, Benson says.
"It's about being kind to nature and the world and kind to your bodies," she says of the low gluten, low impact, low ABV beer.
And while Arizona Wildernesses brews constantly rotate, having an option for those who want to sip on a gentler pint is something Benson hopes to see continue.
"We have dabbled with low ABV beers, and we're trying to probably always produce or have on tap one low ABV beer," she says. "We are starting to hear more buzz and desire for it from our customers."
FOUR PEAKS:Four Peaks Brewing Company's Scottsdale pub has closed permanently
Reach the reporter at tirion.morris@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter at @tirionmorris, on Facebook at Tirion Rose and on Instagram at tirionrose.
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