The Rise of Really, Really Low-Alcohol Beer in America | The New York Times

Photo: Desmond Picotte / The New York Times

American brewing excels at extremes, delivering heavyweight stouts and potent hazy IPAs, as well as nonalcoholic beers that are growing in quality and sales. But I've always felt there was something missing in that middle ground between nothing and something, beers in that 2 and 3 percent range that deliver interesting flavor without inebriation.

Lower-alcohol beers are staples in Scandinavia and England, but they've been hard to come by in America. But as the craft brewing industry matures, breweries are increasingly seeing how low they can go and still offer compelling flavor.

For my latest article in The New York Times, I look at how breweries are increasingly exploring this temperate territory.