Founded in Glasgow in 2018 by Jason Clarke and Charlie Craig, Genius Brewing is on a mission to make healthier drinking a pleasure, not a compromise. Its award-winning low-calorie craft lager is already popular with health-conscious drinkers and you can read more about that here on The Write Taste.
The company has now launched its second light craft beer to meet the growing demand for healthier options. Gen!us India Pale Ale is a light, refreshing IPA. At 3% ABV, each 330ml can is exactly 1 unit of alcohol and contains only 79 calories - less than an apple! Echoing the distinctive gold Gen!us Craft Lager design, cans similarly feature industry-leading calorie, unit and nutrition labelling,
"Launching our second light craft beer is a big step forward for Genius Brewing on our journey to becoming the UK's number one light craft beer brand", says Jason Clarke.
Gen!us is similar to the light, refreshing craft beers prevalent in the USA. With the low and no-alcohol trend rising globally, lighter styles of beer with lower levels of alcohol and calories than traditional beers, are similarly relevant for the modern-day drinker. IPAs now make up 57% of all UK craft beer sales, according to latest figures (Nielsen). So, in addition to the lager, the time was clearly right for Genius to offer ale lovers a lighter alternative too.
Jason Clarke, co-founder of Genius Brewing says: "Now in our fourth year, the trend for healthier drinking is clearly growing rapidly. Together with our Gen!us Craft Lager, our new Gen!us IPA offers mindful drinkers a wider range of great-tasting light craft beers. Light beers dominate the US beer market. So, we believe that they will become a significant feature within the UK beer market too."
Gen!us India Pale Ale contains Mosaic, Simcoe, and Citra hops and is vegan-certified.
Appearance: light, bright gold with a decent frothy white head.
Nose: aromas of tropical fruit, citrus and crushed digestive biscuit.
Palate: hoppy and full of flavour with refreshing grapefruit and mango peel bitterness balancing the light, juicy tropical fruit character plus malt biscuit on the long finish.
Health-conscious consumers looking at restricting their alcohol and calorie intake still want to enjoy a great tasting beer. Charlie Craig, co-founder of Genius Brewing, explains further. "The craft beer revolution has raised people's expectations of quality, but it doesn't always fit with their healthy lifestyle. Gen!us light craft beers offer the best of both worlds: the pleasure of a true craft beer without all the booze and calories. We call it #SmartDrinking."
Clarke adds: "India Pale Ales are the classic craft beer, but traditionally have high ABVs of around 5% to 7% and a ton of calories - not remotely healthy! We wanted to offer IPA drinkers a lighter alternative which delivers that lovely citrus, hoppy flavour but with low calories and less alcohol."
Session IPAs with lower ABVs have become increasingly popular but 'session' is a phrase which Genius Brewing deliberately avoids. "Our #SmartDrinking ethos is all about moderation and smart choices", says Clarke. "Just because a beer has lower alcohol and calories doesn't mean it's just for 'sessions'. What's healthy or smart about that?"
Genius Brewing is the official fundraising partner of the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation. The brewery donates 5p from every can of Gen!us to support Scotland rugby legend Doddie Weir's mission to tackle Motor Neurone Disease.
Gen!us IPA is currently available online from the brewery's web shop and on Amazon. It will be rolled out to the UK on-trade and retail over the rest of 2022 and a trial launch in draft is planned too.
