Sam Adams launches first booze-free IPA — and a device to help consumers monitor their drinking habits

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Samuel Adams is entering the non-alcoholic beer category.

The Boston-based brewer announced Thursday the launch of its non-alcoholic IPA, Just The Haze, which alleges to mimic the taste of the hop-forward beer, minus the alcohol. It’s the latest brewery to lean into the no- and low-alcohol beverage sector as more consumers seek out booze-free beverages.

The recipe, which was developed over two years, is said to have the aroma and flavor profile of a "juicy hazy IPA," and has a full-bodied finish, Sam Adams writes.

In honor of Sam Adams' new non-alcoholic beer, the brewery has debuted an "Insulated Pacing Device" to help signal drinkers that they should switch to a non-alcoholic option. (Samuel Adams)

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"We knew we had to do something big to introduce our first non-alcoholic beer to drinkers nationwide," Matt Withington, Director of Marketing at Samuel Adams said in a statement. "We brewed countless iterations before arriving at the rich, complex and balanced beer that is Just The Haze: an uncompromising, world-class IPA that just happens to be non-alcoholic."

But that's not all Sam Adams has up its sleeve. For sober-curious beer drinkers, the brewery is also launching a beer-cooling device called an Insulated Pacing Apparatus (or an I.P.A.) that alerts drinkers to pace themselves — by switching to a non-alcoholic beverage, of course — after every second beer. The device works via built-in motion sensors that activate a series of lights and a vibrating mechanism for "signaling to drinkers that it’s the perfect time to swap in a Just The Haze non-alcoholic IPA to help extend their drinking session."

Fans of the idea can currently enter to win one of the Insulated Pacing Apparati at SamuelAdams.com/pacewithtaste.

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A number of big breweries have also launched non-alcoholic beverages in recent months. Guinness last year launched its first alcohol-free beer, Guinness 0.0, with plans for a wider release this year. And Anheuser-Busch InBev-owned Budweiser also launched its namesake Budweiser Zero, an alcohol-free lager made to taste like Budweiser, but with zero grams of sugar.