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Fill Your Beer Backpack with These Electrolyte Infused Brews

Fill Your Beer Backpack with These Electrolyte Infused Brews

Ever feel guilty about enjoying beer as much as you do? Don’t, or mitigate your guilt by drinking healthier, lighter, or more boutique beer brands! One approach is to try out an electrolyte beer. It may even make you feel healthier, but it will definitely give you one more reason to drink beer. Taking it on the trail or to the game means you’ll have replenishment and recreation in the same beverage, so electrolyte beers meshes well with IceMule's extensive line of backpack coolers, including the Pro collection.

These beers were built for athletes: racers, triathletes and players from every sport. But that doesn’t mean non-athletes can’t enjoy a healthier beer or a lower ABV every day of the week.

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If you’ve never heard of electrolyte beer, remember it’s still relatively new to the beer market. Also termed “wellness beers,” but by any name they are a brilliant addition to the beverage options for active (or guilty) beer lovers. Some folks even call them “recovery beers” since the added salts and lower alcohol by volume (ABV) are a foolproof way to get back on your feet after an intense game of soccer or long run.

Electrolytes, or salts and minerals, are what took Gatorade from a juice alternative to an international phenomenon. The job electrolytes do is to aid in nutrient absorption, metabolizing waste, and keeping the PH level balanced. Gatorade and other sports drinks throw in sugar to boost glucose levels in the blood, and some add caffeine to make you feel recovered. Electrolyte beers use some, but not all, of these tricks.

We suggest four beers to try for your new journey to healthier living through "electrolyte" brews. 

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  1. Zelus offers six choices, incluing an IPA, pale ale, and mild ale. In addition, the Zelus company has crafted a feistbeer, porter and hopped white ale. All include essential salts: potassium, magnesium and sodium. They’ve thrown in some calcium since most of us don’t get enough. 
  1. Go Play IPA bills itself as a sports juice with tropical and dank aromas that include several dry hop additions. But they don’t leave any minerals behind, either, and every can includes sodium and potassium. This IPA keeps ABV at a reasonable 5.5% and comes in handy six-pack cans for easy transport and cooler packing.

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  1. If you want to go low in ABV, the Harpoon from Rec League is a limited edition with only 3.8% ABV and a light, crisp flavor. With hints of mango, grapefruit, orange and papaya, it is refreshing and revitalizing. At only 120 calories, it’s not filled with electrolytes but does include sea salt. Its super low alcohol and calorie count to make it light and hydrating.
  1. Sufferfest is one of the titans of craft wellness beers, and created electrolyte beer infusions way back in 2016. The athlete-founder named it sufferfest for good reason--it’s all about suffering, and the post-suffering festivities. The FKT (fastest known time) pale ale is still in production, and is brewed with black current and iodized salt in an ABV profile of 5.5%. With 96 mg of sodium the flavor is never compromised, but the suffering will end when you pop open your first icy cold FKT after the race is done.