13 May 9 - 15, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents J amie Fulton sits at a table on the second floor of Community Beer Co. near floor-to-ceiling win- dows that overlook a large court- yard and cornhole pit. It’s all empty at 9 a.m. on a gray weekday. There’s a scent of hops in the air. Fulton is muscular and lean and is rather serious but friendly. His laptop is on the table in front of him along with about a dozen cans of nonalco- holic beer sweating from the humidity in the building. Fulton is the head brewer at Community and has been since its inception in 2013. The Dallas-based brewery has grown to be one of the top independent beer producers in the state. Community’s IPA, Mosaic, a delight- fully hop-ish beer, helped convert many Dal- lasites to craft beer with its balanced floral and citrus notes. Along with Revolver’s Blood and Honey, Peticolas’ Velvet Hammer, Lakewood’s Temptress and Deep Ellum’s Dallas Blonde, it, arguably, led the craft beer charge in Dallas. Imbibers have happily waded in their frothy waters ever since. During the pandemic, Community moved into this large modern space just west of Interstate 35 and north of down- town. It’s a full-production facility — all their beer is produced, packaged and sealed with a kiss here — and there’s a restaurant and taproom. On weekends, doodle dogs and their families fill the courtyard. We’d initially called Fulton to talk about a growing trend of nonalcoholic (NA) offer- ings from local brewers; what’s driving the trend, and how is it working out? Only, we heard something we didn’t expect. “I’m completely sober,” Fulton said. He didn’t lead with this point. Under- standably, any brewer might hold their sobri- ety card close to their chest, especially one who attended the Siebel Institute of Technol- ogy’s lauded brewing program and won six Great American Beer Festival awards (in- cluding one for their NA beer) and two World Beer Cup medals. He wanted to steer the conversation toward the proprietary brewing method he and his team created to craft a new style of nonalcoholic beer, which we’d get to. But first … What was that? “So I stopped drinking,” he offered up. “I had some liver issues, and I was flirting around with just drinking less, and it did not matter to my liver if I drank less or more. It’s really just bad genetics.” Fulton’s dry journey started with a life in- surance policy. He’s married and the father of three boys. He wanted to make sure his family would always be taken care of. So a medic came to the brewery one day to draw blood as part of the insurance application, and the results showed his liver enzymes were “through the roof.” “So yeah, a red flag,” Fulton said. “My doctor was like, ‘All right, well, let’s have you stop drinking for a month.’ And my enzymes went back to normal. So then I tried adding just a little bit back in, but no, my liver just does not like alcohol. My doctor pretty much said I just have a bad gene for drinking alcohol.” It took a while to get his head — and spirit — around not drinking. He tried to ignore it, but realized that wasn’t a long-term solu- tion. And he does admit that before his liver threw out the warning signals, he drank more than he should have at times. To get his liver healthy, he’d have to abstain, minus tasting beer as part of the development pro- cess, seeing as he’s a brewer. Was he worried about his job? “Absolutely,” he admitted, stone-cold so- berly. “That’s been my identity.” All Hopped Up Kevin Carr is the founder of Community Brewing. Imagine running one of the largest craft breweries in the state and moving into a huge new facility, only to learn that your head brewer, who has been with you since day one, is no longer drinking. “My initial reaction was more on the per- sonal side,” Carr said. “First, as a friend, lis- ten to the reasons for it. But I, of course, wondered how that would affect the busi- ness moving forward.” Fulton assured him it wouldn’t affect what they do, and Carr, knowing Fulton’s drive, never questioned him. “He’s an expert at flavorings and the technical sides of brewing. We only pretty much had the one conversation about it and never really talked about it again,” Carr said. Fulton still tastes beer — and, yes, swal- lows — to experience the mouthfeel and af- tertaste. And he’s continued to expand beer operations with many new releases. He isn’t the only one cutting back, though. In fact, Fulton is on trend. Overall, younger adults in the United States are drinking less. A Gallup study that looked at drinking trends over several years found that 62% of adults ages 18–34 said they drink, which is down from 72% two de- cades ago. And of those, only 13% admitted to “overdrinking,” down from 21% in 2001– 03. They’re also drinking fewer drinks: 3.6 per session in 2021–23 versus 5.2 drinks in 2001–03. While some categories of drinkers are ab- staining, many are just drinking less. This suggests that, although a glass of soda water might wet your whistle, imbibers still crave the nuance, mouthfeel and craftsmanship found in a beer or cocktail, just without the side effects. The organization International Wine and Spirit Research studies beverage trends and predicts a 9% growth in the nonalcoholic market in the period 2022–26, outpacing a 5% jump in the category 2018–22. The data also shows the U.S., in addition to Australia and France, has the highest proportion of “millennial new entrants” in the low-alcohol category. Boomers account for the lowest proportion of “new entrants” in the low-al- cohol market in the U.S. Perhaps more telling, Neilsen and CGA, a global information services company, found that “better for you products,” wellness, moderation in consumption and nonalco- holic choices are leading beverage trends. Additionally, Numerator, a data | CITY OF ATE | t Dish Alison McLean Dallas’ Sober Brewer and His Immaculate Timing As young adults tap the breaks on drinking — but not socializing — breweries are adjusting beverage lineups. Some in innovative ways. Some for personal reasons. BY LAUREN DREWES DANIELS Jamie Fulton is the head brewer at Community Beer Co. and also completely sober. >> p14
