Pat’s Backcountry Beer: Ultralight Beer from Concentrate for Weight-Conscious Backpackers

I've tried Pat's Black Hops. I liked it, once I realizes it wasn't a porter (which I thought I had purchased). I agree it's not stellar, but it is good. I plan on taking the whole setup (along with several beer packets) on long caving/hiking trips where I am worried about weight, but REALLY want some beer with me.

I was about a paragraph into it and wondered, "Did Paul M write this?" Yup.

"The more beer is made, the cheaper the pint is to make overall."

Spoken like a true beer drinker.

Paul,

This is a great review and it reminds me why I'm not a writer. I have given Pat's Beer multiple tries on 2 trips. Your review really nails it as I may not have been so kind. I appreciate Pat's Noble effort but I agree that I'd rather pack a couple of cans of the real thing… or just bring some good whiskey or Scotch if you must. I'm hoping Palcohol pans out though. Hey, maybe "Pat's Palcohol?" It has a catchy ring to it.

Anyone tried to make it in a nalgene? If that was sustainable without blowing up your bottle the whole deal would be much more appealing.

As a backpacker and brewer, this intrigued me. As a backpacker, I love the idea of having beer on the trail and occasionally being a high gravity beer among my gram weenie gear. As a brewer, I have been pretty skeptical of this idea. Beer flavors can be delicate and can change with very small changes in process. Dehydrating a beer seems like a flavor killer for beer. But you have my interest anyway

"Anyone tried to make it in a nalgene?"
I've read about people shaving a lot of weight off this system. I think it's been done in a pop bottle but it's been a while since I've research this so I forget the sources.

yea…this is a tuff nut 2 crack.
with no real weight savings, wheres the incentive?

the big day came when our local southern oregon craft brewer began canning, perhaps the first on the west coast to do so, a decade ago(!) in 2005. since then i have been able to philosophically justify the 13oz weight gain, for short trips anyhow.

Replacing my 7lb backpack with a 1.5 pounder can make a philosopher out of anyone,
(especially after one of these ales after a steep uphill slog on a hot day w an empty stomach!]. and how sweet it is to crush the can and pack it out…

I think I'd rather drink the beer I sneak into someone else's pack. Really save some weight.

"I think I'd rather drink the beer I sneak into someone else's pack. Really save some weight."

Worked well in the Eiger Sanction!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072926/quotes

Ben Bowman: Wanna Beer?
Jonathan Hemlock: You gonna call room service?
Ben Bowman: We got beer.
Jonathan Hemlock: If you hauled beer up this rock you're insane!
Ben Bowman: I may be insane, but I'm not stupid. I didn't carry it, you did! It's in your pack.
Jonathan Hemlock: Christ, I ought'a throw you off this pillar! Besides, it's warm.
Ben Bowman: Oh I'm sorry, I thought you'd draw the line on haulin' ice.

:)

re: bottle

From my understanding, the bottle is heavier and thicker to withstand the carbonation process. OTOH, I have not tried other plastic bottles directly.

re: dehydrated beer

Just to clarify, this is NOT dehydrated beer. It is more like beer concentrate. Think a yeasty-hoppy-malty Goo packet with alcohol!

How's it taste on its own?? Lol :)

I would think that carbonating the beer in soda bottles would be no problem. After all, they hold carbonated drinks.

I read somewhere that there is extra activator powder left after carbonation, which the little blue "reaction cup" holds and keeps from getting into the beer. Is this true? If so, I'm thinking a teabag or similar could be used with the soda bottle in lieu of the reaction cup. If not, then just dump the activator into the bottle, shake, and enjoy!

Brewing beer in a Nalgene was discussed in this thread.

I tested Pat’s brew in a Nalgene and used a loose tea, tea bag to hold the activator. It worked fine. I actually prefer to use a small (500 ml) coke bottle as that seems to be a better volume and carbonates better than the Nalgene.

I’m not an expert in beer quality but for me it’s a case of being “good enough” considering the low weight penalty.

If I had to take Pat’s bottle it wouldn’t be worth the extra weight. The pop bottle is the lightest option and I like to use it for water anyway, so it’s not extra weight.

the teabag idea looks neat. Have to try it out…maybe this weekend. Still, the beer is OK. If I am thinking of packing in beer, I am not that concerned with weight . :) A can of really good beer vs an OK beer, light as it is, may be a good trade off. We will see!

As Ben Franklin said, "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

And this grand innovation is proof that God loves backpackers.

>> If I am thinking of packing in beer, I am not that concerned with weight <<

The weight of the beer is only part of the problem. If I took the good stuff I'd need a bigger pack… Unfortunately, the cans are really bulky compared to the little packages of Backcountry beer.

I once saw a guy hiking with a really huge pack and to make it worse he had strapped a 12 pack of beer to the back of his pack (he walked with a pronounced forward lean to compensate for the beer being so far back on his pack). From the look of the guy I suspect it was only extra weight for the first night :)

"If I took the good stuff I'd need a bigger pack… "

Interesting.

My sub-1lb pack of choice is a Kumo with a BPW of ~7 or 8 lbs.

I have packed in two cans of beer for an overnight (or the first night of a 3 day/2 night trip). Believe it or not, one time the second can was me being nice for a friend! :)

Just how much beer do you need to pack? ;)

I enjoy beer, but if I am doing more than a night or two, the beer can wait until I am done. And I am saying this as a guy who does a hiking and beer podcast no less!

A couple friends of mine brought a bunch of this with them into the Boundary Waters earlier this fall. When you start talking about a bunch of guys who each want to have a couple beers every night the weight of this system compared to the weight of multiple six or 12 packs of beer the choice is clear.

Sam,

That is excellent beer math! :D

Being serious, as I pointed out in the review, the more beer you take and/or the long you are in the backcountry, the more this system makes sense.

I think for anything with more camp time it makes sense as well.

Has a niche for sure…

Mags, you had me sold when you used the word beer.

Also, I’m posting the link to Mike W.’s thread again in case anyone missed it above. It makes this stuff look very desirable from a weight perspective.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=92908

Thanks for the review. I'd been curious about this product and whether the beer was any good, but had been turned off by the need to buy/carry a special bottle.

Knowing that the beer itself is okay is important, but y'all really got my attention with the talk of using soda bottles and loose leaf tea bags in place of the bottle. My curiosity is now sufficiently piqued to seek out some of the beer mix and carbonation packets and start tinkering.

Yeah that thread is where I saw the pop bottle. The weight drop and ability to not buy the $40 bottle is attractive, although the brews aren't offered in Canada that I know of.

Old post but a favorite topic! I have used Pat’s Backcountry Brew for a few years now. I prefer the Black Hops (tastes better with warm water). It has been on several BWCA and Quetico trips. The carbonator top is standard with Nalgene and CamelBack bottles. I have mixed in both types (rigid plastic), without problems. I usually take the Pat’s bottle for trail water treatment, 

Sawyer Mini, tube draw thru filter in PBCB bottle with a Camelback top. Makes good cabonated soft drinks also, 

Multipurpose use made the carrying more sensible

KM.

I know this post and most of the comments are old, but I thought I’d throw in my two cents and also address the questions about making it in a Nalgene or PET bottle.

I picked up a rack of Pat’s — 8 pouches of each of the beers, including the American Logger that came out after this article was written. I couldn’t find it locally, so I got that many pouches to make the per-pint shipping cost at little less painful (being in Alaska, the only options were UPS and FedEx, which start around $30 on the cheap end, so my cost per pint was considerably higher).

My take on the beer – it was neat as a novelty, and fun to have had one of each of the brews on an outing with friends, made high in the Kenai Mountains with cold filtered (MSR) mountain water. :) I achieved great carbonation with the second batch (pale), but the first (black IPA) and third (lager) were not so great. Preparation/carbonation may have been a factor, but I liked the pale best, followed by the black IPA and then the lager.

That’s not to say I particularly liked them. After having each, I decided that they all tasted like beer-flavored vodka and lacked any body. That was the big issue for me, the total lack of body. The packet should have had the consistency of Gu, but instead it was watery. Beer-flavored vodka is easier to pour into the bottle, yes, but it made the beers in line with a lite lager macrobrew rather than anything appropriate for the style. (The American Logger was appropriate to style in the way, but the pale and IPA were not.)

I will continue to use the pouches until they’re gone. After that, I would either not bring any booze with me (really, I’ve never had the need to do so) or, if I just had to have something, either bring a can of a local (wherever I am) craft beer or booze depending on how long I was going to be out. I doubt I’ll buy the alcoholic pouches again, though I may try the NA flavors or use alternative flavorings. I’d also make my own activator packs to reduce the cost and save on packaging.

On that second point, no, that wouldn’t work, at least not with this system. The issue is that the bottle is four pieces, one of which is a little test tube like thing that holds the activator chemicals. The carbon dioxide from that inner chamber goes into the beer, but the chemicals do not. While both are probably safe to consume alone and after they’ve reacted, they are not intended to be mixed with the beer and would meaningfully change the flavor.

That said, with some other equipment, you could try to force carbonate in a PET bottle. To do this you would need a bottle carbonator cap (with ball lock top), portable ball lock carbonator that uses CO2 cartridges (usually used to dispense from kegs, not force carbonate, but you’d need one with a regulator — important!), and a CO2 canister. The problems are that (a) the CO2 canister could very easily overload (i.e., explode) the bottle if you haven’t spent the money on one with a regulator and (b) the force carbonation, as with Pat’s, will work but not quickly, and it would still not give you carbonation like commercial or homebrewed beer (which would be packaged in a PET bottle and carbonated for the required amount of time with a CO2 tank).

If you find these pouches locally, you might wait to buy the rest of the system until you’ve tried them. Just pick up the pouches and a bottle of club soda, mix, and see if you enjoy.

I’d rather take good sippin’ whiskey for a multiday trip if so inclined.

I’ll pack a good beer for an overnighter.

http://www.pmags.com/backcountry-beverages-adult-libations

Pat’s is OK. But there are better options IMO.