Beers are amazing after hard bike rides, long runs, and intense weight sessions. But the cold lager you drink as you shower off after an epic adventure probably isn鈥檛 a great muscle-recovery substance.
Enter homebrewer and weightlifter Blake Konrardy, who聽wondered one day after a workout, if he could build what he calls a 鈥渞ecovery beer.鈥 See, most suds are crafted with low protein content by design. The brewing process removes naturally occurring proteins from the grains, since they can make the finished product cloudy. But protein is exactly what you need to build muscle after a hard workout.聽In September, after months of tinkering, Konrardy launched , which bottles a protein enriched wheat beer and a light lager. Konrardy is currently running a 聽to fund his 鈥済et swoll鈥 recipes. If all goes according to plan, he鈥檒l be rolling out regional production by early next year. He鈥檚 calling it Brewtein.
Brewtein鈥檚 clarity does suffer a bit, but creator Blake Konrardy聽promises it鈥檚 not thick like a protein shake, saying, 鈥淵ou鈥檒l never have to chew your beer.鈥
Brewtein is a 178-calorie wheat lager with Amarillo and Strisselspalt hops that includes more than the natural proteins found in typical beer, which includes about one gram of protein on average.聽Konrardy adds whey protein during the brewing process, injecting a 12-ounce bottle of聽Brewtein聽with seven grams of protein. Brewtein鈥檚 clarity does suffer a bit, but he promises it鈥檚 not thick like a protein shake, saying, 鈥淵ou鈥檒l never have to chew your beer.鈥澛
Konrardy is also offering a light option, called Nutribeer, which is finished with citrusy Cascade hops and has four grams of protein and only 122 calories. He says his beers are good enough for a craft beer enthusiast to enjoy, but that so far on Kickstarter his main backers have been the spandex wearing, protein-shake-cup toting, live-at-the-gym set.聽
Not everyone in the fitness community is convinced that protein beer is what you should be pounding after a hard gym session, either. Jeff Godin, a kinesiologist, certified sports nutritionist, and head of fitness education for Spartan Race, says he won鈥檛 be recommending beer as a recovery beverage anytime soon. 鈥淚鈥檓 pretty much thinking it鈥檚 a joke. It probably doesn鈥檛 have enough protein or carbohydrates to really give you what you need,鈥 he says. Godin also has concerns about whether the alcohol could change or denature the whey protein. Plus, he says, 鈥渁lcohol suppresses testosterone,鈥 which is crucial for muscle synthesis.
鈥淚f I鈥檓 going to have a beer, I鈥檓 going to have a beer because it tastes good, not because it helps me recover,鈥 says Godin.聽
But for the rest of us, at least there鈥檚 the option.