Stashing a cold beer in the bottom of your pack at the beginning of an outing always seems like such a good idea. I鈥檓 going to really want this, you think as you squish it between your real trail necessities.
But by the time you arrive at camp after a long day hiking, that beer will undoubtedly have lost its luster, having warmed up and聽been shaken around all day. Suddenly, you feel foolish for hauling that extra 12-ounce weight up a mountain.
There are drawbacks to backpacking with booze. Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning it causes your body to produce more urine. That, in turn, dehydrates you. The more you drink the more water you鈥檙e going to need to drink to compensate. In fact, if you鈥檙e in a place where water is scarce, it鈥檚 smart聽to skip the booze completely.
But gathering around a campfire is obviously much more fun with an alcoholic beverage, and we鈥檙e here to show you how to do it in the best way possible. Since powdered alcohol isn鈥檛 set to hit shelves on a wide scale until sometime later this year (and when it does it will likely be heavily regulated), you鈥檝e got to be smart about how you want to get silly. Here we recommend the best ways to backpack with booze, whether you鈥檙e thinking of bringing a can of beer, a bottle of wine, or a handle of the hard stuff:
Liquor
It performs well even after a long day in the knapsack and keeps you warm at night. But if you鈥檙e thinking of schlepping liquor, skip the glass bottle. Pack plastic flasks (yes, I said flasks plural) or mini bottles. 鈥淭he mini bottles keep you from going overboard,鈥 says Mike Stevens, a former chef, avid outdoorsman, and man of incredible self control. Liquor also has the added benefit of giving you more bang for its weight than beer or wine, and every ounce counts on the trail.
Wine
Don鈥檛 even think about taking that 750ml glass bottle into the backcountry. The alternative, as you may have guessed, is packing a bladder pouch. But maybe a bellyful of Franzia Refreshing White at the end of a long day doesn鈥檛 sound appealing. No worries. Boxed wine is experiencing a surge of interest, and a corresponding , so you should be able to find a quality boxed cab. Or, if you鈥檙e feeling particularly adventurous, seek out canned wine. Yup, it鈥檚 now a thing. Denver鈥檚聽, for example, offers a white, a red, a moscato and a rose all in Red Bull-sized cans. 聽
Beer
It鈥檚 often the least attractive option because of its poor weight-to-drunk ratio, but new innovations are making beer a viable option on a backpacking trip. , for example, makes a beer concentrate which, when mixed with water in a water bottle and left to carbonate, makes a pretty convincing pale ale or stout. You鈥檒l need to buy the company鈥檚 special carbonator bottle ($39.95) if you want your hops with bubbles, but the end product is聽actually pretty good.