Next Draft

Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

WORCESTER — A brewery that makes its name putting out deceptively boozy ales and stouts seemed a strange place to sample my first nonalcoholic beer.

Greater Good Imperial Brewing Co. isn’t releasing an NA beer, of course; that would be wildly off-brand for America’s first all-imperial brewing company. But Soul Purpose Brewing, its sister brewery, will this week.

A New England IPA, “NANA,” or Not all Need Alcohol, debuted Wednesday starting as a draft-only offering in Greater Good’s 55 Millbrook St. taproom. Later, Soul Purpose will release it in 12-ounce cans.

I could not have envisioned a better introduction to the world of alcohol-free beer than by enjoying one created by a brewery in my backyard. One weekday morning last week — 10 a.m. to be exact — I joined Meredith McNamara, co-director of operations at Greater Good and Soul Purpose, and Sean Casey, director of business development, for the tasting in a quiet taproom.

McNamara brought out a growler of NANA and poured three glasses. NANA had all the haze I would expect to see from an NE IPA, craft beer’s most popular style. The light citrus flavor and soft creamy feeling on my palate contributed to the illusion, too.

McNamara’s proud of the way NANA drinks. Most NA beers she tries feel thin after each sip. “Even though alcohol doesn’t have a gravity (density) per se, it still has a mouthfeel. You feel and taste the difference with beer that has no alcohol,” she said.

NANA contains less than 0.5% alcohol, but still leaves you believing you’ve imbibed something of substance. You don’t feel full, but satisfied. After draining two glasses, I felt hydrated.

McNamara developed the recipe for NANA in-house. The brewing happened at Brewmasters Brewing Services, the Williamsburg contract brewer that early on made most of Greater Good’s beer, because it has the technology to strip the alcohol from the beer through reverse osmosis. Simply put, the process uses a membrane to filter alcohol from the beer without compromising taste, smell or look.

“Other breweries have tried boiling off the alcohol post fermentation, but you can taste the difference,” McNamara said. “This gives you a true beer flavor without the alcohol.” After fermentation, it took an additional week for Brewmasters Brewing to remove the alcohol. After that, brewers started dryhopping. NANA called for Citra, El Dorado, Idaho 7 and a little Mosaic for its hop profile.

Soul Purpose had one test batch that it decided to dump because the beer wasn’t hazy. McNamara said she didn’t even taste it. “The struggle was to keep the beer hazy, because when you’re stripping the alcohol out, a lot of the particles that make it hazy are also being stripped,” McNamara said. “We needed trial and error to determine when exactly we dry-hop and what yeast strain we use to maintain the haze and make it a good quality beer with the correct mouthfeel we’re after.”

That a local NA beer even exists for me to taste speaks to how fast the category has grown in recent years. Just two years ago, you could not find one craft brewery in Massachusetts brewing one. Five years ago, there were no independent craft breweries in the country with an NA beer.

In 2018, a new brewery emerged in Stratford, Conn., touting full-flavored NA beers for runners, bikers, hikers and just about anyone with an active lifestyle. Athletic Brewing Co. has since shattered all expectations for how well NA beers can sell, helping to fuel the category’s rise. Last year, NA beer sales were up over 24% to around $236 million in stores, market data show. And Athletic has said it holds a 50% share of the entire NA beer segment.

Strong as they are, NA beer sales still only represent around 6% of the overall beer market, even as new brands seemingly arrive on the shelves every day, similar to the start of the hard seltzer craze. Old NA beer staples from domestic breweries have more competition from craft beer. It’s a trend that has changed people’s opinions of beer without alcohol, which historically has not been known for its nuanced taste.

“Craft players have definitely pushed the market in new directions,” said Bart Watson, chief economist for the U.S. Brewers Association. “Whereas at one point this was a category that was all about what it lacked (alcohol), now flavor is a driver for many consumers as well.”

Soul Purpose’s foray into NA beer was almost destined, given Greater Good created the sister brewery so it could play around with lower alcohol beers.

Casey had the idea to brew NANA after seeing demand for NA brews increase from distributors and, surprisingly, within Greater Good’s taproom.

“Being out in the trade, you’re seeing a lot of national brands with nonalcoholic beers. From a local side of things, we saw an opportunity, though,” he said. “For us, it was an easy risk, because we have the opportunity to trial it out and see where it goes.”

That demand may have even extended to the brewhouse: McNamara has participated in Dry January for the last two years and periodically cuts alcohol out of her diet. “Being in an all-imperial brewery, you drink a lot of alcohol,” she said. “And sometimes it really weighs you down, so you need that reset.”

But Soul Purpose isn’t marketing NANA solely to people looking to purge alcohol completely from their lives. Instead, McNamara said, the message is NANA can help craft beer drinkers integrate more alcohol-free options into their routines.

I love that philosophy.

Maybe it means I always stock a six-pack of NA beer — starting with NANA — in my beer fridge. During football games and pizza nights, perhaps I crack open a couple in between the 8% alcohol IPA and 5% Italian pilsner.

“You don’t have to go completely dry. You don’t have to go cold turkey,” McNamara said. “Just tease it in once and a while.”

Soul Purpose Brewing, sister brewery to Worcester’s Greater Good Imperial Brewing Co., is set to release a nonalcoholic New England IPA this week. “NANA” (Not all Need Alcohol) will be available in the taproom first as a draft-only release. MATTHEW TOTA

Laura Benanti will host a free masterclass for Worcester high schoolers on March 18 at the Jean McDonough Arts Center's BrickBox Theater. JENNY ANDERSEON

Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

Even if you don’t know her by name, you know Laura Benanti — the Tony Award-winning actress and singer who is Worcester bound next month.

In addition to her Broadway roles in "My Fair Lady," "Gypsy," "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" and "Into the Woods," Benanti finds herself in the midst of a burgeoning television career. In her forthcoming Hulu series “Life & Beth,” she performs opposite Amy Schumer and Michael Rapaport. You may also recognize Benanti from hits like “Gossip Girl,” “Younger,” “Nashville,” “The Good Wife,” “Nurse Jackie," or her run as First Lady Melania Trump on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” There’s simply no escaping her.

I first saw Benanti perform in a 2016 revival of "She Loves Me" at Studio 54 in which she and Jane Krakowski played perfume salesgirls. Benanti stole the show with her wisecracking humor and a showstopper about vanilla ice cream. If I’m remembering correctly, I even picked up a double scoop on my way home.

Benanti’s upcoming visit is part of a new bi-annual concert series called Broadway in Worcester. The endeavor, spearheaded by local theater aficionado Eric Butler, will do more than just bring talented Broadway stars to our city. At Broadway in Worcester’s heart is an opportunity to foster collaboration between world-renowned talent and the area’s local high school and college performing arts students. Guests of the series will lead masterclass educational programs that include techniquedriven instruction, coaching, and an open forum for questions. "How much for this one-ofa-kind opportunity?" you ask.

The answer is: Free!

Thanks to the generous support of the George F. and Sybil H. Fuller Foundation, the educational workshop, a partnership between Broadway in Worcester, Worcester Public

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Worcester’s Ricky Duran performs during a concert last September at The Hanover Theatre. Duran’s debut album is “Space & Time.” STEVE LANAVA

Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

There’s always something surreal about watching someone you knew as a local musician elevate their career to the next stage. Listening to Ricky Duran’s debut album, “Space & Time,” it’s hard not flash back to a snippet of a set I caught years ago. I want to say it was Padavano’s Place, but the memory is dim. I don’t remember what songs he played. I remember how beautiful the timbre of his voice was, how exquisite his guitar work. “Lost in space and time,” sings Duran, on the song, “Star,” the second song on his new album. “Has it been so long?”

It has been. Over the past few years, Duran has been on a whirlwind journey: Moving to Austin, coming in 2nd on “The Voice,” being poised to begin the next phase of his career when COVID-19 interrupted everything. Duran’s music has been suspended in a liminal space for some time now, caught between being the extraordinarily gifted guy playing at a local restaurant and the guy millions of Americans rooted for on TV.

Perhaps, then, it shouldn’t be surprising that “Space & Time” seems to capture that weird in-between space, with songs that reflect on his pursuit of a career in music, and the relationships which have sustained that chase. He captures the strain of that pursuit, and the heartbreaks of varying sizes that accompany that pursuit. Throughout, his voice is warm and expressive, his guitar work delicate and affecting. In so many ways, he’s still that same guy playing a Worcester restaurant, but the album proves he’s something else now, too. Perhaps a secret we jealously hoarded here in Worcester, which this album now irrevocably shares with the world.

“Shine, I believe that it’s your time/This is where the stars align,” sings Duran, on the album’s opening number, “Shine,” co-written by Duran and Eric Paslay. “Colors catch across the sky /Shine, higher than you’ve ever flown/Farther than you’ve ever known/ Brighter than the first sunrise.”

There’s a deep blues groove to the song, one filled with urgency and a sort of hunger, the unmistakable resonance of a musician who wants to be heard, who can feel his outstretched fingers touch the edge of the horizon. When the song fades into “Star,” with its giddy romanticism, we find the album’s other polarity: “Falling faster now,” sings Duran, “ain’t trying to hide it/I don’t usually do this but, you got me feeling like a fool, for you.” This is a song about how love grounds us. It’s filled with a sweet-spirited, unabashed love, punctuated by a blistering guitar solo at the bridge. It’s interesting, then, when on the third song Duran takes the listener to “Selfish Love,” a song where the preceding songs’ polarities collide. The album’s persona feels torn between love and the desire for success, and an entwined sense of guilt and freedom that come with what he portrays as selfishness.

That’s not the entirety of the story, though, is it? It never really is. Duran pushes on from “Selfish Love” to the melancholy “Waiting On You,” a song he wrote for his late father, and to spread awareness of suicide prevention. It’s a sad, measured song, but Duran follows a strand of light throughout: “Cause steel road rails and paper trails/Will lead me back to you,” he sings, in the persona of his father. “Through the rain and all the pain/You got to push on through.” It’s a beautiful song, one where you find more layers the more you listen. What’s clear instantly, though, is the sheer, unabashed affection that permeates the song. Even amid tragedy, love burns bright in Duran’s songs, and he makes no bones about it being a driving force in his life. Still, the barn-burner that follows, “She’s Like Whiskey,” with its lighter touch and catchy hooks, is a welcome respite.

Duran picks up the thread from “Selfish Love” again with, “As the Sun Goes Down,” a straightforward, old-school blues song, although in this scenario, the persona is the one who’s been left, not the other way around: “Well someday, someday baby,” sings Duran, “You’re gonna wake up missin’

Country musician Stan Matthews recently covered Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart.”

UNLEASH THE LENS PHOTOGRAPHY

Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

A good love song can be a thing of absolute joy. It can fill the heart with warmth and resurrect long-gone cherished moments: The song that was playing the first time you were kissed, the song that was playing in the restaurant the day you got engaged, the song you danced to at your wedding. For fear of quoting Paul McCartney, what’s wrong with that? Absolutely nothing.

However, let’s be honest: The love-gone-wrong songs are the most fun. Sure, John Legend’s “All of Me” is a moving work of beauty, but sometimes, you just want to scream Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know” at the top of your lungs. Come Valentine’s Day, some people are looking for just the right mood music for a romantic evening, while others are looking for something a bit more … cathartic.

For those folks, there are any number of options – we’ve made numerous recommendations in the past – but local country artist Stan Matthews’ recent take on post-punk legends Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” should definitely be on your playlist.

It’s a stripped down rendition, where Matthews channels the song's sense of disorientation – best captured in late singer Ian Curtis’ vocals – and brings it down to a rough, human level. The song’s original version may well be the gold standard for anti-Valentine’s sentiments, but Matthews here presents a rendition that’s both grounded and wistfully affecting.

In a lot of ways, Matthews has found a country song nestled in the heart of the 1980 classic. Lines that radiate a sort of detached disaffection in the original seem here brooding and heartbroken: “When routine bites hard,” sings Matthews, drawing out each line slowly, “And ambitions are low/And resentment rides high/But emotions won't grow/And we're changing our ways/Taking different roads/ Then love, love will tear us apart again/Love, love will tear us apart again.”

Admittedly, it’s almost impossible to compare a cover to a song that iconic, but Matthews brings a lot of soul and heart to the melody, and on a lonely Valentine’s Day, that can definitely resonate.

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me/Cause I’ll be doin’ sold out shows/And you’ll be watching on TV.”

For all its spite, though, Duran imbues the song with a sense of loneliness, singing, “Am I destined to be/Alone until the day I die?/It’s just me and my guitar/Until they put me in the ground.” It’s a slightly different scenario than “Selfish Love,” but the resultant choices – love or music –remain the same. “Circles” deepens the theme, but tilts the balance toward the relationship: “I’m coming home to you/As long as you leave that key baby, outside that door.” The sense of absence is implied throughout the song, but never spelled out. Still, as the album progresses, it becomes obvious that the polarities presented at the beginning of the album are, in truth, a false choice. Both are worth fighting for.

The album’s penultimate song, “She Closed Her Eyes,” written for his late mother, is emotionally gutting as a single, but here, in the context of all this struggle and conflicted hearts, it serves to put everything before it into context “Now the stars shine a path to find my way,” sings Duran, in what is easily the album’s most moving song, “Cause’ I got an angel watching over me.” The song parallels the earlier “Waiting On You,” of course, but it also has a way of refracting light on all that’s come before it.

“She gave me her hand,” sings Duran. “Told me to love again/Said son live the best life/A life that you can/And I’m standing here/With no fuel to run on/She closed her eyes/ Mama closed her eyes.” In that moment of grief, Duran’s persona reveals love as being the thing that fuels his efforts, not something that needs to be eschewed in favor of success. The album closes with, “A Woman Like Her,” the original song he performed on “The Voice.” It brings us full circle to the the flashpoint of his burgeoning success, but it’s also an unapologetic love song: “I’d be a walking disaster/An unhappily never after/If she hadn’t come and wrecked all my plans.” The end brings us to the beginning of the story, and while he takes a subtle road getting there, the album ends with a sense of possibility, of something more looming just across the horizon.

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Schools and The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts, will be free for high school and college aged students and their fine arts educators.

If you would like to see Benanti in story and song, the experience will cost you between $82 and $132 — a steal by Broadway standards. According to Butler, “Laura is one of the American theater’s most celebrated performers. Moreover, she is one of Broadway’s biggest champions of arts education, racial justice and social equity. Her talents, passions, and priorities go unrivaled. We couldn’t be prouder to have her join us in Worcester for this inaugural event with her esteemed musical director and accompanist Billy Stritch.”

To purchase tickets for “An Evening with Tony Award Winner Laura Benanti,” visit www.jmacworcester.org. The performance is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Friday, March 18 at the Jean McDonough Arts Center, BrickBox Theater, 20B Franklin St. Follow @BroadwayInWorcester on Instagram for more information.