Alaskan Made Dehydrated Beer?

[UPDATE:  September 9, 2013:   I'm fixing the old link on the image which doesn't work any more.  Here's an August 14, 2013 post on their site:

CARBONATOR
Availible now. Visit our online store to order yours today! You can also find a store near you through our store locator page.
SODA
Being sold now through our online store. You can also find a store near you through our store locator page.
BEER
We finally have our labeling approval from the Feds!  Packaging has been ordered, and beer is under production. Boo Ya! Check us out on Facebook to get a sneak peak of what the packets will look like."

Here's where the original post began a few years ago:]

At the Alaska Apple User Group meeting tonight at Loussac, there was a presentation by a website designer. Amongst the sites he's designed is one called Pat's Backcountry Beer.Click on the screenshot to go to the website.

I'm not sure it's exactly dehydrated.

Unlike other concentrate processes, we do not just make the beer and then "remove" the water afterwards (which is extremely energy inefficient). Instead, our process (patent pending) allows us to start with almost no water, and carefully control the environment of the fermentation. The result... concentrated beer with all the same great taste you're used to in a premium micro brew. All you do is add water, carbonate

And they haven't quite worked everything out:

We are in the late stages of perfecting our first (of many) commercial production beer concentrate recipes. We are refining it to our (patent pending) brewing technology, for maximum concentration, and maximum delicious goodness. This one is going to blow you away! Others have cautioned us to start with a beer of neutral ground character, but in the spirit of the Alaskan frontier and backcountry adventurer... we're coming out big and bold with this monster. We're sure you'll love it so much that we're guessing a few of you will be setting your tents up in the backyard just to make an excuse to indulge!

04.11.09

Wow! We knew there would be interest in a beer for the backcountry, but the enthusiastic response to our vision has overwhelmed us. Spring has sprung, but, unfortunately, we are not yet ready to outfit your outdoor adventures with Pat's Backcountry Beer. We are aggressively moving our business forward, and our goal remains to get Pat's into your hands as soon as possible. We've recently upgraded our equipment, and we continue to move forward through the elaborate licensing and permitting process. Thank you for your interest and patience.

Pat

Has no one ever dehydrated beer before? Will it really be someone from Talkeetna who makes this work first? I started googling. There does seem to be an interest in something like this. Here are a few references to dehydrated beer I found.

Troop 655 claims a dehydrated non-alcoholic drink for camping:

Subject: At last! Dehydrated beer
Taken verbatim from today's San Jose Mercury-News: CONSUMER CORNER

Packaged Beer Lightens The Load PRODUCT: South Hills dehydrated beer.

DESCRIPTION: A beer-flavored, non-alcoholic, carbonated, dry beverage made with maltodextrine, natural and artificial beer and malt flavors, dried beer, and corn syrup solids. It's packaged in5-ounce (150g) packet that must be mixed with 8 fluid ounces (250ml) of cold water for drinking.

PRO: It has a refreshing taste, though a bit sweet, and is best when mixed with extremely cold water. Its taste is remarkably similar to beers produced by micro-breweries. It's a quick source of liquid carbohydrates, and it's easy and light to pack and mix.

CON: The instructions say to wait for the head to subside after mixing, but that takes better than 5 minutes... In very cold water the mix clumps up unless you add water slowly and stir constantly.

COMMENTS: Although it doesn't compare to a fine lager, it suffices quite nicely when your taste buds crave a cold one in the backcountry and you don't fancy carrying a six-pack. The manufacturer mentions one can add clear grain alcohol or vodka to achieve an alcoholic beer.

SUGGESTED RETAIL: $5.95 for 6 packets.

The World Intellectual Property Organization lists a description of a method for dehydrating alcoholic beverages. Here's the summary section.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a novel method for producing a dry reconstitutable alcoholic beverage wherein the alcoholic beverage is separated into a volatile fraction (the alcohol and other volatiles) and a non-volatile (water-soluble) fraction; the volatile fraction is reacted with a

hydrolyzed starch compound, such as a maltodextrin of specific molecular weight, to yield a volatile powder, and the non-volatile fraction is dried to yield a dry water-soluble powder. The dry powders can be pressed into tablets and/or packaged separately or in combination for later reconstitution.

The alcoholic beverage is reconstituted by mixing the volatile powder and the water-soluble powder with water and carbonating. The reconstituted beverage can be carbonated by addition of CO2 and water, by addition of soda water at about 0° to 15°C or by addition of citric acid, Na2Cθ3 and water. The final concentration of alcohol, the taste, and the extent of carbonation can be varied as desired by varying the relative ratio of volatile to non¬ volatile powders, the type and quantity of hydrolyzed starch compound and the method of carbonation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Any type of alcoholic beverage, or alcohol, may be dehydrated and reconstituted according to the present invention. Specific examples of alcoholic beverages are beer, wine, wine beverages and spirits. Ethanol can also be dehydrated according to the present process for use in a variety of applications. In one embodiment of the present process, drying and reconstituting beer, the beer is first degassed at room temperature to remove the carbon dioxide contained in the beverage. The product obtained from fermentation prior to carbonation may also be used directly. [Link here for the complete information]


Students at Purdue University have come up with freeze-dried beer spice.

May 20, 2002

Note to journalists: A publication-quality photograph of the students with the freeze-dried beer is available at ftp://ftp.purdue.edu/pub/uns/okos.beer.jpeg. Michelle Kelly and Luke Meyers graduated May 11 and are available via e-mail only.

PURDUE STUDENTS BREW UP IDEA FOR FREEZE-DRIED BEER SPICE

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. ‹ For those who can't get enough of the flavor of beer, two Purdue University students have just the thing: beer spice.

The non-alcoholic, freeze-dried beer isn't intended to make instant beer as simply as instant tea, but rather as an ingredient in foods.

"It could be used for dips, sauces, in breads or batters, or sprinkled on popcorn or potato chips," says co-developer Michelle Kelly.

Kelly, of Westerfield, Ohio, and Luke Meyers, of Fort Wayne, Ind., both 2002 spring graduates, developed the product as their senior research project for the class Agricultural and Biological Engineering 556: "Food Plant Design and Economics."

The course is taught by Martin Okos, professor of agricultural and biological engineering, who says the class is meant to be the capstone experience for students in the food process engineering program.

"The senior project gives the students a chance to bring together all of the things they've learned in their classes here," Okos says. "I tell the students to act as if I were their manager and I asked them to come up with a new product. Then they take it all the way from the concept to actually developing the final product and the process to manufacture it."

Freeze-dried beer has been developed before for non-commercial uses, but this is thought to be the first freeze-dried beer developed as a spice. [link for the rest of the letter.]

Someone has bought the domain name dehydrated beer, though it doesn't look too serious. Maybe they hope someone else is and will want the domain name.

Welcome to DehydratedBeer.com - - The future home of Dehydrated Beer

(Dehydrated Beer is "master crafted" using only genuine dehydrated water)

Backpacking Light has a story about a dehydrated alcoholic drink:

dehydrated beer... almost on 06/06/2007 07:52:36 MDT Print View

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (Reuters) -- Dutch students have invented powdered alcohol which they say can be sold legally to minors.

The latest innovation in inebriation, called Booz2Go, is available in 20-gram packets that cost €1-1.5 ($1.35-$2).

Top it up with water and you have a bubbly, lime-colored and -flavored drink with just 3 percent alcohol content.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/06/06/powdered.booze.reut/index.html?section=cnn_latest (I couldn't get the link to work)

efestivals seems to have a spoof on the idea:

Hi people,
We think we have perfected a way to dehydrate beer. We have pills that are equivalent to 4 cans of mediocre strength beer. If people are interested in this product please let us know. It would remove the chore of carrying a case of weighty cans into a festival site. Also ecologically sound as there is no waste produced, cans, bottles etc... All that is required is 1 litre of water to rehydrate the tablet in the stomach. The product is being marketed under the brand name " Larrup". Please let us know what you think.
Peace ... Mongabus

Let's see if Pat can pull this off.