bohemianwanderer – Samara Oster never liked beer. It felt heavy, bitter, and unappealing to her taste. But that changed in 2019 during a trip to Peru. There, she tasted a beer brewed partially with quinoa — and the experience completely shifted her perspective. The beer was light and crisp, lacking the bitterness she usually disliked. That single sip planted a lasting idea in her mind: What if beer could be made for people like her — those who don’t normally enjoy beer?
Back in Boston, this idea became a mission. Oster, who holds degrees from Harvard and MIT, teamed up with food scientists to explore how quinoa could be brewed into beer. The goal was not just to create a novelty drink but to craft a genuinely enjoyable product for health-conscious consumers. By 2025, that vision became reality with the launch of Meli — the first 100% quinoa-based beer brewed in the United States.
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Brewing with Quinoa: Overcoming Challenges and Rethinking the Process
Creating beer from 100% quinoa was far from simple. Traditional beer relies on grains like barley or wheat, which are much larger and easier to process. Quinoa, by comparison, is tiny. That small size created several problems during brewing, from sugar extraction to equipment clogs. Oster’s team had to redesign almost every stage of the process — including milling, mashing, and lautering — to handle quinoa effectively.
It took over three years and more than 100 test batches to get it right. The team faced major setbacks and constant trial and error. They experimented with various quinoa varieties and brewing techniques. Some grains produced too much bitterness or failed to ferment correctly. Others couldn’t scale well for commercial production. But through detailed research and persistence, they found a method that worked — and a recipe that scaled without losing flavor.
Honoring the Past While Brewing for the Future
Quinoa has a long-standing role in Andean agriculture and culture. It has been used in traditional fermented drinks like chicha for generations. In recent years, some craft brewers in Latin America and other regions have experimented with adding quinoa to beer recipes. However, most of these attempts still blended quinoa with barley or other grains.
Meli breaks new ground by using only quinoa — a nod to tradition, but also a forward-thinking innovation. It builds on the cultural legacy of quinoa while offering a new type of product for modern drinkers. The beer is brewed using organic, ethically sourced quinoa and contains no gluten, no added sugar, and no artificial ingredients.
Clean, Balanced, and Nutrient-Rich: A Beer for Wellness-Minded Drinkers
Meli’s 4.4% ABV makes it a sessionable, easy-to-drink beer. But what sets it apart even more is its nutritional profile. Each can offers a light natural sweetness and contributes 7% of your daily potassium intake. The absence of gluten and added sugar makes Meli appealing to those with dietary restrictions or people looking for cleaner alcohol choices.
According to Oster, the ideal Meli drinker is someone who reads nutrition labels, drinks in moderation, and wants their indulgence to feel intentional. Meli is not just for people avoiding gluten — it’s for anyone seeking balance between wellness and enjoyment.
Thoughtful Indulgence: Redefining What Beer Can Be
Oster hopes Meli offers something new in an industry where alcohol is often viewed as unhealthy or indulgent. She wants Meli to challenge that narrative by showing that beer can be clean, thoughtful, and feel-good. Her goal is not just to create a beer alternative but to redefine the beer experience altogether.
“In a world where alcohol has become a bad word,” Oster says, “I hope Meli shows that there’s a better way to indulge.” With its clean ingredients and unique production process, Meli isn’t just a trend — it’s part of a growing movement toward intentional drinking. For many, it may be the beer they didn’t know they were waiting for.
