SPORTS

DO IT: Beer + yoga = Brew-ga

Victoria E. Freile
@vfreile

Most people sip from a bottle of water during a yoga class, but Patrick Noce of Greece prefers a pint of bourbon barrel-aged scotch ale with his downward dog.

In his second-ever yoga class, Noce, 47, joined his wife, Nicole, 39, as the pair moved from pose to pose.

"It's in a brewery, so you can't go wrong," Nicole Noce said with a laugh. "Plus it's a great way to get my husband to come exercise."

Rohrbach Brewing Co. in Rochester hosts Brew-ga, a yoga class that includes a pint of craft beer. For a $10 fee, participants receive a pint of beer to drink during or after class. The next session is Feb. 13.

More than two dozen people, including the Noces, regularly attend a craft beer-infused yoga class at Rohrbach Brewing Co. on Railroad Street in Rochester twice a month.

"Originally we thought guests would enjoy a beer after the session, but it just so happens that most participants prefer to drink as they're going through the moves," said brewery marketing manager Bill Greco.

The class, held every other Saturday in the craft brewery's tasting room, has become wildly popular and typically sells out, Greco said. News of the unique workout spread mostly by word of mouth, including patrons who witnessed a session while sipping a beer.

Sweeping the nation

Yoga and beer — or Brewasana — classes are springing up all across the country, from California to New York. The trend caught on quickly as beer/yoga partnerships have bloomed.

In a space typically reserved for fermenting and tastings, an increasing number of breweries are encouraging yogis to bring a mat and strike a pose as a longtime tasting room doubles as a fitness studio.  Some yogis wait until after a workout to down a pint, but the concept is the same and stemmed from one simple concept — enjoy a local craft beer to celebrate a good workout.

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Several craft breweries in the region have tried pairing beer with yoga, including Roc Brewing Co. in Rochester, which held its first class last weekend, and The Lost Borough Brewing Co. in Rochester.

Dubbed Brew-ga at Rohrbach, the class first was held in mid-November. Attendance doubled, then tripled before selling out for the last few weeks. Participants must bring their own mats, and instructors won't judge novice yogis unsure of any pose but shavasana (that's Sanskrit for corpse pose, where you simply lie flat on your back on your yoga mat.)

Instructor Amy LaLonde brought the idea to brewery owner John Urlaub after spending a summer in North Carolina, where beer and yoga happy hours were all the rage.

"It was great because you didn't have to feel guilty about not socializing and working out, or not working out and socializing," said LaLonde, 27, of Rochester, who receives a growler of Rohrbach beer as payment following each class . "It was the best of both worlds."

The idea is to draw participants who might not be willing to try yoga in a traditional yoga studio, she said.

"We're excited about it," Urlaub said. "The folks who come in to do yoga enjoy it, and guests who come in for a beer enjoy watching the class."

The Brew-ga fee is $10 per person, which includes the hourlong yoga class and a pint of beer. LaLonde said Rohrbach set the cost low to encourages newcomers to try the activity. Don't do brew? No problem. You can swap your beer for a Gatorade.

Kaleigh Witzel, 24, of Webster said she loves the concept of combining the two activities. "It's a fun thought to be able to drink and do yoga in an environment that brings laughter and joy," she said.

Saturday's class packed 27 yogis into an auxiliary tasting room, a space recently transformed from storage duty. With four rows of six to seven people moving in sync, LaLonde led all levels of yogis through pose after pose for 60 minutes.

"Now it's time for everybody's favorite chair pose!" she said with gusto from the front of the class. "If you don't feel any pain, then go a little lower," she said repeatedly to groaning students scattered across the room.

Mid-move, participants sipped their beers. Some dropped a pose entirely for a gulp. Several waited until the class ended to retrieve a fresh pint from the bar.

"We call it detox and retox," Greco said with a laugh.

Brynne Sturge, left, and Jen Kyne, both of Rochester, at Brew-ga at Rohrbach Brewing Co. in Rochester on Saturday, Jan. 30.

Sweat and drink local

Ahead of the local trend, Lost Borough on Atlantic Avenue started weekly Pint Asana yoga classes, a workout followed by a craft beer, in January 2015. Although the classes were popular, sometimes drawing as many as 25 yogis, the brewery paused the popular series in September when the yoga instructor moved away.

Twenty-five women packed into the tasting room at Roc Brewing on South Union Street last week for "Ales and Oms," a yoga and pilates fusion class led by instructors Hannah Zimmerman, 25, and Steph Betzweiser, 31, both Rochester residents. The pair led the hourlong workout while balancing atop the brewery's bar, a first for both women.

"Mixing beer and yoga is the best of both words," Zimmerman said after class. "Everybody likes to do healthy activities and take care of themselves. Having a beer with friends is also fun. Here you're doing two things at once to make you happy."

Rochester Beer Gals founder Carolyn Stiles approached Roc Brewing owner Chris Spinelli last month about offering a women-only yoga class through the social group, designed to educate women about craft brewing in Rochester. Spinelli loved the idea and within days of announcing the class, the 25-person session sold out, he said.

"With success already, we'd like to do it again," he said. Stiles, 25, of Brighton, said she's planning another yoga event for February or March, but details have not yet been set.

A brief brewery tour followed the class. At the end of the tour, each participant received a four-glass sampler and socialized.

Stiles, who used to work at a brewery in Denver where Brew-ga type  events were popular, said she thought the two activities pair seamlessly.

"Both activities attract a similar type of person," said Stiles, who does yoga at least once a week."Yoga is about bringing you into the calm and craft beer is about having a drink in a laid-back atmosphere. Plus both yogis and craft brewers are independent people."

Rohrbach Brewing Co. in Rochester hosts Brew-ga, a yoga class that includes a pint of craft beer, on Saturdays. For a $10 fee, participants receive a pint of beer to drink during or after class. The next session is Feb. 13.

Back at Rohrbach, friends  Taylor Hughes, Jen Kyne and Brynne Sturge, all of Rochester, stretched and gabbed on their mats post-class while sipping some blueberry ale.

Three sporadic yogis, the friends were intrigued by idea of the class and gave it a go.

"I did hot yoga before, which was fun but intense," said Kyne, 25. "I wanted something more fun and this seemed more my speed."

Plus, she said, the cost was on point while including a cold craft beer.

"Blueberry beer is like breakfast," said Hughes, 23. "We're starting off the day right."

Some participants said it felt odd to start drinking 90 minutes before noon, but others said a workout justified the midmorning splurge.

"We'll be back, definitely," Kyne said.

Patrick Noce said he learned of the class through brewery advertising and told his wife that with a beer in hand, he'd be willing to give yoga a shot.

"I've never been able to drink a beer while working out before," he said with a laugh. "That's pretty cool, and delicious. I plan on being a regular now."

Plus, he said, where else can you dance a little "Macarena" mid-workout?

VFREILE@Gannett.com

If you go

Rohrbach Brewing Co. offers Brew-ga twice monthly. The next  scheduled sessions are on Saturdays, Feb, 13 and 27. The hourlong yoga class, led by instructor Amy LaLonde, begins at 10:30 a.m.  Class fee is $10 and includes a pint of beer or a Gatorade. Pre-registration is required. rohrbach.com or (585) 546-8020 .

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Rohrbach Brewing Co. in Rochester hosts Brew-ga, a yoga class that includes a pint of craft beer, on Saturday, Jan. 30. For a $10 fee, participants receive a pint of beer to drink during or after class. The next session is Feb. 13.