2020 Will Be the Year of Non-Alcoholic Beer

Not to sound like a creepy Supreme Court judge…but I love beer. That lunk-head admission, coupled with this being the hooch-heavy height of the holiday season, doesn't make being on the wagon easy. 

But happily for those of us who want to avoid alcohol for various reasons yet miss the taste, non-alcoholic options have never seen such a buyer’s market. So if you missed out on the probably-Joe-Rogan-trademarked Sober October and would like a grocery list for Dry January, (and, per YouGov.com, a whopping fifth of all imbibing Americans plan to do just that after the ball drops), read on

Cheers to non-alcoholic beers!

According to Nielsen, sales of domestic beer slipped 4.6% between October 2018 and October 2019 while the global NA beer market is expected to reach $5.91 billion by 2023. (That's not a typo.)

Anheuser-Busch InBev aims to generate one-fifth of its global sales from zero or low-alcohol beverages by 2026 while facing challenges by Heineken (which is now offering 50 alcohol-free labels) as well as Carlsberg, Asahi and Molson Coors.This year we intentionally took stock of our non-alcohol offerings within the Coors family of brands,” reports company rep Marty Maloney. “In the case of Coors Edge, we saw an opportunity to up our game in a booming space that isn’t showing any signs of slowing down.”

Indeed the influx of shockingly satisfying sober labels has caused some older stalwarts to re-think their marketing techniques.

“I have noticed O'Doul's is making a big push into sporting arenas,” notes spirits scribe and Gather Around Cocktails: Drinks to Celebrate Usual and Unusual Holidays author Aaron Goldfarb. “Since you can't serve beers in the fourth quarter they’re trying to convince drinkers to switch to NA beer at that point.”

Meet the new non-drinking demoWhile renewed interest in beer-without-the-buzz arrives via our younger populace (millennials are drinking less booze than Gen X-ers and “OK Boomer” citizenry across the board), the complicated process of first brewing the product and then removing the alcohol was first popularized in prewar Germany (often billing their efforts as “driving beers”). That country’s breathalyzer-friendly brands now make up about 10% of their overall ale sales. 

“I do think most of the best NA beers are mostly in Germany,” adds Goldfarb. “Their alkoholfrei stuff is pretty excellent.”

Indeed Deutschland’s super old breweries still boast some super tasty options (Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier, Paulaner Hefe-Weissbier, Clausthaler and — one of the author’s favorites — Einbecker), but selling them across the pond requires a somewhat different strategy.

“Alcohol enjoys a much higher ‘secretive value’ in the USA than in Europe,” laments Matthias Neidhart owner of B. United International and US importer of Einbecker. “Here it’s regulated and interpreted as a ‘drug’ while over there is a huge incentive for young people to explore this ‘hidden, secretive world’.”"The quality and innovation of what is being created today is much better than what was in the domestic market for the last 30 years,” says Tammer of his Surreal Brewing success. “We are seeing now for the first time that U.S. craft beer producers are entering the market with a passion and vision for great non-alcoholic beer." 

Adds his co-owner/wife Donna Hockey: “We understand what it is like to feel excluded when it comes to alcohol centered occasions---whether someone wants to reduce their alcohol intake, have an anytime beer, has a sensitivity to sugar or gluten, or is at a TGIF, we have a non-alcoholic craft beer option for them.” 

Overcoming the bad-taste bad rap

“The well-deserved stigma that NA beer tasted horrible really made it tough to sell our beer,” admits Philip of Bravus. “We quickly learned that instead of positioning our product as simply ‘NA beer’ we position it as ‘craft beer without the alcohol’.” 

And that positioning is selling. With half a million Instagram users currently deploying the #SoberIsSexy hashtag, this much is clear: 2020 will be the year of non-alcoholic beer.