Over the last several months, the nonalcoholic beer category has exploded with a bevy of new craft options.
In April, Dogfish Head announced the official release of its 90-calorie nonalcoholic wheat beer called Lemon Quest.
One month earlier, Dogfish parent Boston Beer Company
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At the same time, London-based Big Drop Brewing began contract brewing and distributing its nonalcoholic beers in February, and Georgia-based Rightside Brewing started selling its first two offerings across the Peach State in January.
These brands are chasing established craft players like Athletic Brewing, Brooklyn Brewery, Partake and Lagunitas, which have captured a significant portion of total nonalcoholic beer sales.
According to market research firm IRI, year-to-date sales of nonalcoholic beer were up 31.5%, to more than $64 million, at off-premise retailers through April 18. By comparison, total nonalcoholic beer sales at off-premise retailers reached $188 million in 2020.
Meanwhile, IWSR, a data and intelligence company that tracks worldwide alcohol trends, expects U.S. sales of nonalcoholic beer to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 9.7% through 2024.
One recently introduced nonalcoholic beer brand that is betting on continued sector growth is Rescue Club, a partnership between Vermont’s Zero Gravity Brewing and Citizen Cider founder Kris Nelson.
Nelson began discussing the idea of crafting a nonalcoholic beer with his friends at Zero Gravity and after numerous test batches, Rescue Club IPA was born.
I recently caught up with Nelson to learn more about the brand, his company’s approach to brewing nonalcoholic beer, and where he thinks the category is headed in the years to come.
The following interview has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.
Chris Furnari: Can you briefly please share the Rescue Club story.
Kris Nelson: Rescue Club Brewing was founded by the folks at Zero Gravity and me. I was looking for something entrepreneurial outside of the cider industry and found myself involved in conversations with my close friends over at Zero Gravity. We both love the idea of making an NA, so we put our heads together and Rescue Club IPA came to fruition. There were many hours spent on R & D, and we developed what we thought was the best NA on the market. However, the COVID-19 pandemic slowed everything down, so we pretty much lost a year, But we persevered and finally launched in January of 2021.
Furnari: There are several ways to make NA beer. Can you briefly describe your process and why you chose it versus other methods?
Nelson: While the process is proprietary, I will say that we make a full-strength beer and then remove the alcohol. We use a variation of a vacuum distillation process that allows for us to capture all the beautiful aromatic esters and flavors without causing damage to the beer.
Furnari: What’s the occasion for NA beer and who are your target consumers?
Nelson: The beautiful thing about NA beer — and Rescue Club specifically — is that all occasions are suitable and most likely appropriate. There’s no bad time to embrace the flavor and refreshment that is Rescue Club. Right now, there is a strong and insatiable demographic of NA consumers made up of people who are realizing that everyday alcohol consumption is not helping their overall life. Many of these people, already used to spending their money on the seemingly endless sea of trendy craft beers, have little to no problem switching their spending habits over to NA. This is helping them to feel healthier and more active, while still being able to indulge in the fun flavor journey they once got from alcoholic beer. There is also a group of people, of which I currently find myself, who are using NA to simply cut back on alcoholic beer drinking.
Furnari: There’s a lot of excitement around the NA beer market, and some bullish projections. Where do you think we’re headed, in terms of share of beer category sales in the US, in the coming years?
Nelson: I am banking on some really big things over the next several years, although it is difficult to extract much of the data given the propensity to buy online. That said, we are seeing historic NA beer numbers. Consumption and discussion of NA Beers — particularly craft NA — is seeing attention that it has never experienced in the U.S. If you look at Europe, which has experienced significant growth in the category, it seems that U.S. consumption is following. Will it reach one percent of the beer share? Yes, within the next 4-to-5 years.
Furnari: You’re currently only producing an IPA. Are there plans to make other styles?
Nelson: Yes, we have new styles in the works. We could start to see some of these roll out within the next year.
Furnari: What makes your product better or different than others on the market?
Nelson: We have an amazing brew team who have worked incredibly hard to create an NA that is perfectly balanced. People all around the country have different palates and different ideas of what’s best. We believe Rescue Club is the best because of the attention to detail on the crafting side, from recipe to execution to packaging. This can be experienced by simply cracking open a can. There are bright citrusy hop characteristics with a clean balanced malt bill that keeps you coming back for more.
Furnari: We’ve seen some established NA beer makers raise millions of dollars, and several new offerings hit the market in recent months. Ultimately, how many brands can the market accommodate and what will separate winners from losers?
Nelson: It has been incredible to hear about some of these raises and I think that it is great to have money behind the category. This will help propel NA beer into the modern era. I think there are some huge hurdles for any brewery or business to make a quality NA that doesn’t drink like tea or come across like they added all kinds of additional flavors and colors. However, the technology is getting better, and the bug has already been placed in the societal ear that drives the engine of ingenuity. The story of the NA brew is still being written.
Furnari: Anything else you’d like to add?
Nelson: If your readers haven’t checked out the new and ever-changing world of NA, I would suggest giving it a try. As a society, we drink too much alcohol, and it’s truly refreshing to be able to reach for a beer that won’t negatively impact your health while still scratching that endless itch.