We are often asked why every brewery doesn’t just make an NA beer. It’s a hugely popular trend in the craft beer industry today and growing. So why doesn’t every brewery jump on the bandwagon?
Surprisingly, it’s really expensive to make a great-tasting non-alcoholic beer as it requires special machinery and very strict processes.
While this is a limitation for many smaller breweries entering the NA beer market, it’s created quite the opportunity for those who have invested in perfecting the art of brewing non-alcoholic craft beers.
A select few breweries around the United States have invested in the skill of NA brewing and are now offering their services to smaller breweries who want to get in on the action.
This is called “Contract Brewing” as these breweries are contracting out their brewing services and simply brewing NA beer for others under various names and brands.
Our friends at Reducaholic.com have written a great article outlining how the non-alcoholic contract brewing industry works.
In their article, they talk about the following points of NA contract brewing:
Different contract brewers use different styles of brewing NA beer
Many people don’t know how non-alcoholic beer is made. Typically it comes down to four main methods:
- Brewing beer and preventing it from fermenting above 0.5%
- Brewing beer and then boiling off the alcohol to below 0.5%
- Brewing beer then using vacuum distillation to pressurize the beer and separate the alcohol from the rest of the beer
- Brewing beer then using reverse-osmosis or membrane filtration to remove the alcohol
Different contract brewers have their preference for one or the other as each has an impact on the final flavor and profile of the beer.
Large brewers can afford to brew their own NA beer while smaller are less likely to
Major conglomerate brands like Heineken, Corona, and AB InBev have the resources available to invest in brewing their own NA beer.
Smaller, startup NA beer brands do not. Thus, they have to find someone else who has already perfected the art of NA beer brewing to make their beer for them.
Who are the various contract brewers around the United States?
Most of the non-alcoholic beer in the United States, except for the beer from larger brands like Athletic Brewing, AB-InBev (formerly Anheuser Busch), and Heineken, is brewed by one of the following non-alcoholic contract brewers:
Octopi Brewing
Based out of Waunakee, WI, Octopi Brewing produces the non-alcoholic beer for NA beer brands such as Untitled Art, Best Day Brewing, Southern Grist, and Busty Lush.
Octopi Brewing was recently acquired by Asahi.
ABV Technology
ABV Technology is based out of Minneapolis, MN. They use a dual-stage vacuum separator to separate the alcohol from leaded beer.
They brew various non-alcoholic beers like Nah by Bauhaus Brew Labs, NA Time NA Where by Ursa Minor Brewing, and the NA beers from Three Weavers Brewing.Â
They operate on a “hub-and-spoke” model where they rent machinery to various breweries around the country who can then be the NA brewing hub for their local area. Hubs are located are Captain Lawrence Brewing in New York and Eastern Market Brewing in Michigan.
Barrel Brothers
Located in Windsor, California, Barrel Brothers was home to some early players in the NA beer world such as Rationale Brewing, and AL’s who have since moved on.
Others
Other contract breweries have been popping up around the US, such as Potosi Brewing in Wisconsin, Sleeping Giant Brewing in California, and Deschutes Brewery as well.
Contract brewing gets some critiques from brewing purists
Some people see contract brewing as a shortcut in the art of brewing. They criticize it as a way for brands to avoid perfecting the brewing process on their own and instead, benefit from the work of others.
While this is definitely a strong opinion, in the world of NA beer, we don’t necessarily see this as an issue. Instead, we see this as a creative workaround to get high-quality NA beers into the hands of consumers quickly and efficiently.
Otherwise, we may see many non-alcoholic brewers invest too much into their own brewing processes and failing to make a return on their investment which would prevent others from entering the market as well.
Read more at Reducaholic.com.
Reducaholic
Reducaholic is a resource for navigating the NA beer scene, discovering where you can find where almost any NA beer is made and sold, as well as “nerd out” about everything related to non-alcoholic beer.
