PODCAST: Why Your Local Brewery Will Be The N/A Revolution's Next Catalyst
While Athletic and others push the movement further into stores, bars and restaurants, regional brewers may be the key to unlocking the success many are predicting for the overall category.
Our journey starts on a busy weekday night at Talea Beer in the West Village of New York City, one of four locations for this woman-owned brewery that opened their flagship taproom in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It's been a beautiful Wednesday in NYC, one of those spring days where the sun was out all day, the temperature got to about the mid-60's in the middle of March, and everyone just seems like they're in a good mood. Talea is a "traditional" brewery brewing most of their beers with alcohol. But they are also part of a growing number of regional breweries around the country who are getting over the hump of making their own N/A beer, whether internally or through a partner, and embracing the growing movement.
We wanted to dive a bit deeper into this growing part of the category. Don't get us wrong - we love the Athletics, the Bravus’ and Best Days, but for non-alcoholic beer to continue to grow it can't just be at the local grocery or liquor store, but it has to show up in brewery taprooms around the country where brewery culture is born and raised. This is a complicated issue for many smaller breweries - it’s not as easy to add an NA like you might decide to add an amber ale to the menu. It's a decision that has technical, safety and marketing implications to it, so we wanted to bring in an expert.
Tyler McMahon of Reducaholic.com is a friend of ours, and has been collecting data on the industry for several years. His website includes a map of all known taprooms that feature at least one N/A. He's also a water resource expert by trade, so while not a brewer, he can explain a lot of the technical aspects of brewing a non-alcoholic beer, and how that may be holding many back. Get ready to nerd out a little bit and take some notes, as Tyler name drops a lot of early leaders in this space, as well as influencers to keep an eye on. While not an exhaustive list, here are several that received a shout-out:
Talea Beer (0:32 mark)
Wild Heaven (3:02)
Tommyknocker (3:08)
Gruvi (11:30)
Mysoberaflife (20:01)
ABV Technology (21:16)
Generation NA (23:48)
Open Road Bar/Two Frays (27:09)
Barrel Brothers (31:07)
Burial Beer (32:07)