U.S. of N/A: Non-Alcoholic and Mindful Drinking

It's been quite a year in the U.S. hemp market, which is still just getting started. The explosion of hemp-derived THC/CBD beverages has, not surprisingly, collided with regulations that have come fast and furious at the state level. In an effort to make sense of it all we sat down with David Spang, Founder of Coastal Green Wellness , a hemp/CBD retailer with locations in South Carolina and G...

Craft beer's evolution includes a spectrum of new and mindful choices. This episode captures the vibrant atmosphere of the fifth installment of Little Beer , a festival held in Duluth, Georgia celebrating lower-gravity brews such as English Ales and Lagers. In this bonus episode we chat with industry leaders there who understand the need for a full spectrum of beverage options to meet the cha...

The origin story of Spiritless begins deep in Kentucky Bourbon country, where the trio of co-founders initially bought large quantities of Old Forester at their local Total Wine, while enlisting the services of a sump pump to help power their early experiments. Alongside her two other co-founders, Lauren Chitwood's brand journey dates back to before the pandemic, and in those early days they...

While the non-alcoholic beverage space is booming, the low and no-alcohol wine category has had its own unique set of challenges. This episode features an in-depth conversation with Brandon Joldersma, CEO of Surely , and the Founder/CEO of Arlow , two brands at the forefront of this emerging space. In our discussion Brandon shares his candid thoughts on the low-alcohol wine category he's tryi...

While the hemp-fueled THC beverage category may be just getting started, it's been a more complicated path for an over-arching industry still waiting on perceptions and legislation to catch-up with consumer preferences.   Today's episode features a sit down with Ricardo Baca, named one of the 7 Most Powerful People In America's Marijuana Industry, and founder/CEO of a leading integr...

As mindfulness and moderation in drinking continues to become a bigger thing, so too are festivals that celebrate discovery in the non-alcoholic world, along with finding holistic wellness and community. In this bonus episode we recap our visit to Bluffton, South Carolina for the first-ever Lowcountry Dry Fest. Hear from the three principals behind this new event; Kayla Lewis of NAPS Chicago, Jess...

While Athletic Brewing may today be known as one of the fastest-growing breweries the craft beer industry has ever seen, its origins were more deliberate and intentional, with a rollout strategy that stayed local for as long as possible. Bill Shufelt's founder story goes back nearly a decade, and in those early years he carefully constructed a foundation that would serve the company well as i...

Entrepreneurial from a young age, Busty Lush founder Laurel Harrop has always been open to trying something new. Little did she know when starting a successful lighting recycling business that her next venture would involve creating a stylish icon of the non-alcoholic drinking movement. In our conversation, we talk with Laurel about a number of topics related to Busty Lush's first four years...

How many beverage companies started by making their product in a 53' tractor trailer that traveled the country? That was the question we asked ourselves upon hearing the origin story of the Wynk THC-infused seltzer brand, which initially competed in the state-by-state regulated cannabis industry. In our conversation with co-founder and CEO Angus Rittenburg, we talk about where the brand start...

In a category still getting its footing in the consumer consciousness, creating a perfectly flavored cocktail infused with THC/CBD is a task with many layers to it. So explains today's guest, Ben Kennedy , who along with his wife Kristen founded Fable Libations , a Denver-based brand in the growing hemp-derived beverage space. In our conversation Ben talks about how his background in advertis...

How can a mountain town, hundreds of miles from the ocean, be expected to defend itself from a major hurricane? That's what the residents of Asheville, North Carolina and the surrounding Blue Ridge mountains had to be asking themselves on Friday, September 27th, the day Hurricane Helene took a devastating path through the region. In this episode we return to the story of our first-ever N/ATIO...

Cannabis beverages have exploded in the market, not coincidentally just as consumer preferences seem to be shifting away from alcohol. In today's episode we're joined by Lehua Brands CEO Sierra Elaina, herself a veteran of the alcohol industry having formerly held key leadership roles in sales and marketing for Diageo. In our conversation we talk about what's driving the category, h...

If you've enjoyed an American craft beer over the last few decades, you've benefited from the efforts of our guest today. Keith Villa founded Blue Moon Brewing Company for Miller Coors back in 1995, which would of course become an iconic brand that helped usher in a new era of craft beer that we know today. His trailblazing efforts in craft beer didn't stop there, though, as he woul...

The state of the (NA category) is strong, and getting stronger. Today's episode has a bit of a "state of the industry" feel to it, as I'm joined by Laura Silverman, founder of Zero Proof Nation , one of the most authentic voices in the non-alcoholic beverage movement. In our conversation we first talk about her advocacy in the space, and how much has changed in the time she&apo...

"The good news for beer is beer is a non-partisan issue." So proclaims this week's podcast guest, Brian Crawford, President and CEO of The Beer Institute, a Washington DC based trade association representing the interests of the industry primarily at the federal level. In our conversation we talk about the growth of non-alcoholic beer, including how BI views the category as a nascen...

The phrase, "slow and steady wins the race" could easily apply to Portland, Maine's Kit NA Brewing. In a category largely defined by rapid growth and headlines around the ramifications of younger consumers not drinking like their older counterparts, this New England brewery has set out to build a brand that's built to last, with a focus on the product above all else. In this ep...

It all started with two forty-something friends exchanging texts, and suddenly realizing they both were mixing NAs with full-strength beers for a blended ABV at the same time. In our latest podcast episode, we chat with Dad Strength Brewing co-founder Ryan Kutscher on defining a new NA-adjacent category of low-alcohol beers, how NA played a role in their origin story, why they wanted to be a part...

Ted Fleming has been in the adult non-alcoholic beverage category since 2013, before many were even thinking about it. He founded Partake Brewing in 2017, but four years prior had launched one of the world's first online non-alcoholic e-commerce stores. Since that time, he has steered the Partake brand through an accelerated period of growth, and more recently, through an influx of newer play...

Non-Alcoholic beer is basking in the glow of incredible growth and significant improvements in quality and taste, but challenges that could threaten its trajectory remain. In our most technical episode to date we're re-joined by Reducaholic's Tyler McMahon, who helps us break down some of the most important questions facing the young category, such as safety and handling, profit margins,...

We travel to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for this episode, and sit down with the co-owner of Two Frays Brewery , Mike Onofray, and the owner of The Open Road , Mel Babitz. The two businesses have forged a partnership with a series of unique collaborations that have helped bring non-alcoholic beer and beverages to their Pittsburgh community. In our conversation we talk about how they each got started,...

In the second stop of our summer road trip series, we take a visit to Naperville, Illinois, home of the taproom and brewery for Go Brewing, and sit down with Co-Founder and CEO, Joe Chura. The brewery has been on a whirlwind of growth since launching from Joe's garage two years ago, and we get his perspective on why he started an NA brewery, his philosophy on taking chances in business having...

Residing in one of the smallest markets in the country currently supporting an AF bottle shop, Lafayette, Indiana's Generation NA has become a leader in the non-alcoholic beverage movement. In this episode, owner Rob Theodorow shares his founder story, including who is primarily coming into the store, and how each generation has its own expectations and attitudes toward the growing category....

In this episode, we sit down with Chicago craft beer savant turned podcaster, Dave Zalatoris, host of the popular Chicago podcast Beer In Front (part of the OddPods Media Network ). In our conversation we talk about the craft beer scene in the Windy City, how N/A fits into that vibe, as well as Dave’s thoughts on how non-alcoholic options there are growing, and what we’d all like to see for that t...

In this Notebook episode we sit down with our friend Chi Jennings, known on Instagram as mysoberaflife , a fervent fan of non-alcoholic drinks of all stripes. We talk about her strategy for finding N/A beverages while traveling, her thoughts on Chicago's Pilot Project Brewing, favorite non-alcoholic retail spots in NYC (who knew bodegas were such a big part of the revolution?), and lastly, so...

In this episode we sit down with Momentum Brewery and ProofNoMore’s co-owner Lars Dahlhaus to better understand the non-alcoholic beer category, where it may be headed, and how he’s working to build a brand around the ‘why’ and ‘where’ consumers are drinking the product. As the category continues to mature, understanding these motivations will be critical to finding success, and creating more bran...