Have you noticed the “mocktails” section of the drink menu growing longer at restaurants? Or perhaps some non-alcoholic beer options taking up more shelf space at your local grocer or convenience store?
I’ve personally seen these products fly off the shelves at my local liquor store and frequently being ordered at restaurants. The funny thing is they aren’t being purchased by people who I would guess are going to be in the basem*nt of a church later that night reciting “one day at a time” with a 6 month token in their pocket. In fact, the folks I see guzzling down a “Safe Sex on the Beach” (Ingredients: Cranberry juice, orange juice, peach nectar, and a splash of grenadine) are young, healthy and tend to be wearing mid-calf socks.
I first noticed this trend in my previous role as a Product Manager for a software company that serviced some of the largest beer, wine and spirits brands and distributors. The product I managed centered around using image recognition to identify products on store shelves. Over the past year, we had begun recognizing more and more non-alcoholic drinks (think Heineken 0.0) hitting the shelves. These companies invest heavily in their new product lines, and if they are adding non-alcoholic beverages that means people were buying them.
According to Nielsen IQ, non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirit sales in the US increased by 31% in 2023, totaling around $510 million in sales at off-premise locations like grocery stores.1
The non-alcoholic beverages only make up a fraction of a percentage of the total alcoholic sales in the U.S., but the number is steadily growing.
In 2018: 0.22% of total alcohol sales
In 2019: 0.26% of total alcohol sales
In 2020: 0.30% of total alcohol sales
In 2021: 0.39% of total alcohol sales
Most recently, in 2023, sales took up .47% of total alcohol sales. Of the drink types available in this space, beer is dominating the field.
So what’s going on here? This appears to be the age of self-prohibitioning and I wonder if the bachelor party I attended this past weekend with 130 drinks spread out across White Claws, Miller Lite, Michelob Ultra, and Bud Lite is a dying ritual of boozy celebration.
Can a single popular month of abstinence account for this significant increase in non-alcoholic booze sales ? Is it the younger generation’s distaste for gluttonous drinking? Or is there an overall driving trend towards wellness and moderation? Perhaps Americans have paused to think about the health implications of drinking that entire 12 pack of Coors or 8 fingers of whiskey on days ending in “y.”
Having always been a casual (red wine with dinners a few nights each week) and social (breweries with friends) drinker, I’ve never tried a “dry” month. This is mostly because I vacation to Mexico in January and I’m definitely not giving up frozen Margaritas and Piña Coladas while roasting on the beach.
This summer, an opportunity presented itself with a “slow” July in terms of social engagements. I decided to take a break from booze and make my own attempt at a dry month, and maybe giving myself the opportunity to checkout some of these non-alcoholic beverages.
Now, before moving on, I’d like to reiterate that I am a drinker. There is zero judgement here for my fellow buzz-chasers. My first drink after Dry July was on the very first day of August.
To prove my delinquency, I will refer once again to the bachelor party I was at this weekend, where I took a mixed shot of whiskey and rum. Why? Because when the last of the whiskey was poured my “shot glass wasn’t full” and in the spirit of fairness I was topped off with some Bacardi.
Whiskey makes a terrible shot and I pry shouldn’t have been doing that in the first place, and
There are so many other things wrong with that shot that I can’t attempt to make a numbered list to describe it.
The point being, I consume alcohol and I’m not here to tell you to drink or not drink. But I can share some observations that, as a drinker, I made during a full 31 days of going cold turkey.
Just say no, it gets easier
This wasn’t my first attempt at going a designated number of days without drinking, but in the past I’ve always crumbled when the slightest hint of temptation presents itself. Why wouldn’t I order a beer when I’m at a brewery playing card games with friends? One beer doesn’t hurt, and the invisible line between not drinking and reducing the amount I drink seems indistinguishable. In reality, it’s perfectly harmless to cross, but on a technicality, it will disqualify you from challenges such as 75 hard (which I’ve only made it 28 days through thanks to beer existing).
This past July I promised to just say no in all situations and move on. Early in the month, I anxiously ordered iced tea at restaurants, waiting for the hammer of judgement to fall heavily on my head. I anticipated the shouts “LAME” from my friends or for the waiter to dump a sticky IPA on my head or for Julian from Trailer Park Boys to materialize out of thin air and force a Diet co*ke and rum into my hand.
My imagination ran wild with the consequences of not getting a drink at the bar.
In reality, I got some side-eye from my friends when I ordered an ice tea, which was followed by a brief explanation of “Dry July, blah blah blah” and to my great surprise, in every situation, they proceeded to not care very much and move on to the next subject.
Halfway through the month I was chugging unsweetened ice teas and politely declining drinks like a teetotaling pro.
Subscribe or Julian will find you and force a rum and co*ke down your gullet.
Let’s be real, drinking is bad for me
A glass of red wine a day keeps the doctor away. Or… I think that’s the saying.
It’s universally acknowledged that alcohol is not a performance enhancer (Citation: My hangover after the weekend of drinking and two day road to recovery). Booze has calories and carbs and sugars depending on the medium through which you choose to consume it. I won’t waste our time diving into the science behind why booze is unhealthy, but its hard to argue that you feel better after a day of slugging old fashions at a wedding than any random Wednesday you wake-up after having drank only water, coffee and maybe a soda the day before.
I was super bummed when one of my favorite theaters started including calories on their draft list. This is was a a shocker and a bit depressing. I could easily cruise through two or maybe even three pints of Funkwerks sitting through a movie, which has me looking at over 800 calories in a 3 hour timespan. Yikes.
Granted, I tend to go for heavy and high ABV drinks, verse your popular lighter American beers that are much more reasonable (unless you’re having six in one sitting).
I figured that non-alcoholic beer had to be in the same ballpark in terms of “nutrition.” However I was delighted to find out that these actually run under 100 calories and tend to contain fewer carbs. Huzzah!
But are they actually good?
Nonalcoholic beer is actually pretty good
Sometimes you just need a beer on a hot summer day. When I ran into this craving I quickly discovered that the Upside Dawn or Free Wave beers from Athletic Brewing were perfect for quench my thirst.
Athletic Brewing Company was founded in 2017 by Bill Shufelt and John Walker, back when drinking a non-alcoholic beer would stigmatize you as a recovering alcoholic or get you beat up by your very own best friends for being “soft.”
On top of that, these guys recognized that the options for non-alcoholic beers were dismal at the time. There was an opportunity to brew high-quality, flavorful craft beers that could cater to active, health-conscious consumers (not necessarily AA members).
They wanted to brew beers that were so good, customers wouldn't miss the alcohol. I have to say from my experience in July, job well done and mission accomplished gents.
From a small startup to a dominating player in the beverage industry, Athletic Brewing has seen significant growth and investment in recent years. In 2023, the company generated $90 million in revenue and in July 2024, Athletic Brewing secured a $50 million equity financing round. Amazingly, this moonshot brewery idea now now holds 19% of the domestic market share for non-alcoholic beer and is driving 32% of the total category growth.2
Take that, Busch Lite.
I love the messaging around being an “Athletic Drinker.” Let’s stop by a bar after a long bike ride, distance run or game of volleyball and shamelessly order a non-alcoholic beer that tastes just right and doesn’t set you back with a hangover the next day.
FYI, I mostly stuck to non-alcoholic beers, so I can’t speak to what’s out there for wine and mocktails - but they look delicious from afar.
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You appreciate what you can’t have more
Last night I went to Upper Hand Brewery in Escanaba, MI and ordered a flight with a variety of pale, dark and hoppy tasters. It was delicious and I relished every sip in the mild summer evening.
If anything, take a break from booze just so you can savor the next drink you decide to have that much more.
So, what’s changed?
I’ve started bragging about how many ice teas I drink in a week like a college fraternity member brags about how many Friday night Jell-O shots they inhaled in an hour.
My wallet also enjoyed the reprieve from ordering $15 co*cktails at D.C. bars.
Aside from that, I definitely will be keeping my favorite non-alcoholic beers in the mix of drinks I reach for on any given day.
I think as long as people continue coming up with creative, alliterative catch phrases for each month of no drinking, I’m likely to keep joining the challenge. This includes “Dry January,” “Dry July,” and “Sober October” thus far.
My FOMO for not ordering alcoholic beverages at restaurants is gone. Without a doubt, I’m confident the amount of booze I will consume, at least in the short term, is likely to decrease compared to how much I was drinking in the months leading up to July. And that, I’m confident, is for the best.
The Bel
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