Big Drop Brewing Co.

Why it matters

The two routes to an alcohol-free beer produce different drinks, and this brewery is the reference case for the less common one. Nothing is de-alcoholised: the beers are formulated to finish below the threshold, which avoids the stripping of aroma that removal causes and instead has to solve the body problem that a very low gravity creates.

Details

Reference beers

• Big Drop Galactic Milk Stout0–0.5% ABV

  An alcohol-free milk stout that solves the category’s body problem with lactose rather than by removing alcohol from a stronger beer.

BeerHQ carries only the products that anchor something. This is not the brewery’s full range.

Styles it is associated with

• Alcohol-free stout — An alcohol-free dark beer where roasted grain does most of the work — one of the more successful conversions in the category.
• Alcohol-free IPA — An alcohol-free beer built around heavy dry hopping, since hop aroma is added after fermentation and survives the process intact.