A Mumbles-based beer company is looking to shake up the industry by losing the alcohol.
Dropping the alcohol, not the flavour is the mantra of The Drop Bear Beer Co a new brewery that is looking to bring "female chutzpah" to the male-dominated world of brewing.
Founded earlier this year by “Melburnian” Sarah McNena, and “Swansea Jack” Joelle Drummond, Drop Bear’s non-alcoholic beer is already making waves.
The past few months have been particularly busy for the pair, who have seen their venture rapidly take-off.
“It’s certainly been full-on since we launched,” says Joelle. We’ve been doing lots of events and networking to get our beers to a broad an audience as possible, including the Royal Welsh Show,” said Ms Drummond.
“It was a fantastic opportunity to put our beers in front of such a large audience and get valuable public feedback.”
A decidedly Welsh-Australian enterprise, the brewery’s quirky name has antipodean roots along with a personal connection for the couple, who met in Ms McNena’s native Australia.
“The Drop Bear is essentially a bit of fun Australians have with visitors,” explained Ms McNena.
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“Tourists are told to look out for this mythical koala bear dropping on them from the trees – and Joelle fell for the joke too!”
The pair aim to “disrupt” the traditional view of the non-alcoholic beer market and have produced 100% natural beverages that are below 0.5% ABV, vegan-friendly, low calorie, low sugar and additive-free.
At 0.3 ABV Tropical IPA is – as its name suggests – tropical, fruity, and sessionable, while the 0.4 ABV Yuzu Pale Ale has a fruity, tart, and fresh flavour.
They will be joined this autumn by Drop Bear’s stout which promises to be “dark, edgy, and packing a’tude”.
“We’ve been busy developing our third beer, which will be revealed soon,” promised Ms McNena.
Ms McNena and Ms Drummond, at 25 and 27 respectively, are at the heart of the healthy lifestyle-conscious millennial market they want to capture.
Ms Drummond said: “We want to prove that real beer doesn’t need alcohol to be fun and we aren’t scared to push boundaries. We are millennials, and they are the fastest-growing demographic.
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“They and we want something with more kick and excitement, and a brand they can relate to.”
Likewise, Ms Drummond says female empowerment is at the core of Drop Bear’s ethos, and the pair are keen to champion women in what is a predominantly male-dominated arena.
“We are the only alcohol-free craft beer company in the 海角视频 that’s run by women.”
Local government project manager Ms McNena, and former French and Italian translator Ms Drummond, began their brewing journey in their kitchen.
Apart from Ms McNena having previously made some homebrew, the pair were complete novices when it came to creating a craft beer – but they knew what they wanted to achieve.
“We started with a big saucepan, a jam thermometer, and a load of grain and gave it a go,” said Ms Drummond.
By trial and error “there were long nights and an exploding fermenter”, the pair eventually came up with recipes they liked – and enlisted the help of experts in the industry to ensure their beers would
pass muster in the highly competitive
brewing sector.
“As we don’t have a brewing background, we contacted a master brewer and sommelier who looked at our recipes and gave us advice,” explained Ms McNena.
Only a couple of months into production and Drop Bear beers are already making significant in-roads with a Michelin-starred restaurant a customer, and the opportunity to showcase their beer at an event in the House of Commons.
The beers are also available to buy online from www.drydrinker.com.
“Sales are increasing, and our distribution network in Wales and the 海角视频 has expanded. We are also delighted that Drop Bear Beer is now being stocked in our first home town venue – Beer Riff in Swansea,” said
Ms Drummond.
“We’re preparing for our first investment campaign, and we’re exploring export opportunities too.”
However, without the current capacity to brew on a commercial scale at home, for now, Drop Bear beers are produced in Yorkshire, but the plan is to bring the whole process to Wales as soon as possible.
“We want to show what Wales and women have to offer in the brewing industry,” said Ms Drummond.
Ms Drummond and Ms McNena have been helped in their brewing adventure by Cywain – a Menter a Busnes delivered project that supports the development of growth-orientated businesses in the food and drink sector in Wales. It was Cywain that helped the pair go to the Royal Welsh to promote their beers.
“Cywain has been great, especially with networking opportunities and advice on running the financial side of the business.
“They have run a number of workshops and 1-2-1 sessions covering a range of topics such as sales, distribution channels, and business health,” added Ms Drummond.
“All of this is provided free of charge, which I’m sure you can understand is key for a business in its early days.
“Cywain are also just generally lovely people and we look forward to attending a number of events with them in the near future.”
Nerys Adams, Cywain development manager, said: “It’s been great working with Joelle and Sarah over the past couple of months and seeing massive progression in such a short space of time.
“The girls have taken full advantage of the support on offer from Cywain, attending a finance surgery, a sales and marketing workshop to name but a few.
“They are working very hard to establish themselves in a male-dominated sector and I’m excited to see what happens next for them. I’m sure they’re going to make a great success of the business and I’m delighted that Cywain is playing a part in helping them achieve their ambitions”.
The pair have been nominated as finalists in the young entrepreneur of the year category of the Welsh Start Up Awards.
“It really has been the dream start for our business and we can’t wait to see what the next opportunity for Drop Bear will be.” n