World’s first LGBTQ+ alcohol-free brew-masters are making an impact

In the U.K., a couple of unconventional brew masters have shot to the top of the non-alcoholic craft beer business with their Drop Bear Beer Company and some fresh takes on stouts, lagers, and pale ales.

Based in Swansea, Wales, Joelle Drummond and her wife Sarah are defying the stereotypes associated with craft beer, from the products they’re creating to how they run their workplace — not to mention what typical British brew-masters look like.

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“I believe from all the research I’ve been able to do that we’re actually the world’s first LGBTQ+ alcohol-free brewery,” Drummond told Pink News.

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The couple concocted their first home brew in 2019 and made a decision early on to “live by their values” as they built Drop Bear, which is available throughout the U.K. and in Canada and New Zealand.

“I’ve been constantly searching for ways that we can help more in a really impactful way, with conversation, visibility, and awareness,” Drummond said.

Part of that push is a commitment to hire LGBTQ+ employees in a space not traditionally associated with them; half the staff at Drop Bear is queer.

The company also partners with the charity Galop, which supports LGBTQ+ victims. Proceeds from the company’s limited-edition Pride beer this year will support the group.

Other firsts for Drop Bear include a designation as Wales’ first certified B-corp brewery (awarded to companies that meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability), and as the world’s first carbon-neutral alcohol-free brewery, according to Drummond.

Their selections are also vegan and gluten-free.

Drummond says that the key to the company’s success has been tapping into the “sober-curious” movement, which finds Gen Z and younger generations more willing to set alcohol aside in social situations.

“We’re very much about not preaching to people on their drinking habits, just providing a really cool craft beer option if they decide to not drink or just to cut down,” Drummond says.

Some of those popular options include Bonfire Stout, Tropical IPA, Yuzu Pale Ale, and New World Lager.

For Drummond, the couple’s fresh takes on non-alcoholic brew — among offerings from more than 1,700 microbreweries in the U.K. — are only as good as the company’s commitment to their principles and representation.

Queer women “having visibility in leadership roles,” said Drummond, “is more essential than people realize.”