Minnesota Brewery Offers Craft Beer Flavor Without the Alcohol
MINNEAPOLIS -- If you are among the millions of Americans cutting out alcohol during dry January, but you really enjoy a good craft beer, there is an option out there for you.
Hairless Dog Brewing Company in Minneapolis has been making alcohol-free beers for about five years now.
Co-founder Paul Pirner says he and his business partner started the company after they quit drinking alcohol, and could only find mass-produced NA beers on the market.
There were no NA beers out there that offered that same craft beer experience, everything was lighter-bodied and quite frankly watery. So we had to come up with our own process, and we did, and the goal was to create a craft beer and one of the byproducts of creating that process it that we did become the first, and to this day, the only true 0.0 percent brewing in the United States.
Pirner says alcohol is never introduced in their beer. Other NA beers use a process that leaves as much as .5 percent alcohol behind.
Pirner says the concept of drinking non-alcoholic beverages while out on the town is growing.
Now that people can do it with their friends as part of dry January, there are the challenges, there are all these other fun things. There are also all these wonderful products out there for people to try. It is exploding. I just saw a factoid that 45 million people were trying dry January this year.
They have three beer options right now a Citra Lager, an India Pale Ale, and a Black Ale. He says they are hoping to expand their varieties this year.
Hairless Dog Brewing Company doesn't have a taproom yet, but Pirner says they are widely distributed throughout the St. Cloud metro area.