Brooklyn Brewery Goes Deeper into Non-Alcoholic Beer with Special Effects IPA

Just in time for “Dry January,” Brooklyn Brewery will launch the next offering within its fast-growing non-alcoholic beer line Special Effects.

The New York craft brewery officially announced today the addition of an IPA to the Special Effects portfolio to go along with Hoppy Amber, which launched in the U.S. this past January after initially debuting in Sweden in 2018.

Brooklyn Brewery CEO Eric Ottaway teased the launch of the IPA during a mid-September episode of Brewbound Frontlines. At the time, Ottaway explained that Brooklyn had developed three other products at the outset of the company’s foray into non-alc beer and eventually decided the products would launch under the Special Effects umbrella.

Why It Matters: Year-to-date through November 29, off-premise dollar sales of non-alcoholic beer are up 38.8%, to $174.4 million, in multi-outlet and convenience stores tracked by market research firm IRI.

The Details: Special Effects IPA will be sold in 6-packs of 12 oz. cans throughout Brooklyn’s more than 30 state footprint in on- and off-premise retailers, as well as directly through the company’s online store in certain states.

Additionally, Brooklyn has forged an expanded distribution partnership and in-store program with Whole Foods that will make Special Effects IPA available throughout the brewery’s footprint.

“When we first developed Special Effects Hoppy Amber, we were determined to show the consumer that non-alcoholic beer doesn’t have to be about taking something away, but rather that it adds to the experience,” Ottaway said in a press release. “Since that launch, craft non-alcoholic beers have seen triple digit growth this past year. In sticking with our belief that non-alcoholic beverages are for everyone, and given that IPAs are by far the most dominant category in the craft beer industry, it made natural sense to focus our attention on craft’s most popular style as we are expanding the Special Effects family.”

The Flavor: Special Effects IPA has “bright citrus hop aromas of a classic IPA,” with just under 100 calories, according to the company.

“During development, we held ourselves to the same quality standards as any other beer in the Brooklyn portfolio, but Special Effects IPA posed an alluring technical challenge; could a non-alcoholic IPA actually be delicious?” Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster Garrett Oliver said in the release. “People will be glad to see that Special Effects IPA tastes like IPA! In this case we’re a bit closer to a classic, West Coast IPA, with a light to moderate body, good fruit, a nice hop bite and a floral, citrus hop aroma.”

N/A Becoming Bigger Part of Brooklyn’s Portfolio: Earlier this year, Ottaway told Brewbound that Special Effects Hoppy Amber was about 10-15% of the company’s sales and growing in Europe, which he said had more than doubled compared to the previous year. In the U.S., he said Special Effects was the company’s fifth best selling product but gaining on the fourth place best seller, Bel Air Sour.

“I would not be surprised to see it being 10% and maybe even 20% of our portfolio,” he said at the time.

In September, Ottaway said Brooklyn is encouraging retailers to create dedicated sections for non-alcoholic beer, with existing brands such as Athletic and Partake and incoming brands from Guinness-maker Diageo, Boston Beer’s Samuel Adams and Dogfish Head, Deschutes and others. He explained that in Europe, retailers have seen a 30-40% bump in non-alcoholic beer sales after adding dedicated n/a beer sections.

What’s Next: In a Q&A on the Brooklyn website, Ottaway mentioned the company may consider launching a sour non-alcoholic beer following the success of Bel Air Sour.