Cornwall’s Sharp’s Brewery has become the latest drinks producer to enter the growing zero-alcohol beer market.
The trend, which saw no-alcohol beer sales leap 28% in 2019, has been sweeping the nation as alcohol consumption drops among the health conscious.
Sharp’s is now reacting to what is fast becoming a lucrative market and has announced the launch of Doom Bar Zero – the first scale 0.0% amber ale in the UK market.
Cementing its reputation as a pioneer within the industry, the brewery’s team has spent two years fine-tuning a “unique and innovative” brewing method in order to reflect the taste profile of the UK’s best-selling cask ale, Doom Bar.
In Doom Bar Zero, Sharp’s has produced a beer which shares the same “moreish and balanced character as the mother brand” and stays true to the amber ale style with a sweet roasted malt flavour and a subtle green hop aroma, the company said.
With succulent dried fruit, lightly roasted malt and a subtle bitterness, the drink is as attractive as its alcoholic counterpart, yet drives a new flavour profile all of its own due to its alcohol-free nature, Sharp’s stressed.
Sharp’s head brewer Aaron McClure said: “We are so excited to introduce Doom Bar Zero to our customers.
“It’s been two years in the making, a definite challenge with excellent results. The bitterness from the hops and sweetness of malt on the palate are well balanced and typical of the mother brand.
“We’re really proud of this beer, which we believe has an enhanced level of body and balance, and improved drinkability compared to its competitors. This is one of very few true 0.0% beers out there in the market.”
James Nicholls, marketing controller at Sharp’s, said: “We feel that Doom Bar Zero redefines the quality standard of the category, and are proud that as a truly alcohol-free option, Doom Bar Zero can fit your lifestyle, when it suits you.
“Doom Bar at 4% is probably the most successful amber ale of recent times, growing from our first brew on a small kit in 1996 to achieving the UK’s no.1 cask ale position in under 20 years. We are excited to now be expanding the range and bringing more choice to consumers with Doom Bar Zero.”
In January 2020., Scottish brewing mammoth Brewdog opened what it claimed to be the world’s first alcohol-free beer bar, in London.
It came as sales of low- and no-alcohol drinks hit the £60million mark, with estimates that 20% of adults are now teetotal, and that figure may have risen during the coronavirus lockdown as some people got used to abstinence.
Sharp’s Brewery Ltd is a modern brewer, based in Rock, North Cornwall, which has grown rapidly since its foundation in 1994, doubling staff number in the past seven years from 70 to 145.
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The largest brewer of cask beer in the South West, Sharp’s flagship beer, Doom Bar, is probably the most successful cask beer of its generation and is the UK’s top performing cask beer brand and winner of The Grocer’s Drinks Brand of the Year 2019.
Sharp’s has a tally of more than 100 international brewing awards, which in 2019 included five medals at the Drinks Business Awards, five medals at the International Beer Challenge, two medals at the World Beer Challenge and five titles at the esteemed World Beer Awards 2019, all against stiff competition.
In addition to these accolades, Sharp’s also won five medals at the 2018 International Beer Challenge, two at the World Beer Awards 2018, five at the 2017 International Beer Challenge, including GOLD for Wolf Rock, five medals at the World Beer Awards 2017, five medals at the 2017 Beer Awards, the People’s Favourite Cask Ale at Inapub’s People's Choice Awards 2017, and Best Drink for Doom Bar in the food Reader Awards 2017.
Sharp’s is a supporter of the music industry through Keynvor, a partnership with Mercury Music Prize nominee Nick Mulvey. Together they produced the first playable vinyl made from recycled ocean plastic found on the Cornish coast.
Proceeds from sales of the exclusive Ocean Vinyl, including digital streams, will go to Surfers Against Sewage to help protect British coastlines from pollution, including plastic waste.
