Every person who has ever wandered into the alcohol-free section of a liquor store has had the same experience.
You pick up a six-pack of non-alcoholic beer.
You glance at the price tag.
You put it back down.
You pick it back up again because surely you misread it.
Then you ask the question we have all asked:
“Wait. They took the alcohol out. Shouldn’t this be cheaper?”
Reasonable question.
Turns out the answer is no.
In fact, sometimes the opposite is true.
Because the funny thing about alcohol is that while it causes all sorts of expensive problems later, it’s actually one of the cheaper ingredients in the can.
Most quality non-alcoholic beer starts its life exactly like regular beer.
They brew it.
They ferment it.
They make the actual beer.
And then they do something extra.
They remove the alcohol.
Which means you’re not eliminating a step in the process.
You’re adding one.
Sometimes several.
Depending on the method, breweries use specialized equipment to gently remove alcohol while preserving flavor, aroma, and all the things that make beer taste like beer instead of bread water and disappointment.
It’s complicated.
It’s expensive.
And honestly, some companies are much better at it than others.
The same thing happens with wine.
Especially sparkling wine.
Good sparkling wine is difficult to make.
Good non-alcoholic sparkling wine is apparently witchcraft.
You have to preserve acidity, body, texture, and flavor while removing the thing that quietly held all those pieces together.
When it’s done badly, it tastes like sad grape juice wearing a tuxedo.
When it’s done well, it feels like magic.
Which brings me to Joyus.
My favorite non-alcoholic sparkling wine I’ve found so far.
I don’t have an affiliate relationship with them.
I don’t know them.
I just know I’ve brought it to celebrations, holidays, and random Tuesday nights and never once felt like I was drinking a consolation prize.
That’s become my standard for alcohol-free products.
I don’t want substitutions.
I want alternatives that can stand on their own.
The alcohol-free market has changed dramatically since I quit drinking in 2021.
Back then, your options were basically:
- Club soda with a lime in a Pepsi cup
- Diet Coke
- explaining yourself repeatedly
Today there are shelves dedicated to alcohol-free options.
Restaurants have menus.
Breweries are paying attention.
Liquor stores have entire sections.
It’s expensive partly because the category is still relatively small.
Smaller production runs.
More specialized equipment.
Less economy of scale.
You’re paying early-adopter pricing.
The good news is that prices have already started coming down as demand increases.
The other good news is that most of us aren’t drinking twelve of them.
At least not usually.
Because here’s the thing I’ve learned after almost five years alcohol-free:
I don’t drink non-alcoholic beer the way I drank beer.
I don’t drink sparkling wine the way I drank sparkling wine.
The role it plays in my life is completely different.
One while grilling.
One at a bonfire.
One while sitting on the porch watching the sun go down.
The experience stayed.
The ritual stayed.
The people stayed.
The koozie stayed.
The quantity changed.
So yes.
I still occasionally wince when I pay twelve dollars for sixer of non-alcoholic beers.
But I also remember paying far more than that for the privilege of feeling terrible the next day.
Perspective helps.
Things I Love
The alcohol-free products that earn permanent residency in my fridge all have one thing in common:
They stopped trying to imitate alcohol and started trying to be good drinks.
Turns out that’s a much more interesting category anyway.
