My latest article for The Bulletin considers Dry January and the local non-alcoholic beer options currently available in Central Oregon (including hop water).

Whatever the reason, this Dry January is an excellent time to revisit the non-alcoholic beer options that are available, something I covered in 2021.

Since that time, the range of non-alcoholic (NA) beer options has grown wider than ever, from both traditional craft breweries and a growing number of dedicated NA brewers. For instance, companies such as Athletic Brewing Co., RationAle Brewing Co., and Best Day Brewing Co. all focus exclusively on non-alcoholic beer. All are available locally from stores such as Market of Choice, 3rd Street Beverage and others, offering a variety of styles to try.

Closer to home, several Central Oregon breweries are producing NA beer to supplement their regular lineups.

To legally qualify as a non-alcoholic brew, the amount of alcohol must be at or below 0.5% by volume. There are different ways to achieve this, from special processes designed to remove alcohol post-fermentation to brewing extremely low-gravity beers that yield low alcohol (which can be further diluted with water to get below the threshold).

Including in my overview are the NØ MØ line of NA beers from Crux Fermentation Project (four in all right now), Black Butte Non-Alcoholic from Deschutes Brewery, N/A IPA from 10 Barrel Brewing, as well as mentions of a new NA beer from Bridge 99 Brewery, No Wake Zone, and a tease from Silver Moon Brewing of an NA option coming this year.

On the hop water front, I listed Hop Quencher from Worthy Brewing and Sparkling Ruby Hop Water from McMenamins. After the article came out, I found out that Sunriver Brewing also has an NA Hop Seltzer available at its pubs; the brewery wrote on Instagram, “The current flavor at our pubs is Guava Lemonade, and will be transitioning to Blueberry Citrus soon!”

If you’re participating in Dry January, or just looking for non-alcoholic options that still scratch that craft beer itch, all of these are solid options to check out while still supporting our local breweries.