Scotland’s first non-alcoholic brewing company, Jump Ship Brewing, has opened a new purpose-built 20 hectolitre brewery in Midlothian.
The brewery was founded by Sonja Mitchell, who ‘jumped ship’ from her marketing job to brew non-alcoholic beers. It has already gained awards for its small-batch releases and looked to secure a site which could quadruple production to meet growing demand, using 100% renewable energy.
Recent research by YouGov showed that almost half (44%) of Britain’s youngest drinkers (18- to 25-year-olds) are opting for low and no-alcohol alternatives, up from 31% in 2022.
Sonja launched a crowdfunding campaign last year. This exceeded its target of £300,000 in days, with investors from across the UK.
“As an independent brewery, I dreamed that we might be able to dock ship and open our brewery someday, and this feels like such a huge achievement for our team,” said Sonja.
“Many people might have tried non-alcoholic beer, but few people know how we make our beers naturally without alcohol, so we’re looking forward to rolling up the shutters and welcoming people in.
“The funding bid has allowed us to expand and explore new contracts in new territories and get our cans to customers on new shores and close to home with on and off trade sales. We start brewing this week in our new home, with our first cans from the new brewery available from next month.”
The move also means that Jump Ship is offering brewery tours for the first time, priced from £20 per person and available to book on the website. Each tour lasts between 60 and 90 minutes and includes plenty of samples during a guided tasting, and a branded tote bag with a can or two to enjoy at home.
Jump Ship Brewing has a strong charitable focus at its heart with a commitment from the outset to donate at least 10% of their profits to a variety of charities, which are nominated by Jump Ship’s customers or ‘ship mates’ as they are described. All beers are also gluten free and suitable for vegans.
