Cornwall’s Firebrand Brewing Co has started 2025 with record-breaking sales, in spite of it being traditionally the quietest time of the year for breweries.
Firebrand co-owner and head brewer, Joe Thomson
Their alcohol-free January sales were up 12% on the same month last year and 11% on December 2024. And they have enjoyed a 227% increase in subscriptions to their alcohol-free beers since the start of the year.
“We have been brewing beer since 2013 and have become used to the traditional patterns of business,” said Joe Thomson, co-owner and head brewer at Firebrand Brewing Co.
“In the past, most of our revenue was generated in the summer beer-drinking months, with another spike around Christmas. Meanwhile, the first few months of the year were always very quiet. Since we started adding alcohol-free beer to our range, things have changed, and this year has been the busiest January ever.”
He added: “I started brewing non-alcoholic beers because I got into running and I was looking for a more healthy alternative to my daily pint, to support my training. Our first non-alcoholic beer, Shorebreak, felt like a nice niche addition to the range at the time. Now it is our best seller and has dramatically changed the pattern of our year round sales.
“Although our overall sales are still heavily weighted toward the summer months, Shorebreak and our more recently launched non-alcholic lager, Little Wave, do a lot of the heavy lifting to support us in the quieter months at the beginning of the year.”
‘We had to work overtime to fulfil orders’
A report by global drinks data and insight provider IWSR indicates that the UK no/low market more than doubled in 2024 versus 2023, and no-alcohol beer sales grew 20% in the same period.
With better availability of quality non-alcoholic alternatives and an interest — particularly among younger generations — in healthier options, more people are making no and low drinks a regular part of their week.
“Alcohol-free drinks used to be confined to Dry January and midweek occasions, but that has all changed in the last few years, so we are seeing much more consistent sales throughout the year than we do with our core beers, and we continue to enjoy significant growth annually,” said Joe.
“This January, Shorebreak appeared on BBC1’s Saturday Kitchen and was named best alcohol-free beer by The Guardian, which boosted sales even more. We had to work overtime to fulfil all our orders.
“That’s not something a traditional brewer would expect to do in January. It used to be the month that we spent catching up on maintenance and admin.”
