SAN DIEGO — The introduction of the modern-day West Coast IPA, the haze craze and a lager renaissance represent turning points for the American craft brewing industry. Each captured the hearts, minds and palates of consumers during their respective eras, enough that all of the above represent today’s most popular beer styles in terms of sales and production.
But there’s another trend that came about during the turn of the decade: nonalcoholic craft beer. It goes beyond beer styles and has picked up steam over the past six years.
The nonalcoholic beer segment grew by over 22% in 2025, surpassing $1 billion in U.S. sales, and accounting for roughly 87% of all nonalcoholic beverage sales in the country, according to the Beer Institute. Once unthinkable, nonalcoholic beer accounted for 2% of total American beer sales last year. The majority of purchasers fall into the Gen Z category, but its appeal spans nearly every age demographic, with consumers reaching for those products for a multitude of reasons.
San Diego is home to the larger of two bicoastal production headquarters for the nation’s largest nonalcoholic beer producer, Athletic Brewing, which took over a pair of Miramar facilities previously operated by Ballast Point Brewing (including the county’s largest craft brewery). As a company, Athletic brewed 480,000 barrels of nonalcoholic beer in 2025, making it the sixth-largest craft brewing company in the U.S. and the 15th-largest overall beer producer. The company’s dominance in the market is well documented, but the 8-year-old juggernaut isn’t the only local player.
Numerous San Diego County craft brewing operations now produce nonalcoholic beers, and an upcoming segment entrant is looking to not only brew virgin products under its own flag, but also for other companies wishing to wade into the nonalcoholic market.
Addition by subtraction
It was 2020 when AleSmith Brewing began experimenting with nonalcoholic beer. Rather than dabble, the award-winning Miramar outfit’s brewing team committed well over a year to research and development, investing in pricey pasteurization equipment and working diligently to nail down process controls before releasing AleSmith Non-Alcoholic IPA in 2022. Hoppy and registering just 75 calories per 12-ounce can, it was followed in 2024 by a de-alcoholized coffee-infused beer called N/A Speedway that was loosely based on AleSmith’s popular Speedway Stout.
“In the tasting room, the (nonalcoholic) beers have found a natural place,” says Kristen Ballinger, marketing communications manager for AleSmith. “Designated drivers, guests who are pregnant, and people who just want to moderate that day can still be part of the experience and enjoy something worth drinking rather than defaulting to water or soda.”
Ballinger says AleSmith’s nonalcoholic beers have found success via distribution channels, as well, not just in San Diego, but across California, Arizona, Minnesota, Ohio and several other markets.
Recently, Vista-based Pure Project Brewing joined Athletic and AleSmith, introducing its first pair of nonalcoholic beers: a Noble-hopped blonde ale dubbed Sunsip and a West Coast IPA called Grounded. In doing so, brewer Winslow Sawyer and his team focused on matching the vibrant flavors of their traditional beers.
“I believe that the modern craft beer flavor profile was missing from the world of N/A beer,” says Sawyer. “Until recently, only the large macro breweries had N/A versions of their standard offerings. Craft beer is still underrepresented in the segment and has a huge opportunity to grow.”
Sawyer reports that Sunsip and Grounded have been well received and brought in new customers who say they would not have otherwise visited a Pure Project taproom.
N/A is not applicable
Karl Strauss Brewing holds the distinction of being San Diego’s longest continuously operating post-Prohibition brewery. It is also the first local company to take a swipe at the nonalcoholic beer market, then decide not to pursue it.
In 2025, the 37-year-old business produced a nonalcoholic version of its longtime best-selling beer, Red Trolley Ale. Offered as a special for Dry January, it performed decently at the company’s nine Southern California brewpubs, but customers overwhelmingly preferred the normal, alcoholic version of the Irish-style red ale.
“We have spent the past 37 years making calculated decisions based off long-term trends and working to stay innovative without chasing trends,” says Chad Heath, COO of the company’s Beer Division, which includes oversight of Karl Strauss Distributing.
“What we have done to keep this space moving forward is working with like-minded friends in the industry to distribute their N/A offerings to our brewpubs and accounts we sell to. They have been very well received.”
Taking nonalcoholic to the next level
Zane Curtis has also seen nonalcoholic beer fly off the shelves at his pair of Monday Morning Bottle Shop locations in Ocean Beach and Pacific Beach, retail establishments that exclusively sell nonalcoholic beverages. Business has been so good over the past two years that Curtis recently purchased the San Marcos production facility, which previously belonged to Creative Creature Brewing. Working with several experienced brewers, he is in the process of equipping the brewery to produce a variety of nonalcoholic beverages.
Curtis plans to produce several nonalcoholic beers under the Monday Morning label and offer them at his bottle shops as well as a taproom at his brewery. But he also plans to take his project a step further than other local contemporaries by producing white-label beverages for restaurants and contract-brewing for other craft beer companies. This represents an evolution in the story of San Diego’s sans-alcohol suds scene.
“The inspiration for moving into production was rooted in wanting to create the kind of quality, craft-forward N/A beers that we were seeking but couldn’t always source consistently,” says Curtis. “Our contract-brewing focus is primarily on craft breweries that want to expand into the N/A space without the overhead of a separate production line, as well as emerging N/A brands looking for a production partner with genuine category expertise.”
Curtis says nonalcoholic beer has been one of Monday Morning’s strongest and fastest-growing categories since he launched his business in 2024. When asked about the future, he has high hopes for continued growth similar to that of the industry that birthed the current nonalcoholic trend.
“Over the next decade, I believe N/A beer will become a standard category expectation at every serious bar, restaurant, and bottle shop, not a specialty item,” says Curtis. “As production quality keeps improving and more craft players enter the space, the category will mirror what happened with craft beer itself: fragmentation, premiumization and a loyal consumer base that takes it seriously.”
“What we’re seeing is a shift toward moderation rather than abstaining from alcohol entirely. Customers are using N/A beers as a spacer between alcoholic beers, or as the final beer of the night when they want one more without the effects of alcohol,” says Ballinger.
“Long-term, we think N/A will become a permanent part of the craft beer landscape. The craft beer drinker is getting older, taking on more responsibilities, thinking more about health. Whatever the reason someone reaches for an N/A beer, that behavior isn’t going away. It’s a generational shift, not a trend,” Ballinger said.
Brandon Hernández is founder of San Diego Beer News (www.sandiegobeer.news), a site providing daily coverage of the county’s brewing industry, a beat he’s covered for 19 years. Follow him @sdbeernews or contact him at brandon@sandiegobeer.news.