Driest January: NA beer sales soar in Twin Cities

Nonalcoholic beer flowed in the Twin Cities this Dry January, with consumers spending more than ever on the beverage option that is steadily growing in popularity around the country.

This January, Twin Cities shoppers spent more than $320,000 on nonalcoholic beer, an increase of 41.6% over January 2023 sales, according to data from NIQ. Nationwide, nonalcoholic beer spending increased by about 34% in 2024 to a total of more than $42 billion.

Dry January is not just a blip on the radar for Minnesota brewers as more consumers look for NA drinks at taprooms, said Bob Galligan, the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild’s director of government and industry relations.

“Times are definitely changing. Nowadays I feel like every brewery has an NA option,” Galligan said.

Part of why the guild worked so hard on THC beverages at the Legislature is that they wanted to have more options for consumers, he said. While January is typically a challenging month across hospitality industries, the blow wasn’t as bad in 2024 due to NA and THC beverages, Galligan said.

With the growth of the industry, more Minnesota guild members are exploring the technology behind NA. In St. Paul, ABV Technologies created a proprietary de-alcoholizing process that helps breweries give NA beers a flavor more like alcoholic options, rather than boiling off the alcohol, the process used in the 1980s and ‘90s, Galligan said. Other members have experimented with yeast strains without alcohol, he added.

Overall, brewers don’t see dry January going anywhere and will continue offering NA options as wellness concerns continue to trend and more people limit their alcohol intake.