With health and moderation in vogue, award-winning Portland brewer is the latest to dip its toes in the non-alcohol market.
Non-alcoholic beverages are having a moment and McKean Banzer-Lausberg, co-founder and CEO of Migration Brewing, hasn’t seen this much excitement in the craft beer industry since the early days two decades ago.
“There was a lot of passion behind this, as well as a compelling sales argument,” he tells Oregon Business. “This is one of the most exciting debuts we’ve ever had.”
This week, Migration became the latest Oregon brewer to roll out an NA line. Called Ripped, it’s offered in two styles, Hazy IPA and Ripped Hazy IPA and currently sold in more than 50 Portland-area stores with plans to spread to the rest of the state as well as Washington, Idaho and Colorado.
NA is one of the fastest-growing segments of the beverage industry with sales growth of 163% since 2019. NA sales totaled $368 million in 2023, according to Circana data.
The majority of NA drinkers aren’t teetotalers and in fact drink alcohol, according to Beverage Industry Insider. The growth is fueled in part by larger health trends including Dry January and younger people drinking less alcohol.
A number of well-established beer brands have debuted NA lines in recent years including Corona, Guinness and Sam Adams. The top selling NA brands are Heineken, Athletic, Bud, Busch and O’Douls, according to Beverage Industry Insider. Athletic is the fastest-growing, with sales growth over the past 12 months of 108%.
Ripped joins popular Oregon non-alcoholic beers like Deschutes Brewing’s Black Butte NA and Crux’s No-Mo.
RELATED: Migration Brewing Wins SBA State Small Business Person of the Year Award
Migration started developing its NA brewing techniques five years ago before the pandemic threw a wrench in the gears. Despite the burgeoning popularity of NA beer, Banzer-Lausberg was underwhelmed by many of competitors’ offerings.
Ripped was devised within the past year using custom brewing techniques in the brewer’s innovation center, called “The Shop” at NE 28th Ave. and Glisan St. Migration took lessons from similar beverages like kombucha and hop water. In the end, they used a lean grain bill and made a beer that features aromatics from the Mosaic, Citra and Azacca Cryo hops. The company describes the flavor profile as exuding “bright notes of tangerine, citrus and grapefruit coupled with a firm finish.”
Due to a handful of factors, brewing non-alcohol beer isn’t easy. For one, removing alcohol causes beer to lose shelf-stability, which makes pasteurization even more important. But pasteurization can kill flavor if not done correctly. Migration ultimately used arrested fermentation techniques combined with high brew temperatures and a short mash time.
“To keep the alcohol content below .5% ABV while keeping the integrity of craft — it’s a tough balancing act,” Banzer-Lausberg says.
Founded in 2010 by four friends, Migration today has four Portland pubs and is the most recent winner of the Oregon Small Business of the Year award of the U.S. Small Business Association.
If the venture is successful, Migration hopes to round out a “core four” NA offerings with two additional styles, likely a darker, malt-focused brew and something lighter, possibly a lager or pilsner, according to McKean Banzer-Lausberg.
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