'Not preaching': alcohol-free brewers hope to change drinking culture

Four mates who launched non-alcoholic beer company Heaps Normal during the coronavirus lockdown have raised $1.3 million from investors, including prominent start-up founders, as they look to tap growing demand for alcohol-free drinks.

"Although it was a terrible situation — and for our industry and a lot of businesses in it, it was quite catastrophic — it was unexpectedly positive for us to launch in the middle of lockdown," co-founder and chief executive Andy Miller said.

Heaps Normal co-founders, from left: Andy Miller, Ben Holdstock and Peter Brennan. Credit: Rohan Thomson

"Nobody was out in trade so it made it a lot easier to connect with customers around the country with limited resources.

"People started to realise that whatever the normal amount of alcohol was for them outside of lockdown affected them quite a bit more in lockdown — you don't have the social contact and you are stuck in the same four walls."

Non-alcoholic beer, brewed to have an alcohol content of 0.5 per cent or less, is one of the fastest growing drinks categories in Australia.

The funding round values Heaps Normal at $7.2 million with a host of fellow startup founders coming on board as investors including Koala founders Dany Milham and Mitch Taylor, Adore Beauty founder Kate Morris, Laneway Festival founder Danny Rogers and his wife, entertainment lawyer, Liz Rogers, Culture Amp co-founder Rod Hamilton and Linktree founders Anthony Zaccaria and Nick Humphreys.

The investment was led by Alex Cornish of Positive Sum, and Jackie Vullinghs, James Cameron and Craig Blair of Airtree Ventures have all invested in the beer startup personally.

Heaps Normal is based in Canberra but does not have its own brewery, instead contracting out. The beer is sold online and at 170 outlets across Australia, mostly independent bottleshops.

Mr Miller started Heaps Normal with three friends he met working in the beer industry — Ben Holdstock, Peter Brennan and Jordy Smith.

"Over a beer, we realised that we all wanted to reduce our alcohol consumption but for very different reasons, which is what inspired the name Heaps Normal, and the insight that there were lots of people out there that wanted to drink less," he said.

"The four of us have experienced that Australia has a bit of a drinking problem ... but there was no brand connected with beer drinkers in a way that was not preaching sobriety. We felt to have that impact on drinking culture, we have to be able to relate to people and people’s different individual choices."

Mr Miller said it took about six months of research and development and six months of trial brewing before Heaps Normal launched its beer in July.

He said Heaps Normal will use funds raised to shore up its supply (it has sold out twice in the past four months) and to hire and do marketing.

The startup came out of the Startmate accelerator program and also received a Canberra Innovation grant.

"What really attracted us to solving this problem was seeing that we could have a positive impact on Australia and longer term global drinking culture," Mr Miller said.

A slew of non-alcoholic beers has come onto the market in recent years, including Carlton Zero from beer giant Carlton & United Breweries, Heineken 0.0 sold by Lion and craft beer brands Sobah, UpFlow and NORT Refreshing Ale.

Mr Miller said he is not fazed by the competition.

"I do think as a baseline it is something that is new to the category, having a non-alcoholic beer that tastes good, and I’d say tastes as good as your favourite craft beer," he said. "The other thing is the brand, so it's coming back to connecting with beer drinkers in a way that doesn’t alienate them by choosing to have a night off."

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