Why I do What I do

ZERO IS MORE: Why do you do what you do? Why beer?

JAMES: I’m a beer geek at heart. The craft beer revolution changed beer for the better for forever, but the same creativity, love and innovation had not made it all the way through to alcohol-free beers so I wanted to do something about it. 

ZERO IS MORE: Beer is one of the world’s oldest (alcoholic) drinks. In which era of beer evolution are we now, what characterizes it?

JAMES: Perhaps you could call it post-modern or post-craft? haha. It’s about applying all the great things that have been achieved in the emergence and development of craft beer over the last 10 years and applying that to the (until very recently) unloved non-alcoholic beer category.

ZERO IS MORE: Where was non-alcoholic beer 10 years ago, where is now, and where do you see it be in 10 years’ time?

JAMES: Non-alcoholic beer is awful. That is a statement which was true 10 years ago. Non-alcoholic beer can be hit and miss quality wise. That is a statement which is true today. Non-alcoholic beer is just as good as alcoholic beer in terms of quality and experience, and it’s widely available in bars and restaurants. In fact it’s become so normal that people even refer to it as beer. That is a statement which I hope to be true 10 years from now.

ZERO IS MORE: In your words, what is the main difference between non-alcoholic producers and their product, versus craft non-alcoholic beer?

JAMES: Non-alcoholic beer ticks the box for “yeah it’s ok for an alcohol free beer”. Non-alcoholic craft beer ticks the box for “wow, that’s a great beer”.

ZERO IS MORE: Give us the quick facts on Coast Beer Co. – when and where was it founded, who’s behind the company & where is the beer produced?

JAMES: Founded in 2019 by James Brown. Edinburgh, Scotland. We brew our beers at De Proef Brewery, a world class facility in the north of Belgium.

ZERO IS MORE: Why name the brand COAST?

JAMES: I love being by the sea, for me it always brings up thoughts of freshness, new beginnings and purity. I also have many great memories of living by the coast, so that’s what inspired me to name our beer after it.

ZERO IS MORE: And the logo – what’s the story there? We heard the inspiration came from the 1960’s Japanese poster design.

JAMES: Our designer James Ockelford, was looking at 1960’s Japanese poster design when he came across the eye. After doing some further research he came across an abundance of eye icons all over the world. They are used everywhere but had never been seen on beer – so we figured it was time to change that. The wide open eye represents being fully awakened – present – sober. We like the idea of the eye looking out to sea, to the future. A modernist gesture.

ZERO IS MORE: Let’s get technical. How is non-alcoholic beer made – is there only one production method – and should the end-product even be compared to its alcohol-rich cousin? 

JAMES: There are several different ways to approach making non-alcoholic beer. The most traditional dealcoholisation through methods such as steam distillation or reverse osmosis, we use a modern approach which is working with alternative yeast and bacterial cultures which don’t ferment to produce alcohol in the beer.

ZERO IS MORE: You pride yourselves on the diversity of the range – who is in charge of the range development and what goes into a typical R&D project?

JAMES: As the founder [and a beer geek], I take pride in being the creative spirit and driving force behind all the beers we brew. We do lots of interesting experiments at the brewery and pilot many different brews and variations before deciding which direction to go in. Some things work and others just don’t work at all but that is what makes it so interesting to be involved in.

ZERO IS MORE: Critics of non-alcoholic beer often point the small presence of alcohol and frequent larger presence of sugar, the latter of which is used to improve taste lost through de-alcoholisation process. Give us your take on this claims, please?

JAMES: Certainly alcoholic beers contain a high amount of sugar, but our alcohol-free beers contain much less so than regular beers, therefore are lower in total calorie count, too.

ZERO IS MORE: Is the market (especially, the male one) courageous enough to accept 0% Abv. beer as a mainstream?

JAMES: It’s early days but I do believe that we will get there, it’s up to us to keep raising the bar in terms of quality and experience to give consumers credible alternatives.

ZERO IS MORE: Zero Percent offers IPA, HAZY IPA, FARMHOUSE and DDH IPA variants. Which is your favourite of the four, and which one you’d recommend to first-time buyers? 

JAMES: DDH IPA is my go-to, it’s a beer we’re really proud of and delivers a fantastic modern hoppy IPA beer experience. Highly sessionable and well balanced.

Cheers!

🍻