About Big Drop

Big Drop Brewing Co. is dedicated exclusively to making the finest 0.5% ABV beer.

Big Drop was launched in October 2016 by the-then City lawyer Rob Fink, along with his school-friend and bandmate, designer and entrepreneur James Kindred.

The idea for a brewing business that only made alcohol-free beer was driven by their own lifestyle changes — fatherhood among them — and the frustration that there were no good alcohol-free options.

Along with renowned experimental brewer Johnny Clayton, formerly of Wild Beer Co, they perfected techniques to make alcohol-free craft beer without artificially removing the alcohol. The result doesn't compromise on taste, and is never more than 0.5% ABV.

Big Drop doesn't just use barley. It uses barley, rye, wheat and oats for flavour and aroma — and not just one type of each. Across the range it uses over twenty speciality grains, from stout and lager to pale ale, IPA, brown ale, golden ale, winter ale and sour. There really is something for everybody.

The team

• Rob Fink

  Founder

  A City lawyer and new father who took a break from booze in 2016 and found there was nothing worth drinking. That gap became Big Drop. Rob left his law firm the following year — two jobs, a house move and twins on the way — to run the brewery full time.

• James Kindred

  Founder

  Brand strategist, graphic designer, and Rob's school friend and bandmate. James shaped the brand from the first bottle onwards, through the 2020 rebrand and the move from a single stout to a full range sold in more than twenty countries.

• Johnny Clayton

  Head Brewer

  Formerly of Wild Beer Co and one of the most inventive brewers in the business. Johnny took on the challenge of brewing to 0.5% ABV without stripping the alcohol out afterwards — the technique behind every beer Big Drop has made since.

Awards

• 2023 Australian International Beer Awards

  • Galactic won Silver in Best Non-Alcohol Beer
  • Poolside won Silver in Best Non-Alcohol Beer
  • Paradiso won Bronze in Best Non-Alcohol Beer

• 2023 World Beer Cup

  • Galactic won the Bronze Medal in the Non-Alcohol Beer Category

• 2023 World Alcohol-Free Awards

  • Galactic won Gold
  • Paradiso and Pine Trail won Bronze
  • Reef Point was commended

• 2022 World Beer Awards

  • Galactic was the Country Winner for the Australian Flavoured Stout
  • Pine Trail was the Country Winner for the USA’s No & Low Pale
  • Coba Maya won Silver in the USA’s No & Low Lager
  • Galactic won Silver in No & Low Stout and No & Low Flavoured
  • Pine Trail won Silver in No & Low Pale.

• 2022 Which Taste Test

  • Paradiso won their Best Buy award

• 2022 Craft Beer Marketing Awards

  • Galactic Extra Dark won Platinum

• 2021 World Beer Awards

  • Double Strike won Bronze in No & Low Alcohol Sour
  • Woodcutter won Silver in No & low Alcohol Dark
  • Pine Trail won Silver in No & Low Alcohol Pale
  • Galactic won World’s Best in No & Low Alcohol Stout
  • Galactic won World’s Best in No & Low Alcohol
  • Paradiso won World’s Best in No & Low Alcohol Specialty (GF)
  • Paradiso won Bronze in IPA Speciality (GF)

• 2021 Awards

  • SIBA – Commercial Achievement
  • World Beer Awards – Double Strike, Woodcutter, Pine Trail, Galactic & Paradiso
  • US Open – Pine Trail & Galactic
  • Craft Beer Awards – Poolside & Leafkicker
  • Melbourne International Beer Competition – Uptime & Pine Trail

• 2020 Awards

  • Global Beer Masters – Pine Trail, Paradiso, Uptime, Woodcutter, Off-Piste
  • USA Beer Ratings – Pine Trail, Galactic, Uptime

• World Beer Awards 2020

  • Pine Trail Pale Ale won World’s Best in the Low Alc Pale category, plus country best.
  • Galactic Milk Stout won World’s Best Flavoured Low Alcohol category, plus country best.
  • Paradiso Citra IPA won Best Specialty IPA in the UK.
  • Off Piste Hazelnut Porter won a UK Silver.

• World Beer Awards 2019

  • The Brown Ale won World’s Best in the Dark Beer Low Strength category.
  • The Citra won UK Bronze for full-strength Session IPA.
  • The Pale Ale won UK Bronze for Pale Beer Low Strength.

• European Beer Challenge 2019

  • The Lager and Stout both won Double Golds.

• Stockholm Beer & Whisky Festival 2019

  • The Stout won Gold, plus the overall title of Best in Show.
  • The Brown Ale won a Bronze.

• International Beer Challenge 2019

  • The Brown Ale won Silver in the Lo/No category.
  • The Stout won Bronze in the No/Lo category.

• US Open Beer Championship 2019

  • The Stout won Gold in the Non-alcoholic Stout category
  • The Citra won Silver in the Non-alcoholic IPA category.

• The International Brewing and Cider Awards 2019

  • The Citra won the overall Champion’s trophy for the No and Low Alcohol Beer category.
  • The Stout won Silver in the No and Low Alcohol category.

• Casual Dining Show 2019

  • The Citra was crowned ‘King of Craft’ at the show, which was dominated by full-strength beers.

• BBC Food & Farming Awards 2018

  • Big Drop was named one of three ‘Best Drinks Producers’.

• World Beer Awards 2017

  • The Pale Ale was named World’s Best Pale Beer (low strength)
  • The Stout won UK Silver for flavoured Stout when judged against full-strength stouts and porters

• International Beer Challenge 2017

  • The Stout won a Gold Medal

• The Society of Independent Brewers

  • Big Drop Brewing received the Best Business Innovation award

History

1. April 2016

   City lawyer and new father, Rob Fink, takes a break from booze – and identifies a lack of choice in low/no alcohol beers. Further research reveals a gap in the market for a craft brewery dedicated solely to great quality, full-flavoured low/no alcohol beer.

2. August 2016

   Rob establishes Big Drop Brewing Co, along with old school friend and acclaimed brand strategist – James Kindred.

3. September 2016

   Johnny Clayton, formerly of Wild Beer Co and one of the finest experimental brewers in the business, embraces the Big Drop challenge of making 0.5% ABV beers without artificially extracting alcohol.

4. November 2016

   A 0.5% ABV Milk Stout is released to rave reviews.

   “The most impressive no/low alcohol beer I have ever tried; no argument, it just is.” Melissa Cole, British Guild of Beer Writers.

   “Hard to believe this is a non-alcoholic beer” – Morning Advertiser.

5. March 2017

   A Pale Ale is the hit follow up to the stout. It too draws parallels with full-strength beers.

6. May 2017

   Holding down two jobs, about to move house and with twins due any day, Rob resigns from his law firm to focus entirely on Big Drop.

7. June 2017

   Two more beers – a Lager and a seasonal Spiced Ale – are released. Working with local illustrator, Helen Maxfield, a new range of label designs are launched depicting the Suffolk countryside.

8. August 2017

   Big Drop’s Pale Ale is named the World’s Best Pale Beer (>2.8% ABV) at the World Beer Awards 2017. Its Stout wins a Gold Medal at the International Beer Challenge and a UK Silver Medal at the World Beer Awards, when judged against full-strength stouts and porters.

9. October 2017

   Big Drop’s export journey begins when the Stout is launched in Sweden via Systembolaget which, as the country’s monopoly alcohol retailer, is one of the world’s largest purchasers of beer.

10. January 2018

    Premium listings are obtained at Hakkasan, Fortnum & Mason, The Ivy Group and Barworks Pub Group.

11. March 2018

    Big Drop is announced as one of three ‘Best Drinks Producers’ in the BBC Food & Farming Awards and wins the Dragons’ Pantry award at the Farm Shop & Deli Show.

12. April 2018

    Albert Heijn, the largest supermarket chain in The Netherlands starts stocking Big Drop.

13. May 2018

    New on-trade listings include: Draft House, Mitchells & Butlers, All Bar One and The Castles Groups – while the next seasonal beer, a Sour, is launched at an event at the Commercial Tavern in London.

14. September 2018

    Big Drop gains listings with Ocado and Tesco Extra stores.

15. December 2018

    A £500k seed funding round is closed.

16. January 2019

    Big Drop goes on draft for the first time – across the Barworks group.

17. February 2019

    Big Drop’s latest range addition – a Citra IPA – is crowned ‘King of Craft’ at the Casual Dining show, which was dominated by full-strength beers.

18. March 2019

    Big Drop wins the Business Innovation category at the Society of Independent Brewers Awards. The Citra IPA and Stout win Gold and Silver respectively at the International Brewing Awards.

19. April 2019

    Morrisons is the latest supermarket chain to stock Big Drop.

20. June 2019

    Holland & Barrett list our new format 330ml cans, which includes gluten-free Pale Ale and Stout, plus a vegan friendly Lager.

21. October 2019

    The LCBO launch the Pale Ale and Stout in stores across Ontario, Canada

    Curated by Melissa Cole, Big Drop launch the first World Collab Series pack with the UK’s leading full-strength craft brewers.

22. December 2019

    Milk & More begin doorstep deliveries and Big Drop becomes one of its biggest sellers in the run-up to Christmas.

    A Hazelnut Porter is added to the range. Total annual sales top 1 million bottles.

23. January 2020

    National media coverage for Dry January includes TV appearances for Big Drop on Saturday Kitchen and with Phil & Holly on This Morning.

    Also on CTV and CBC in Canada.

24. February 2020

    Big Drop reveals a big, bright and bold design make-over to reflect its global expansion as a leading alcohol-free beer brand.

    Fans are offered a slice of the business via a crowdfund campaign.

25. March 2020

    Big Drop exceeded its Crowdfunding target.

    The Big Drop online shop launched.

    James and Rhian created the first online pub quiz of lockdown, Living Room Pub Quiz

    The Big Drop Amazon store went live

26. April 2020

    Big Drop created a series of virtual gigs, featuring The Dunwells, Allman Brown and Russell Swallow.

27. May 2020

    Big Drop concluded its Living Room Pub Quiz with a combined total of 100k views from all over the globe.

28. June 2020

    Big Drop launched two limited edition Summer Specials – Poolside and Kodama.

    Galactic Milk Stout and Paradiso Citra IPA became available at Waitrose.

    Galactic Milk Stout became available at Sainsbury’s

    Melissa Cole hosted a virtual live tasting of Poolside and Kodama.

    To help those working from home Big Drop created an IGTV series with movement therapy and yoga teacher Wibbs Coulson.

    Pine Trail Pale Ale became the alcohol-free beer listing at Nando’s nationwide.

29. July 2020

    To say thank you to the NHS staff Big Drop are driving to various hospitals in and around London to pour free pints for staff.

    Big Drop celebrated the NHS’s 72nd Birthday by visiting Royal Free Hospital’s around London to pour pints for staff.

30. August 2020

    Big Drop launched in Australia.

31. October 2020

    We launched our UK 2020 Winter Season exclusives Firesider and Kinzig.

32. January 2021

    We launched our store in the USA and also launched our World Collab Series #2 in the UK.

33. May 2021

    Paria and Explorer Packs were launched.

34. July 2021

    We returned to the Festivals.

35. August 2021

    We won multiple awards including Britain’s/World’s Best in the World Beer Awards, making us one of the most awarded independent non-alcoholic breweries in the UK.

36. September 2021

    We launched our collaboration brew with Square Mile Coffee Roasters producing the Leafkicker Coffee Flavoured Amber Ale.