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Key Takeaways Athletic Brewing became America’s #1 non-alcoholic beer by eliminating the stigma around non-alcoholic beer.
The company created social proof by partnering with elite athletes like JJ Watt and Naomi Osaka and landing on 22% of Michelin-starred menus nationwide.
It turned Dry January customers into year-round buyers by offering a guilt-free option that fits modern lifestyles.
Bill Shufelt loved beer. He loved sports bars, restaurants, and the ritual of cracking open a cold one with friends. But he didn’t love the way beer made him feel. The alcohol was having negative effects on his health and his productivity.
Shufelt stopped drinking in 2013, but he was frustrated by the lack of great-tasting non-alcoholic beer options available to him at the time. After years of research and business planning, in 2017, Shufelt co-founded Athletic Brewing Company with John Walker, and the pair set out to solve a problem that had plagued the beer industry for years: Develop a range of full-flavored non-alcoholic beers that people would actually be proud to drink.
For too long, non-alcoholic beer carried a stigma. Ordering one at a bar signaled you might be an alcoholic or in recovery. The category’s legacy brands didn’t help. They tasted terrible and came with an implicit declaration that you had a problem.
“I just wanted a delicious non-alcoholic beer that I’d be psyched to hold up with the label showing,” Shufelt says.
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Building a category leader
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