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How Small Breweries Are Tackling the Challenge of NA Beer Yeast

Special maltose-negative yeast strains offer an accessible route to nonalcoholic beer with a low cost of entry. While pitching the yeast is easy, however, dialing in a tasty NA product demands iteration and a careful process.

John M. Verive Sep 15, 2025 - 14 min read

How Small Breweries Are Tackling the Challenge of NA Beer Yeast Primary Image

Photo: Courtesy Green Cheek

The most successful and visible nonalcoholic beers aren’t coming from smaller, local breweries. Those shelves in grocery stories and bottle shops are crowded with the biggest brands—whether they’re multinational “0.0” offerings, the line extensions of legacy craft breweries such as Sierra Nevada and Deschutes, or the fast-growing specialist brands such as Athletic and Go.

While those bigger brands appear to dominate the NA market, they don’t have a monopoly on it. Nor does your brewery need deep pockets and a wide distribution footprint to develop an NA product.

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