Page 22 - Food&Drink August 2022 magazine

BEVERAGE PRODUCTION
A sober lager
The NoLo alcohol market has exploded in recent years, with many breweries and distilleries developing their own low or zero alcohol offerings. Pippa Haupt speaks to David Jackson about how his own sobriety goals drove him to create the Beneficial Beer Co.
IN January 2020, David Jackson gave up alcohol. His personal struggle with drinking was the catalyst for the decision, but it only took a couple of weeks for Jackson to realise he was going to have to do more than just say no.
“In the early stages I was finding it really hard to manage my alcohol consumption, and I was finding it even harder to actually give up alcohol.
“I thought, if I can find
something I can do to keep me sober, and make that my passion – I’ll stay sober. And if it is a passion, then I’ll be really good at it, and if I’m really good at it, it will be really successful,” Jackson says.
Jackson enlisted friend, and now co-founder and creative director, Matt Johnson to help create the brand, and the pair embarked on finding a brewer to work with.
When no brewers in Sydney
were willing to help out, Jackson realised they were going to have to build the brewery themselves, and for that they needed money.
“I was pretty sure I could raise the money, but I knew I couldn’t if I didn’t know how to make beer,” Jackson says.
So Jackson applied for a beer brewing TAFE course in Queensland and relocated his family from New South Wales to Queensland for the six month duration.
“There were 85 people who applied, and TAFE accepted
10 people into the course, I spent six months learning how to make beer and learning how to run a brewery,” he says.
When the course finished, Jackson knew he would need expert assistance for the
journey ahead, so enlisted the help of former Toohey’s brewing manager Bruce Peachey.
“I approached Bruce online, and asked him if he would come on board as a co-founder and as our head brewer,” says Jackson.
Peachey asked the important questions, “what sort of beer do you want to make?”
“I wanted to make a lager where I could sit at a pub and while everyone else is drinking beers, they wouldn’t even know I was drinking a non-alcoholic version,” Jackson explains.
After eventually finding a contract brewer to brew their lager, and securing the exclusive rights to an Australian made reverse osmosis alcohol removal filtration system, Jackson says they knew they had the ability
Founder David Jackson wanted to create a beer that didn’t look like a NoLo alternative.
RIGHT: The production process.
22 | Food&Drink business | August 2022 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au