Beta Test: Best Day Brewing serves up nonalcoholic microbrews

Editor's note: Beta Test is a column where we'll periodically test and sample locally made products made by entrepreneurs around the Bay Area. Have a product that you'd like us to consider? Email us at: sbloomberg@bizjournals.com.

Tate Huffard had been living in NYC and pursuing a career in finance but after a year or so realized it wasn't a good fit. So, in 2010 he moved to California and eventually joined San Francisco-based apparel brand American Giant where he ran operations for around a decade.

At the same time, he started getting into craft beers but when he hit his 30s, the hangovers from drinking just weren't worth it.

"I wanted to wake up in the morning and be able to surf before I went to work," Huffard, 36, said. "I was not psyched about having something like a hangover or a bad night's sleep."

Drinking is also a social activity. His father-in-law doesn't drink, though, so Huffard first started buying six-packs of nonalcoholic beer like O'Doul's that they could share. The flavor he craved was lacking, though, especially when compared to the craft beers that were stocked up in his fridge.

So he founded Best Day Brewing in 2021 to make nonalcoholic craft brews for anyone that wanted to drink less but still enjoy an adult beverage.

By law, nonalcoholic beers must contain less than 0.5% alcohol, according to the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. And the designation of "alcohol free" can only be used on beverages without any trace of alcohol.

Alcohol will evaporate from food and beverages if heated, but that method won't produce the most appetizing drink. So Best Day Brewing starts with fully crafted beer and removes most of the alcohol in a way that preserves the flavors and aromas.

Best Day Brewing

"The way that we brew, we do make a full beer. We make the full Kolsch, we make the full IPA. And then we've got a specific technology and process for ultimately getting it to the nonalcoholic version," Huffard said. "Equally important to us is that we maintain all of the integrity of the beer. Maintain all the flavors, maintain all the aromas."

Best Day Brewing currently makes an IPA-style and a Kolsch-style beverage and Huffard told me the company plans on launching a couple more flavors in May.

The company sells direct-to-consumers from its website and is also in around 1,000 retail locations in California and Colorado, Huffard told me. In April, they rolled out in Whole Foods stores in Northern California, as well.

They originally manufactured the beverages in Northern California but as demand grew, they shifted to a facility in Colorado. Huffard wants to keep growth at a sustainable clip and will be focused on building out the business in the Western US for the rest of 2022 before expanding into more markets.

And for the packaging design and branding, he wanted to convey an optimistic, California vibe.

"Whatever you do to make your life feel fulfilled, right? Having the best day, it's just a feeling," Huffard said. "Best day yet is kind of our slogan. It's been a mantra in my life that's uplifting and optimistic."

Huffard said he has raised a seed round but is not disclosing total funding at the moment.

Tasting notes

This week's tasting notes come from myself and the Business Times' Special Projects Editor Diana Murphy.

We tried both the West Coast IPA and Kolsch-style brews.

The IPA had that slightly more bitter, hoppy flavor that you'd expect but no where near the intensity of some souped up double and triple IPAs. The Kolsch was lighter with fruiter notes.

Both styles had aromas reminiscent of fully alcoholic beers. One of the cans tasted a bit flat to me but the rest were carbonated and Diana also noticed that they produced a good amount of frothy head.

Diana even served it to a friend who thought they were drinking fully alcoholic beer at first, before being told that it was, in fact, nonalcoholic.

"He was shocked," Diana told me.

The design of the cans was also pleasantly bright and relaxed, with a limited color palate featuring a wavy sun logo and peachy and golden tones.

It "exuded a very vintage, Bay Area feel. Like something out of the ’70s but revived," Diana said.