Full Flavour, No Hangover: Jump Ship Brewing on Crafting Award-Winning Alcohol-Free Beer

Great beer. No alcohol. No compromise. That’s the mission at Jump Ship Brewing, the independent, woman-founded brewery creating award-winning alcohol-free craft beers that stand shoulder to shoulder with their boozy counterparts. From punchy IPAs to crisp lagers, every Jump Ship brew is designed to deliver bold flavour for beer lovers who want to enjoy the moment - without the hangover. In this exclusive interview, we speak with founder Sonja Mitchell to learn how Jump Ship began, what drives their brewing innovation, and how they’re helping redefine what alcohol-free beer can be.

Welcome for the first time to our monthly JOMO box! Can we start with an introduction to Jump Ship Brewing?

We are one of only three specialist alcohol-free breweries in the UK. We brew all of our beers at our purpose designed site, located in beautiful countryside just outside Edinburgh. We brew our beers using the finest quality ingredients to be naturally less than 0.5% ABV, low-sugar, gluten-free and vegan.

What was your inspiration and the story behind creating Jump Ship? 

I tasted my first beer after my first rugby match. I’d made a try-saving tackle that helped win us the game and the team captain brought in a jug of ale to celebrate. There and then I decided that not even the finest champagne could beat the flavour of a freshly-pulled pint. Flash forward a few years, enter three kids, dog and a busy job, and although my love for beer was undiminished, I could no longer cope with the fuzzy head. I was so frustrated at the lack of decent alcohol-free alternatives that I set off on a voyage of discovery to brew my own. I didn’t have a background in brewing or the drinks industry, just a big thirst and a conviction I’d somehow work it out along the way. I launched with our flagship Yardarm lager at the end of 2019, five years on we’re now a team of seven with our own multi-award-winning brewery!

What does sailing mean to you and how has this inspired Jump Ship?

Being on the water is my happy place, and I wanted to bring some of that joy into the Jump Ship brand. We use nautical flags to add colour to our cans (and some coded messages too!), and all the beer names have a nautical link too. I jumped ship from everything to launch the business, and our brand name is an invitation for others to do the same - don’t be afraid to jump ship from mainstream drinking culture and try something new. 

Today, we have your brand new Jump Ship launch. Can you tell us about it, what we can expect and why you wanted to add this to your range?

I’m so excited for the launch of our new Steamboat Hazy Pale Ale, it’s packed full of sunshine tropical flavours coming from the best of new world and European hops and is a real easy-drinking delight.

I wanted our hazy pale to be very accessible, and introduce new drinkers to the joys of alcohol-free beer. It’s such a great, all-natural, healthy alternative to sugar packed sodas, with true complexity of flavour and mouthfeel. Guaranteed to leave you beaming, not steaming!

What is your favourite way and setting to enjoy this beer over the Summer?

I like to serve Steamboat chilled and poured into a tumbler style beer glass so I can appreciate the full aroma and gentle haze. Perfect to enjoy outside on a long summer evening.

You also want to do good as well as creating the best beer. Can you tell us about your charities and sustainability focus?

Sustainability is really important to us.. We brew on 100% renewable energy, using locally sourced biomass energy to heat our brewhouse, along with solar power. We re-use just about all of our brewing bi-products - hops go to compost, grains go to feed livestock and effluent is used in land spreading to put nutrients back into the soil. We also use roughly one-third less water than similar sized breweries and cut plastic out of most of our packaging (if anyone knows an alternate solution to pallet wrap, please let me know!). There’s always more to be done, but it’s great to making progress towards our net zero goals. I’ve pledged 10% of our profits to charity, having worked in the charity sector for eight years previously it’s important for me that business is a force for good. So far we’ve donated to causes nominated by our shipmates, mainly smaller local charities. 

Since your launch, have you seen drinking behaviours/habits/views change? In what way?

There has been a huge shift in consumer perceptions of alcohol-free beer over the past few years. When I started out I’d get a lot of “what’s the point?” or “I’d rather drink water” and don’t get me started on the Facebook trolls..but now drinking alcohol-free beer has been normalised and there is a lot less stigma around it. The quality of the category has really improved, and consumer expectations are a lot higher too - which is a great opportunity for us to bring out new beer styles and keep the choices expanding. 

Have you ever created a ‘hop-tail’ using any of your beers?

Never heard the word hop-tail before, I love it! Our Yardarm lager mixes up a great Michelada - blend with tomato juice, a squeeze of lime, and a dash of worcester sauce and tabasco. Or our Ocean Drift Bramble Sour is great base for a Bramble cocktail - shake with ice, sugar syrup, lemon juice and Tarquin’s.

What is your perfect Summer’s day?

It’s got be sailing off Scotland’s beautiful west coast on a rare sunny day with a cold can of Jump Ship beer in hand.