Athletic Brewing Company

Bill Shufelt was trader at a hedge fund and an ultramarathon runner who stopped drinking alcohol in 2013. However, he found non-alcoholic drinks to be unsatisfactory, and sought out John Walker, a head brewer in Santa Fe to produce better tasting non-alcohol beers. They started their craft beer business Athletic Brewing in 2017, and established the first brewing facility dedicated to non-alcoholic beer in Stratford, Connecticut, which opened in May 2018.[4]

Athletic Brewing was launched with two beers, and initially began selling in seven stores in New England on a trial basis, which then expanded to all the states in the US, and then other countries around the world.[3] Athletic's sales grew from $2.5 million in 2019 to about $15 million in 2020, increasing by about 500% and achieved a 61% market share of the non-alcoholic craft beer market in the U.S.[1] It achieved sales of nearly $37 million from over 100,000 barrels of beer in 2021 (up from 37,500 in 2020).[3] It was ranked the second-fastest growing food and beverage company (and 26th overall) in the U.S. in 2022 by Inc.,[5][6] as well as one of the 100 most influential companies of 2022 by Time magazine.[7]

In 2020, Athletic added a second manufacturing location when it purchased a brewing facility in San Diego, California from Ballast Point Brewing Company.[8] In 2022, it opened a 150,000 square foot brewing facility in Milford, Connecticut, that is capable of producing 6 million cases annually.[9]

Keurig Dr Pepper took a $50 million minority stake in Athletic Brewing in 2022.[10]

Athletic's investors include a number of athletes and celebrities, including pro football players J. J. Watt and Justin Tuck, Momofuku founder David Chang, cyclist Lance Armstrong, and Toms Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie.[1]

In 2020, Athletic's Free Wave IPA won the award as Supreme Champion Beer at the International Beer Challenge, the first non-alcoholic beer to win the award, beating over 500 other entries.[11] The beer also took the title for Best No & Low Alcohol Beer, and Athletic itself was declared Brewer of the Year for North America.[11] Its beers have won at the World Beer Awards, US Open Beer Championship, Great American Beer Festival, and Best of Craft Beer Awards.[12][13] Its Run Wild IPA was named the Best Non-Alcoholic Beer in the inaugural Tasting Alliance World Beer Competition.[14]