Pure Project launches first non-alcoholic beers, meets growing demand

Pure Project is not just adding two beers to the board. It is staking real shelf and tap space on the non-alcoholic category, a signal that craft drinkers are changing how, when and why they reach for beer. The Vista brewery’s first widely available NA releases, Grounded and Sunsip, arrive as beer still accounts for 87% of U.S. non-alcohol sales, a number that helps explain why more craft breweries are taking the segment seriously.

Both beers are below 0.5% ABV and are being sold in four-packs of 16-ounce cans. Grounded is an IPA built with Citra and Simcoe hops for citrus-fruit character. Sunsip is a blonde ale pitched as a bread-, jasmine- and lemon-peel-forward everyday sipper. Those are not novelty flavors or one-off taproom experiments. Pure Project says the beers are now available year-round at all five of its San Diego County taprooms and at select retailers.

That matters because the use cases are changing. NA beer is no longer just for the person skipping alcohol altogether. It is for the weekday lunch when a full-strength pint does not fit, the post-hike stop when you still want hop character without the buzz, the driver in a group that still wants to order something that feels like beer, and the regular who wants to stay in the room for another round. Pure Project’s move puts those moments front and center, and gives the brewery another way to fit into daily routines that traditional craft beer can miss.

Co-founder and brewer Winslow Sawyer said the company wanted to bring the same brewing ethos that built its reputation into the NA category while keeping quality standards intact. He also framed the launch as an extension of Pure Project’s “beer for good” mission, giving people more ways to support the brewery even when they want a non-alcoholic drink.

The rollout also fits Pure Project’s broader evolution. The company started in 2013 with a call about a space opening in Miramar, then moved its operation back to San Diego. Today, its Vista headquarters has a 15-barrel brewhouse, 20 beers on tap and wine and nonalcoholic options alongside beer. As Pure Project marks a decade in craft, the NA launch shows where the growth is headed: less about one more seasonal release, more about building a taproom lineup for how people actually drink now.