Big Drop Brewing Review: The Pioneer of Alcohol-Free Craft
Published May 2026 · 7-minute read · by Rich, founder of Unhopped
Big Drop is the alcohol-free brewery that proved AF craft could compete with full-strength on flavour. Founded long before the category was fashionable, they've built a reputation on serious brewing — 100+ international awards, multiple World's Best titles at the World Beer Awards, and a range that's broader than almost anyone else in alcohol-free. Worth knowing properly.
Who are Big Drop?
Big Drop Brewing Co. was launched in October 2016 by Rob Fink, a former City lawyer, and his school friend James Kindred, a designer and entrepreneur. The idea came from their own life changes — fatherhood, in particular — and the frustration that there were no good alcohol-free beer options at the time.
They worked with experimental brewer Johnny Clayton (formerly of Wild Beer Co) to develop a brewing process called Reduced Amylase Brewing. The technique allows the brewery to make full-flavoured beer that never rises above 0.5% ABV during fermentation — meaning nothing is removed from the finished beer, so all the flavour is retained. It was a meaningful innovation at a time when most AF beer relied on dealcoholisation.
In the years since, Big Drop has racked up 100+ international awards and become one of the most-respected names in alcohol-free craft beer. Multiple World's Best titles at the World Beer Awards. Beers winning blind tastings against full-strength competitors. They are, by some distance, the UK's most-awarded alcohol-free brewery.
What makes Big Drop different
Brewed-not-removed approach
Most major alcohol-free brewers either brew full-strength then strip the alcohol (vacuum distillation, cold filtration) or use specialty yeasts that produce minimal alcohol. Big Drop's Reduced Amylase Brewing sits in the second category but is meaningfully distinct — they use barley, rye, wheat, and oats across over 20 specialty grains, getting depth and complexity that's hard to achieve at 0.5%.
Wider style range than most AF brewers
Most AF brewers focus on lager and pale ale because those styles are easiest to do well at 0.5%. Big Drop deliberately do the opposite — stouts, sours, hazy IPAs, milk stouts, brown ales. Galactic Milk Stout and Reef Point Lager couldn't be more different beers, and both are credible.
Awards-driven validation
Big Drop has won the World Beer Awards 'World's Best' designation multiple times — a record for any UK brewer, alcohol-free or otherwise. Their beers regularly beat full-strength competitors in blind tastings. That's the validation Big Drop trades on.
The Big Drop range: our top picks
Galactic Milk Stout (0.5%)
The flagship and the most-awarded beer in the range. A milk stout brewed with barley, oats, rye, lactose, Bramling Cross hops, and cocoa nibs. Honeycomb covered in chocolate, which is Big Drop's own description and unusually accurate. Sweet, full, dessert-territory. Contains lactose so isn't vegan; it is gluten-free.
Pine Trail Pale Ale (0.5%)
The American-pale-ale workhorse. Citra, Chinook, and Columbus hops; pine and citrus aroma; clean light body; moderate bitterness. Multiple World Beer Awards gold medallist. Vegan and gluten-free. The everyday beer in the range.
Poolside DDH IPA (0.5%)
Hazy IPA territory — double dry-hopped, full-bodied for 0.5%, juicy tropical hop character. Drinks like a session-strength NEIPA. One of the highest-scoring AF hazy IPAs in our directory.
How Big Drop compares to the wider category
Big Drop sits in the top tier of UK alcohol-free brewing alongside Northern Monk, Mash Gang, and (more recently) Lucky Saint. They're the most-awarded; their range is the broadest; their flagship Galactic Milk Stout is a category-defining beer.
For context, see our UK craft NA breweries roundup or compare specific beers in the relevant style hubs.
Beers to explore
Big Drop's range, ranked by Unhopped score:
