Drop Bear Review: The Vegan, Gluten-Free Alcohol-Free Brewery from Swansea
Published May 2026 · Updated October 2026 · 8-minute read · by Rich, founder of Unhopped
Drop Bear’s pitch is alcohol-free craft beer that almost anyone can drink, whatever they avoid. Few UK alcohol-free brewers label every beer both vegan and gluten-free; Jump Ship is another.
Who are Drop Bear?
Joelle and Sarah Drummond, now a married couple, started Drop Bear in 2019 because they couldn’t find alcohol-free beer that matched the craft beer they loved. “Armed with a big saucepan and an even bigger dream, we got to work in our tiny kitchen,” Drop Bear says.
It grew fast, with crowdfunding and private investment, including from Admiral Group founder Henry Engelhardt. In 2023 it bought the Llansamlet brewery of Welsh brewer Tomos Watkin, a 16,000 sq ft site that had made real ale for more than twenty years, which it officially opened in January 2024. More on the company is on our Drop Bear brewery page.
What makes Drop Bear different
Vegan and gluten-free, across the whole range
Drop Bear says it uses no lactose or animal products, and every beer is labelled gluten-free. They’re brewed with barley and wheat, but Drop Bear says each batch is tested to contain less than 20ppm of gluten, the UK limit. That covers even the stout: Bonfire Stout is in both our vegan and gluten-free guides.
Its own brewery
Many alcohol-free brands, including Brulo and Mash Gang, pay other breweries to make their beer. Drop Bear brews its own, in Swansea, on an electric brewplant, and says it can make up to 25 million cans a year.
Values on the label
Drop Bear has been a certified B Corp since November 2021, says it is certified carbon neutral, and describes itself as independent and female-founded. Joelle Drummond has said she believes it is the world’s first LGBTQ+ alcohol-free brewery.
Fruit-cut lagers
In July 2025 Drop Bear launched its Cut Lagers: lagers “cut with fruit”, in pink grapefruit, raspberry, peach and guava. Guava Cut and Peach Cut have almost no sugar and 16 to 18 kcal per 100ml; Pink Grapefruit Cut, which Drop Bear calls “sharp” and “punchy”, was sold out when we checked. Morrisons sells Peach Cut in four-packs; the others are sold through Drop Bear’s own shop rather than Dry Drinker or Wise Bartender.
The Drop Bear beers to buy
Yuzu Pale Ale is our pick, at 8.5/10: an American-style pale ale with yuzu, which Drop Bear describes as lemon, lime and grapefruit over biscuit and toffee malt, and at 11 kcal per 100ml one of the lightest beers we list. Tropical IPA (8.3) is the hoppy one, a West Coast-style IPA with US hops. Bonfire Stout (8.3) uses smoked malt for espresso, smoke and dark chocolate, and New World Lager (7.9) is a crisp lager with New Zealand hops.
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How Drop Bear compares
The closest comparison is Jump Ship: another alcohol-free-only brewer with its own brewhouse whose range is labelled gluten-free. Nirvana in London brews its own too. Next to the hop-led brands such as Brulo, Drop Bear’s beers are lighter: its core four run from 11 to 17 kcal per 100ml, where Brulo’s Lust For Life has 23. For the wider picture, see our guide to the best UK alcohol-free craft breweries.
Is Drop Bear worth buying?
Yes, especially if you avoid gluten or animal products, or you want a lighter beer: the whole range is vegan, labelled gluten-free and 11 to 22 kcal per 100ml. The core four are easy to find, and Yuzu Pale Ale and Bonfire Stout are the two we’d start with. The catch is detail: Drop Bear names its hops only for Peach Cut (on the Morrisons listing), says little about how it brews to 0.5%, and Guava and Pink Grapefruit Cut are only sold direct.