Young Henrys launches Booze-Less Pacific Ale
Tapping into the no-low alcohol opportunity, Young Henrys has launched its 0.5 per cent ABV Pacific Ale, Booze-Less.
“We have this thing we call ‘The YH Way’; it’s how we lean into things internally, it’s how we collaborate and keep pushing to do something that suits our brand ethos and the palates of our people,”
The brew is described as “bright with punchy hop aromas and zest, a pale straw colour, gentle haze and a dry, refreshing finish” – all at Young Henrys’ lowest ABV to date.
After almost 15 years in the brewing business, Young Henrys has seen trends, flavours and drinking culture shift dramatically.
The team says one of the most common questions from their customers has been “When will Young Henrys do a non-alcoholic?”
Co-Founder Oscar McMahon said Booze-Less has been years in the making, and something the team were determined to get right rather than rush the process.
“We have this thing we call ‘The YH Way’; it’s how we lean into things internally, it’s how we collaborate and keep pushing to do something that suits our brand ethos and the palates of our people,” he explained.
“Our brew team wanted to produce a product that was made in a different style to the two main ways non-alcoholic beers are produced and that has resulted in something really special that isn’t like anything else in the market. We don’t think a non-alc should feel like a concession. Whether you’re having an hour, a day or a life off booze, you’re still that same culturally inquisitive person and we wanted to try to meet that spirit with this product. Stay wild friends.”
Booze-Less is brewed using a precision fermentation process that negates the residual sweetness, or ‘wortiness’, common in the category.
Jesse Searls, Head Brewer at Young Henrys, explains that achieving the final product was a journey.
“We spent quite some time simply figuring out what the identity of this beer was going to be. Then came the R&D trials, upscaling, recipe tweaking and problem-solving process challenges. There was heaps of learning along the way, but it’s culminated in a product that we are so bloody proud of.”
He notes that the yeast choice and mash profile work together to increase the uptake of the hop oils, giving Booze-Less the bright hop character and body drinkers expect from a classic Pacific Ale.
“Booze-Less is crisp, refreshing, hoppy and moreish. We wanted to make something people would truly want more than one of, not just tick a box. That ethos drove everything: how we brewed the beer, the raw materials we wanted to showcase and how we wanted the final product to look. I’ll never forget cracking my first ice-cold, condensation-laden can of Booze-Less straight off the pack line. And we hope everyone else remembers cracking their first can too.”
The method also means that Booze-Less is lower in carbs and sugar than typical non-alcoholic beers.
Staying true to the brand’s collaborative and creative culture, traditional tattooist Ben Hastings of Tattoo Rosies and Sydney Tattoo Club collaborated with Young Henrys on the new brew’s final design.
Highly respected and an influential artist in his field, the final Booze-less artwork leans into an analogue, hand-drawn design process to deliver large-scale reproductions of Hastings’ work that will be brought to life in bottle shops across the east coast. Young Henrys’ Booze-Less Pacific Ale is now available in four-packs in east coast independent retail and on-premise trade.
