January is the time for new beginnings. At the start of the new year, many people are intentional about their goals, such as getting more exercise, quitting smoking or trying to lose weight. For those interested in reducing alcohol intake, no matter the reason, Dry January is a great first step.
Dry January is what is sounds like: a month-long challenge to abstain from alcohol. Consistent with a more mindful lifestyle, Dry January is taking off both globally and locally.
“Dry January is an official trademarked campaign from Alcohol Change UK that started in 2013 to inspire people to take a month off from drinking. Clearly that concept has spread worldwide to the US. The idea is to take a break from alcohol consumption particularly following a holiday season; it ties together with New Years’ resolutions and wellness,” said Mel Babitz, founder and CEO of The Open Road, the country’s oldest non-alcoholic specialty store at only four years old. The Open Road is located in the Allentown neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
When Babitz started her business in 2020, it was as a month-long pop-up bar celebrating Dry January, taking over a local coffee shop in the evenings. Unlike many other industries, Covid did not negatively affect the business. On the contrary, it grew to where she had enough business to open a retail store, following a period of time where she focused on selling online. Now, she has 400 products in-store, many of which look and taste like the real thing, and many that are a bit more unique.
In addition to customers coming directly to her, she also partners with other area businesses by supplying them with non-alc beverages, consulting on non-alc sections for menus and leading educational events about the emerging industry of adult non-alcoholic beverages. The Open Road’s website lists more than six dozen local establishments that include non-alc drinks on their menus, including a few local breweries.
Two Frays is the only brewery in Western Pennsylvania brewing non-alcoholic beer. So far this year they’ve made non-alcoholic Porter, West Coast IPA, Hazy IPA and Kölsch.
“At Two Frays, Dry January is an opportunity for us to demonstrate our commitment to including as many people from our neighborhood (as well as embracing our unofficial motto of ‘Something for Everyone’) in an industry that doesn’t always support non-alcoholic options by really leaning in on non-alcoholic, house-made beers as well as offering non-alcoholic options from our partners around the city,” said Michael Onofray, who, along with his wife, Jennifer, owns the Bloomfield-based brewery.
In keeping with the brewery’s core value of creativity and innovation, the couple learned how to brew their own non-alcoholic beer, having done a lot of homework on choosing the right ingredients. Onofray described what is involved: “Overall the process for brewing non-alcoholic beers is generally the same as alcoholic beers. The ingredients are pretty typical: malted barley and other malted grains, hops and a very special strain of yeast to do the fermentation. There are some process tricks that we need to use in order to make the end result less than 0.5% alcohol, but in general none of the techniques or ingredients that we use are anything really different from our general processes to make typical brews. As a small brewery, it was crucial to make tasty non-alcoholic beers without investing any money on new equipment like the other big guys can afford.”
Onofray and Open Road partner for Mod(eration) Mondays, an all-non-alcoholic evening at Two Frays occurring every Monday in January and the first Monday of the month the rest of the year. “The concept is to create a space for people who don’t drink alcohol to feel included — the space is dedicated to them. No other place that we know of in Western Pennsylvania or maybe in the state is making this kind of commitment to this community of people,” said Onofray.
“The additionally fun part is that the non-alcoholic customers are bringing their alcohol drinking friends to Mod Mondays and sharing with them that people can still have an enjoyable time without alcohol,” he added.
Another business that has non-alcoholic offerings in January and beyond is Love, Katie Distilling in Sharpsburg. “I have several friends who do not drink so it was important for me to have options available for anyone coming into my business,” said Owner Katie Sirianni. In fact, 95% of her cocktail menu can be converted into mocktails, and she offers several NA beer options as well.
Hygge New Year is celebrated annually at Abeille Voyante Tea Company in Millvale on the first Saturday after the New Year. Owner Danielle Spinola serves non-alc tea-based cocktails (aka teatails) at this event along with classes. On other occasions, she holds non-alc cocktail happy hours.
“We have been focusing more on how to use tea to make non-alc cocktails because many times, if you go to a restaurant, a lot of the mocktails are made with juices and sugary drinks. We’re finding we can create really delicious non-alc drinks with tea as one of the main pieces of the cocktails,” said Spinola.
Spinola said that people are drawn to Dry January—and to non-alc drinks in general—for a host of reasons, but many of those who imbibe appreciate the fact that non-alc drinks tastes like the real thing. At Abeille Voyante, Spinola, who is always looking for ways to use tea in unique and fun ways, has served ‘margaritas’ made with lemon ginger turmeric, for example. “There’s a lot of depth of flavor that can come from making cocktails with tea,” she said.
Spinola also hosts non-alc cocktail classes and partners with Open Road and other area experts to do events and create these drinks.
For some people, Dry January, lasts for months afterward. And some people enjoy mocktails even if they have not officially given up alcohol.
The benefits to abstaining from alcohol, even on a temporary basis, can be multifold, including calorie reduction, improved quality of sleep, better skin and decreased anxiety. Other reasons consumers may be interested in this lifestyle include pregnancy, a medication reaction or simply wanting to cut back on alcohol consumption.
“The younger generation is not drinking as much. There’s an understanding and a switch in mindset that alcohol contains neurotoxins and other things that are not good for the body,” said Spinola.
In addition to people focusing more on health, Onofray added, “People are realizing that they can still have a nice evening—and a nicer morning—through moderate drinking by choosing low-alcohol and non-alcoholic offerings. We see this trend being called ‘mindful drinking.’”