Colorado Springs breweries navigate Dry January, look for creative solutions

New year, new drinks?

Dry January is the challenge to abstain from alcohol during the first 31 days of the year in hopes of getting a fresh start. The movement to start the new year sober has gained popularity recently, but in a town overflowing with breweries, what does that mean for business?

Daniel Ramos, who owns OCC Brewery, said while operations usually slow down in the winter, Dry January can exacerbate that.

“These winter months are notoriously slow as it is, but I do think Dry January compounds that quite a bit,” Ramos said.

“From the industry data I see nationwide, especially in the last few years, it seems like there is an impact from Dry January in terms of sales and people coming out to have a drink.”

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Brewery owners have also noticed an uptick in the popularity of Dry January, especially among younger people. Johannah Murphy, the general manager of Goat Patch Brewery, believes this is caused by an increased focus on health and wellness.

“I feel like just year over year, we’re seeing a little bit stronger of an impact and a little bit more marketing behind Dry January as a whole, which I think a lot of younger people and a lot of alcohol consumers are really just focused more on health and wellness these days than they used to be,” Murphy said.

According to polling from research firm CivicScience, 27% of American adults who drink alcohol are “very likely” to stop drinking during January this year. In 2023, about 24% of respondents said they intended to participate, although only about 16% did.

But the trend as a whole makes sense, Ramos said.

“Dry January, its just kind of a natural fit because you’re coming out of the holidays,” he said. “There’s a lot of people with New Year’s resolutions trying to be healthy, and so Dry January is just a good way to start your new year so to speak with regards to health.”

In response to customers drinking less, breweries around the Springs are offering a wider variety of nonalcoholic drink options.

“We typically see as a drop in our beer sales, but a pretty large uptick, I want to say about 20% so far year-over-year increase, in our nonalcoholic beverage sales,” Murphy said.

Alternative drink options include mocktails, nonalcoholic beers and kombucha. Goat Patch, for example, is running Dry January promo events with nonalcoholic craft beer maker Athletic Brewing Co. as well as Springs Culture Kombucha, Murphy said.

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“We actually decided this time around we were going to try out doing a couple of nonalcoholic beverage-focused events,” Murphy said.

“We are still seeing that people are coming out. They’re still enjoying a lot of the events that we have, weekly events like coloring and trivia and things like that, people are still coming out for but they’re just not consuming as much.”

“We carry nonalcoholic beers. This year in particular, we’re going to let out a mocktail for January,” Ramos said.

Breweries are also noticing a general increase in nonalcoholic beverages outside of January.

“The beverage landscape is changing and people are looking for other options, and across the board alcohol consumption is down, at least in the wine and the beer sectors. So it’s good to provide your customers some alternative options,” Ramos said.

But even the brewery owners see a benefit to the sober-streak. Ramos and his wife are actively participating in Dry January.

“For us, it’s a nice thing in terms of just doing a reset, both mentally and physically. Being in a beer industry, you do end up drinking a lot. There always seems to be an occasion to drink,” Ramos said.

“So it’s a way to let us say that beer, while it’s part of our life, it’s not our entire life and it kind of lets us to be masters of our own domain.”

Whether sober for the month or indefinitely, Ramos encourages residents to continue to visit local breweries.

“Dry January doesn’t mean you have to hunker down for the whole month,” he said. “Go out with your friends, still be social and support your local businesses — you can do it in a way without having to drink alcohol.”

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