Non-alcoholic beer is no longer a compromise, and Nic Sandery is one of the brewers making sure of it. When he joined forces with two industry veterans to launch Hiatus, the goal was clear: make non-alcoholic beer worth drinking. Two years and several gold medals later, they’ve done just that.
Sandery is highly respected in the industry for his work at Molly Rose Brewing, and it was his direction at the acclaimed Collingwood brewery that caught the attention of his Hiatus co-founders Jules Ryan and Nick Detmold, and ultimately led the trio to launch the brand.
“Because I knew Jules from our time together at Stone & Wood, things moved pretty fast from there and Hiatus started to take shape shortly after,” he told Beer & Brewer.
“I loved the simplicity of a purely non-alc brand, and the opportunity to work with Jules and Nick to launch a brand around Australia sounded too good to be true so I jumped at it.”
In just a short time, Hiatus has established itself as a key contender in the non-alc beer space, becoming a leading choice for bars, restaurants and retailers across the country. Sandery says the goal is to be Australia’s most loved non-alc beer, and to put it simply, the brand is about nothing but great beer made with the best ingredients.
“With Nick and Jules’ experience growing other fantastic brands nationally, we have been able to very quickly get Hiatus into some of the best bars and restaurants around the country.
“As founders of a non-alc brand we definitely all still enjoy an alcoholic beer, glass of wine or cheeky cocktail, but I guess the reason Hiatus exists is so that you can have a bloody delicious non-alc beer to space out the booze, whether it is in between rounds, for a couple of days or a full month,” he explains.
Non-alc beer that packs a punch
At the 2025 Australian International Beer Awards, Hiatus Pacific Ale was awarded a gold medal, adding to a growing list of accolades including a trophy for Best Reduced or No Alcohol Beer at the 2024 Sydney Royal Beer & Cider Show.
Brewed with Galaxy hops and a blend of Veloria, Vienna and Munich malts, Pacific Ale has aromas of passionfruit, guava and mango, with a wave of tropical fruit on the palate and a balanced bitterness to finish.
“We’re very proud of both of our beers and the three of us get a real buzz out of hearing feedback that they are the best alternative for a favourite alcoholic version,” Sandery stated. But without the technology he has, he says it wouldn’t be possible to create such great-tasting beers.
While Hiatus Pacific Ale is crafted using the arrested fermentation technique, where the yeast only ferments very simple sugars and then goes to sleep, Hiatus Premium Lager on the other hand is dealcoholised – a method that allows the beer to retain its smooth malt character. The result is a crisp, easy-drinking beer with smooth malts, clean bitterness and a hint of citrus.
“Our lager is brewed as a mid-strength and is then run through a machine that gently removes the alcohol. Without the demand of the general public for interesting non-alc beers, yeast companies or equipment manufacturers would not have invested time and money into making these products available to smaller breweries.”
Coming from traditional brewing, Sandery has found the process of brewing non-alcoholic beers to be fairly similar. While the experience hasn’t been characterised by any remarkable process breakthroughs, “the biggest leap is that you cannot rely on the development of any of the regular flavours from ingredients in an alcoholic beer”, he says.
“You have to start from scratch and really think hard about what you want the beer to taste like, what you want it to look like and how you want the drinker to feel, and then work backwards from there,” he continued.
An evolving craft
While overall beer volumes continue to decline, new data from drinks market analyst IWSR predicts that non-alcoholic beer will overtake ale this year to become the second-largest beer segment worldwide, behind only lager. According to Sandery, sustained consumer interest is driving innovation in the category and heavily influencing where it’s headed.
“I am loving seeing a bunch of breweries making limited release beers. Wet hop non-alcs, dark beers in winter, sours in summer. It’s awesome to see brewers flex their creativity and give non-alc drinkers a fun choice.
“As Hiatus evolves and grows this is something we are all looking forward to getting involved in. We are hoping to have our first limited release later this year and there are a couple of ideas percolating in the background too,” Sandery added.
While he’s excited by the future of non-alc beer, Sandery also sees Hiatus evolving beyond beer and establishing its footprint in the wider alcohol-free space.
“As a founding group we have always seen Hiatus as a non-alc company more than a beer company. So along with the new and limited release beers I hinted at, we are also watching the international non-alc drinks category absolutely exploding with creativity at the moment and we think we have a lot to offer outside of beer – and I can have a lot of fun making these drinks.”
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