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A non-alcoholic beer garden pops up in Brighton this weekend
The alcohol-free beer garden comes from Dray Drinks, Boston's first NA bottle shop.
Beer garden season isn’t quite over yet, with another event popping up at the Charles River Speedway this weekend, albeit with alternative drink options.
Pat Dooling, owner of the South End non-alcoholic bottle shop Dray Drinks, is hosting what he said is Boston’s first-ever alcohol-less beer garden.
“We’re pretty sure it’s the first in the country,” Dooling said.
Events like the non-alcoholic beer garden are part of Dray Drinks’ mission to prove that adult social outings don’t have to always involve alcohol, and that the variety of non-alcoholic beverages has grown over the years.
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At the shop, which looks like a high-end liquor store, they’ve hosted a number of events, such as social hours, tastings, and mocktail classes. For example, they’ll have wine and cheese pairing events just like a wine shop might host — except this wine is zero-proof.
“Literally nothing is different except that we’ve removed the alcohol from the products,” said Dooling, who added that he’s also opening up a second Dray Drinks location in Cambridge soon.
What kind of non-alcoholic beverages can you expect at an NA beer garden? Non-alcoholic beer, obviously, including a “Haus beer” on tap from the non-alcoholic beer company Best Day Brewing.
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But there will also be non-alcoholic wine options and non-alcoholic cocktails available. The usual things you’d find at a beer garden will be part of the event, too, like food vendors and live music.
The beer garden, which Dooling is calling Notoberfest, was funded by the city’s Wake Up the Night grant program, meant to “revitalize Boston’s nightlife economy and foster safe, inclusive social spaces,” according to a city press release. The city funds individuals or organizations that put together an event that meets one of several criteria, one of those being spirit-free programming.
“This lets us test this without having to commit all of our money and resources to it,” Dooling said. “Our goal would be to demonstrate this works really well, and hopefully that leads to a more extended version of it.”
Dray Drinks is also working with Sipland, a non-alcoholic branding agency, to host the event on Saturday, Oct. 19, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the Garage B Events space. The event is free to attend, and an RSVP is not required.
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