Sonja Mitchell - Jump Ship
#82 “I Thought Alcohol-Free Beer Was Disgusting” How Jump Ship’s Founder Changed Her Mind
Play Time:
63 Minutes
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QUICK QUOTES:
“Now people don't come up to me and say, ‘Oh, what's the point?’ They just say, ‘Oh, brilliant, alcohol-free, that's excellent!’”
“An alcohol-free beer is such a finely balanced thing."
"A beer tastes different at 0.1 and 0.3. There's a kind of raw sweetness, or wortiness that disappears and you get the more complex beer-y flavours that you'd expect."
Sonja Mitchell is the founder of Jump Ship, the award-winning Scottish alcohol-free brewery making waves in the low/no space. From knowing absolutely nothing about brewing to winning 'Scottish Small Brewery of the Year', Sonja shares her remarkable journey—including launch delays, a pandemic pivot, and even a David and Goliath-esque legal battle.
0:00 Sonja's story
4:09 Building the business step by step
6:03 When brewing goes wrong
9:44 Pandemic set backs
13:33 Opening her own brewery
21:24 The Jump Ship Range
24:35 Taking BrewDog to court
28:11 Chuckleberry sour
29:32 Making alcohol-free sour beers
31:08 Why brewing to 0.5% makes a better beer
35:07 Jump Ship non-alcoholic beer on draught
38:22 Why it's hard to find alcohol-free on draught
42:28 Naming the brand & nautical flags
47:05 Getting listed in Selfridges
49:46 Alcohol-free: A growing market
52:30 Led by the consumer
55:10 Labelling confusion
59:06 Finding Jump Ship
59:54 The BBQ-Q
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