Juneau brewery taps into $20K grant to launch non-alcoholic beer
Published 7:30 pm Friday, August 7, 2026
A local brewery is set to host a launch party for its brand new India pale ale (IPA).
Devil’s Club Brewing Company received a $20,000 Amex Shop Small Grant to support the launch of Cloud Hop, the Juneau brewery’s first non-alcoholic beer, and will hold an all-ages event on Aug. 22 to celebrate.
The release party will feature the debut performance of local band Sundew downstairs, vinyl DJ Roman Martinez upstairs, and a selection of “ironically boozy” food specials created for the occasion, in addition to the new beer.
Devil’s Club was one of 505 small businesses selected nationwide to receive funding presented by American Express in partnership with Main Street America. The grant program was designed to help small, brick and mortar businesses grow, innovate, and continue supporting their local communities.
The brewery used the funds to purchase a pasteurizer, a major investment for Devil’s Club that will allow them to produce non-alcoholic beer for the first time.
Evan Wood, Devil’s Club co-founder, said that making non-alcoholic beer is super challenging.
“There are good ways and less good ways of doing it, but the best ways require expensive equipment we didn’t have access to, and we weren’t willing to sacrifice taste and release something we weren’t excited about,” he said. “This new piece of equipment allows us to offer the tastiest possible beers to everyone, whether they’re currently drinking alcohol or not.”
Wood added that the new beer is a hop-forward non-alcoholic IPA designed to deliver the flavor and experience that Devil’s Club’s customers are accustomed to.
“I gave a test batch to my pregnant wife and she made me double-check with our lead brewer Trever that it was indeed non-alcoholic,” he recalled. “I was like, ‘I think we’re on the right track.’”
The Downtown Business Association (DBA) maintains Juneau’s accreditation status with Main Street America and informed its member businesses of the grant program last December.
Woods said that he is incredibly grateful to the DBA for everything they do to support local businesses and for letting businesses know about grant opportunities.
“Running a small business doesn’t always allow the time to seek out programs like this on our own,” he said.
