A NON-ALCOHOLIC beer is being launched by two friends at the Royal Welsh Show who aim to bring a female touch to the male-dominated world of brewing.

The Drop Bear Beer Co is based on the idea of dropping the alcohol not the flavour from its 100% natural beverages that are below 0.5% ABV, vegan-friendly, low calorie, low sugar, and additive-free.

The company, founded earlier this year, is a Welsh-Australian enterprise reflecting its creators, ‘Melburnian’ Sarah McNena, and ‘Swansea Jack’ Joelle Drummond.

The brewery’s quirky name has antipodean roots along with a personal connection for the couple, who met in Sarah’s native Australia - and who are engaged.

She said: "The Drop Bear is essentially a bit of fun Australians have with visitors. Tourists are told to look out for this mythical koala bear dropping on them from the trees - and Joelle fell for the joke too."

At 25 and 27 respectively, Joelle and Sarah are at the heart of the healthy lifestyle-conscious millennial market they want to capture.

Joelle said: "We want to prove that real beer doesn’t need alcohol to have fun, and we aren’t scared to push boundaries. We are millennials, and they are the fastest growing demographic. They and we want something with more kick and excitement, and a brand they can relate to.”

Likewise, female empowerment Joelle says is at the core of Drop Bear’s ethos, and the pair are keen to champion women in what is a predominantly male-dominated arena. They also think they are the UK's only Lesbian-founded alcohol free craft beer company.

“We are the only alcohol-free craft beer company in the UK that’s run by women.”

Local government project manager Sarah, and former French and Italian translator Joelle, began their brewing journey in their kitchen.

Apart from Sarah having previously made some homebrew, the pair were complete novices when it came to creating a craft beer – but they knew what they wanted to achieve.

"We started with a big saucepan, a jam thermometer, and a load of grain and gave it a go,” said Joelle.

By trial and error “there were long nights and an exploding fermenter”, the pair eventually came up with recipes they liked – and enlisted the help of experts in the industry to ensure their beers would pass muster in the highly competitive brewing sector.

Sarah said: “As we don’t have a brewing background, we contacted a master brewer and sommelier who looked at our recipes and gave us advice.”

Without the current capacity to brew on a commercial scale at home, for now, Drop Bear beers are produced in Yorkshire, but the plan is to bring the whole process to Wales as soon as possible.

“We want to show what Wales and women have to offer in the brewing industry," said Joelle.

The pair have been helped by Cywain – a Menter a Busnes delivered project that supports the development of growth orientated businesses in the food and drink sector in Wales.

It is hosting four new producers at its stand at the Food Hall each day during the Royal Welsh Show. Drop Bear Beer will be at the Food Hall on Wednesday.