The Finger Lakes Region just got its first entirely nonalcoholic bar right on Main Street in Canandaigua. Vital Garnish is a mocktail bar with a small bites menu offering a bar-like atmosphere but no booze. Leah Fricano of Rochester is the owner of Vital Garnish which opened the last weekend in December. She wanted to offer people a place to have fun and engage others without the need for alcohol. Why Canandaigua? She said that […]

Earlier this summer Ellicottville Brewing Company surprised us all when they released a nonalcoholic version of their popular Blueberry Wheat beer. Though there’s often excitement around the release of local nonalcoholic products, this one caught the attention (and spurred the enthusiasm) of a lot of folks. It was the first fruited nonalcoholic beer to be canned in Upstate New York so it was somewhat unique. As reviews started turning out, it was clear that everyone […]

Ellicottville Brewing Company just became the newest brewery in Upstate New York to release their own nonalcoholic beer. In early July they announced their first ever NA brew on social media. Their first non-alc brew is a less than 0.5% ABV version of their wildly popular Blueberry Wheat. According to their website the nonalcoholic Blueberry Wheat beer is produced entirely in-house at their production facility in Cattauragus County. The new brew is one of only […]

When Dry A.F. Craft Beverage Shop opened in early March 2024, it became one of the first nonalcoholic bottle shops in Upstate New York. Owned by Jennifer Barnett, the small storefront on Main Street in Schoharie originally occupied half the space. Within six months, the shop expanded to fill the entire location as interest grew. What began as a curated collection of nonalcoholic beverages quickly evolved into a community hub for the sober and sober-curious. […]

The U.S. Open Beer Championships have given out thousands of medals since they first began the competition in 2009. The contest hosts 8,000 different entries from around the country to rank in over 150 categories. The majority of the categories are all alcoholic beer, but there are a few non-alcoholic categories, and even two root beer categories and one for hop water. This year there were six categories related to non-alcoholic beer with 18 total […]