Drop Bear Beer Co.
ENTER JOELLE DRUMMOND, 25, AND SARAH MCNENA, 27,
THE QUEER COUPLE BEHIND WELSH-BASED, ALCOHOL-
FREE CRAFT BEER COMPANY, DROP BEAR BEER CO.DIVA: How did Drop Bear Beer Co.
come to be?
SARAH MCNENA: It all began when I
stopped drinking and Joelle cut down. We
both love craft beer, but we’d go to the pub
and be like, “What have you got that’s non-
alcoholic?” and we’d be offered an orange
juice. We started trying some of the other
alcohol-free craft beers on the market and
thought, “Maybe we could do better?”How did you go about making your
first brew?
JOELLE DRUMMOND: We bought a sauce-
pan and a jam thermometer and we gave it
a go! We had no expectations beforehand.
It took us 14 hours on an electric hob in our
rental property to make the first batch. We
were convinced it would be contaminated,
because beer can very easily be, but then
we tried it and it was nicer than anything
else we’d tried. It was a complete shock. We
got a few other people to try it, too, just to
make sure, then we kept on brewing!And the name? Where did that come from?
JOELLE: It just popped into my head
because, though we’re a Welsh company
and we’re really vocal about that, Sarah’s
Australian and so we just wanted to
incorporate her identity into it, too. Also,
on our first date in Australia, Sarah told me
about drop bears, something I believed in
for months.Um, drop bears?
SARAH:Australia has this running joke
that we don’t want tourists, so
we tell foreigners that there
are rabid koalas in the
bush that will jump on
you if you don’t have
an Australian ac-
cent...
JOELLE: Which
sounds stupid, but
it’s believable be-
cause everythingin Australia wants to kill you!How did you meet?
JOELLE: I finished my undergraduate
degree, had a bit of a quarter-life crisis and
was like, “I need to do something different!”
And so I went to Australia. I was only sup-
posed to be there for six months, but Sarah
and I met [Joelle slid into her DMs], we fell
in love, and now we’re engaged.
SARAH: I decided to come over here when
Joelle’s visa ran out. I’ve got dual citizen-
ship, so I thought, why not?Wales is home for the foreseeable, then?
BOTH: Definitely and it’s always going to
be the home of Drop Bear, because we’re
the only alcohol-free craft beer company in
Wales. The rest of the industry is basically
in London, in the hands of men with beards.What’s the reception been like so far?
SARAH: It was when we started telling our
story that we had some serious interest.
People realised that actually, we’re difff-
ferent – we’re genuine and we really care
about the environment. Of course, there are
things we can do better and we strive to
do so, but we wanted to show people that,
no matter what kind of business you run,
there are ways to make it more environ-
mentally friendly.And as a queer women-
owned biz?
BOTH: We’re very upfront about
who we are. I’ve had a bit of
backlash from a couple of men,
taking it as us “refusing to give
any jobs to men”. Come on,
how many breweries could
you walk into andsee women? People can be very fragile.Are you both sober?
SARAH: I’ve done a lot of drinking in my
time and one day I decided, “You know
what? I’m a bit sick of it”. A bit sick of
hangovers and of being silly. As an Austral-
ian, it was just so rooted in my culture
and upbringing...
JOELLE: I’m very aware of how drinking can
affect people and I find, for my own mental
health, I’m just better off not drinking too
much and I just feel better for it.Was sharing your story as queer women
important? Why?
JOELLE: I was outed at school when I was
1 5 and struggled really badly. I never went
back in the closet and I’m really proud of
who I am, but I also felt a complete lack of
role models growing up. Things are chang-
ing, but if people like us aren’t vocal about
our identities, then there may be people
who are missing out still. Also, the brewing
scene is generally straight, male-dominated- we wanted to bring a bit of diversity.
SARAH: I went to a Catholic all-girls school
and it was very difficult. I didn’t come out
until I was 23. When I finally did, I felt there
was just no point in hiding anymore, it was
so stressful, so horrible. I just want to be
who I am and not have to apologise or hide
away anymore, because I did enough of
that and it was shit.
Do you feel there’s a sea change hap-
pening with drinking culture at the mo-
ment?
BOTH: Yes. The generation below us
really cares. They want to do things
and they want to make change and,
going out and getting drunk all the
time, you’re not going to get any of
that good stuff done.
Follow Joelle and Sarah@dropbearbeer50 SEPTEMBER 2019