We’re just a couple of days into Dry January, the time of year when a rising number of Americans vow to turn their backs on alcoholic drinks.

Nonetheless, what if you had the opportunity to keep enjoying your best-loved beers while also keeping away from alcohol?

This is one of the ultimate objectives in brewing: a delicious, fully satisfying, non-alcoholic beer. The newest addition to the list is RationAle, which was freshly introduced in San Diego County.

The company’s three beers – West Coast IPA, Hazy Citrus IPA, and Mexican Lager – are targeted towards craft beer enthusiasts who are eager for a healthier lifestyle.

“We are pushing the wellness attributes of our beer,” said Jamie Fay, RationAle’s co-founder.

That’s not all they are pushing.

“Our beer tastes really good,” said co-founder Wendy Pickett, who grew up in Encinitas. “At its core, it’s delicious.”

It’s also a potential gold mine.

Take for instance the rise of Athletic Brewing, headquartered in Connecticut with a significant brewing branch in San Diego. The new firm was not even amongst the top 50 leading craft breweries according to the Brewer’s Association’s list in 2020.

However, it made a big jump to stand at the 27th position in 2021. By 2022, it had further made an impressive leap to the 13th spot.

Exact figures for the year 2023 are not currently available, but those in the industry do not foresee anything standing in the way of Athletic’s rapid climb.

“The growth and unprecedented success of non-alcoholic craft beer is undeniably the biggest development in 2023”, says Tiago Carneiro, the brains behind the establishment of NOVO Brazil Brewing based in Chula Vista. “If a company brews a unique and high-quality product, it definitely has access to numerous opportunities.”

Athletic, of course, competes against several titans. These include significant players like Anheuser-Busch, Coors, Corona, Heineken, and several up-and-coming craft breweries.

In the recent time, Karl Strauss has launched Non-Alcoholic Red Trolley, an alcohol-free variant of its popular Irish red ale. This beer, sold in 12-ounce bottles, can be found at the five Karl Strauss locations throughout San Diego County.

The team behind RationAle acknowledges that they are not alone in this field. They have even sought advice from Athletic co-founder Bill Shufelt.

As Fay recounts, “Bill emphasized the necessity of maintaining high quality and safety standards.”

Good partnerships help, too. RationAle’s beers will soon be brewed by Oregon powerhouse Deschutes.

“We’re super stoked,” said Pickett.

In San Diego County’s sea of craft breweries, how can a newcomer stand out?

“We offer traditional styles,” said Erin Fulcher, director of operations at Barley & Sword Brewing. “We’re trying to make all the people who are tired of hoppy IPAs come back to what beer was, and is.”

Mike Howell, a Navy veteran and experienced home brewer, inaugurated Barley & Sword on June 15 last year. Located at 3052 El Cajon Blvd. in San Diego, it is among the smallest breweries in the region.

Distinguished by its consistent offering of cask-conditioned ale, Barley & Sword also presents an array of lesser-seen beer styles such as best bitters, English IPAs, and dunkels.

The nascent establishment bagged a gold medal for its hefeweizen and a silver for its Scottish ale at the previous year’s San Diego International Beer competition.

A genuinely warm environment where beers are served in their true style is what Fulcher guarantees at Barley & Sword.

“You can come in here, drink a beer, talk to someone and they’re your friend,” she said.

Saturday: The 13th annual San Diego Brew Fest, at Liberty Station’s Naval Training Center Park, promises to feature 200 beers from 70 breweries. noon to 4 p.m. at NTC Park, 2455 Cushing Road, San Diego. $50 to $65. eventbrite.com

Saturday: Veteran-owned El Cid Brewery will screen a 2023 action flick, “The Master Chief: Part One,” at 6 p.m. eventbrite.com.

Mexican Lager

From: RationAle Brewing, Windsor, CA

ABV (Alcohol By Volume): Less than 0.5 percent

Style: Mexican-style Lager

Drink or dump: Drink. A durable head tops this pleasant non-alcoholic brew. There’s a snappy corn base, a hint of lime and a clean finish, unlike the chemical stew that mars so many NA brews.

Special Effects IPA

From: Brooklyn Brewery

ABV: Less than 0.5 percent

Style: West Coast IPA

Drink or dump: Drink. What’s so special about Special Effects? This bubbly brew boasts a robust and flavourful hop profile. It’s my favourite NA beer so far and it complemented a lunch of rockfish and mango salad nicely.

Heineken 0.0

From: Heineken, Amsterdam, Holland

ABV: Less than 0.5 percent

Style: Lager

Drink or dump: Dump. Foul aroma gives you a fair warning of this beer’s moldy grain flavor — that’s my unhappy experience with bottled 0.0. The canned version was better but both, alas, were worse than the other NA beers in my lineup.

Rowe is a freelance writer.