The non-alcoholic beer specialist company 부족한녀석들 created the 'Afreeday IPA,' which won the grand award in the non-alcoholic beer category at the 2025 Korea Wine & Spirits Awards.
The Korea Wine & Spirits Awards is a representative liquor evaluation event in Korea that has reached its 12th edition this year. It has been held annually by ChosunBiz since 2014 with the goal of 'discovering and widely promoting good domestic alcohol and supporting the formation of a healthy liquor culture.'
This year's event featured 236 companies showcasing a total of 1,008 brands. It is the largest domestic evaluation event dealing with comprehensive liquor. Among them, 431 brands received the Daesang.
According to 부족한녀석들, the 'Afreeday IPA' is the first domestically produced non-alcoholic IPA beer launched in the industry. It has gained attention for its Hazy IPA style, designed to reduce the bitterness of IPA beer and create a fruit juice-like feeling for easy drinking anytime.
A representative from 부족한녀석들 noted, 'Since our first submission to the Korea Wine & Spirits Awards in 2022, 부족한녀석들 has maintained a streak of Daesang awards for four consecutive years,' adding that 'one of our flagship products, the Afreeday Stout, has won the non-alcoholic beer category Daesang for three consecutive years from 2022 to 2024.'
In particular, the Afreeday Stout received the 'Best of 2023' and 'Best of 2024' awards, granted to the products that showcase the highest quality among all award recipients in the non-alcoholic beer category in 2023 and 2024.
A representative from 부족한녀석들 stated, 'We are an alcohol alternative beverage startup that has broken the stereotype that 'non-alcoholic beer has no taste' with differentiated brewing techniques that fully preserve the beer's flavor,' further stating that 'since launching the non-alcoholic brand Afreeday in 2021, we have been meeting consumer demands with a variety of products such as pale ales, stouts, Belgian wits, IPAs, and lagers.'
'Afreeday's non-alcoholic products implement the taste of craft beer using only natural ingredients such as malt, hops, and yeast. Due to the nature of non-alcoholic products, they are evaluated as suitable for the current health-conscious trend, having significantly lower calories compared to regular beer.'