2025 was the year of doing more
I love this time of year - it’s dark, cosy, and for once the emails have gone quiet. It’s a good time to reflect on another crazy year at Jump Ship.
2024 was all about production, getting the first brew completed in our new home. It felt quite bumpy at the start. The compressor broke, we were hand-labelling cans, and we didn’t have our systems in place. But we worked it out over the course of the year, hired a new brewer to join the team, and the beer began to flow.
This year has been about doing more. More new releases. Steamboat joined our core range lineup, a tropical, easy-going beer that has knocked it out of the park, winning a SIBA gold medal within just a few months of being live. Our Bramble sour is another beer that we were particularly proud of. Our sours are very technical beers to make, combining the complexity of mixed fermentation and lots of fruit to create a beer that’s less than 0.5%. This one worked a dream. After lots of experimentation, we’ve finally nailed the process.
We’ve also left our cosy home in Edinburgh and travelled further afield. Our beers made it to the shelves of Selfridges and on to the menu at Angela Hartnett’s Cafe Murano. Not to mention stockists in Canada and Switzerland. Alex and I sweated out three days at the London Craft Beer Festival in July. It was a lot of fun and great to see how well our beers were received by a brand new crowd.
We’ve also seen our beers on draught in more places; we’ve now got thirteen permanent lines in Edinburgh and Glasgow, plus rotational kegs popping up across the UK. For me, a pint is the ultimate in normalising drinking alcohol-free beer. No one can see the ABV; it’s just a great beer in a pint glass.
Another highlight was seeing our beer in print - with Stoker’s Stout making it on to Jane Macquitty’s top 10 list in the Times at the end of November. Stoker’s sales have rocketed, so much so that Iain is coming in to brew another batch this week to keep up with demand.
Pete is currently off on paternity leave - huge congratulations to him and Anne on the arrival of a beautiful wee girl. Iain and Alex have stepped up while he is away, with help from Stewart and Bill, and the ship has kept sailing forward.
I’ve also managed to persuade my husband, Al, to Jump Ship and join the crew. Apart from the kids complaining that we talk about beer too much, it’s working out pretty well.
2026 is shaping up to be a pretty exciting year. We’ve just closed a crowdfund on Republic Europe, which is going to help us brew even more new beers and reach lots more drinkers.
It’s amazing to have such a supportive crowd of shipmates who are part of our journey, thank you! We’re looking forward to making you proud.
Wishing you all the best for the new year,
Sonja
