Lagunitas

Tony Magee founded the brewery in the small Northern California hamlet of Lagunitas in 1993, relocating to Petaluma within a year as the operation outgrew its original site. Heineken acquired a 50% stake in 2015 and completed full ownership in 2017, bringing global distribution while the Petaluma team continued brewing.

The AF range arrived in two stages. A hop water launched in 2018 as a sparkling format: at 0.0% ABV with zero calories, carbs, or gluten, it is built around Citra, Equinox, and Centennial hops rather than a conventional grain bill. A small amount of brewer's yeast is used to biotransform the hops, a process that extracts aromatic compounds called terpenes and produces tropical and citrus character in the glass. The range includes flavoured variants alongside the original. An AF IPA followed in December 2020 after more than a year of development. It uses arrested fermentation, a technique where the beer is pulled before fermentation completes so the alcohol never fully develops, rather than being stripped out afterwards. The finished IPA sits at under 0.5% ABV and 20 IBU, brewed with Citra, Mosaic, and Columbus hops alongside English crystal malt and Canadian 2-row barley, with citrus and pine as the dominant character.

The two products suit designated drivers and weeknight drinkers who want genuine hop flavour without the alcohol. Distribution is broad across the United States; outside North America, the range sits primarily with specialist online AF retailers. Lagunitas occupies mid-range pricing, consistent with its position as a Heineken-owned, mainstream-accessible craft label.