A” with an ABV of less than 0.5 per cent.   Today, a number of leading business figures, including Adore Beauty founder Kate Morris, are backing the brand. And the brand was recently named on Inside Retail’s list of 20 Coolest Retailers in Australia.  Here, Heaps Normal co-founder and CEO Andy Miller shares why the brand is passionate about normalising mindful drinking and reveals plans for a dedicated physical space.  Inside Retail: How was Heaps Normal born?  Andy Miller: We launched in July 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, but we had been working on Heaps Normal in various forms for about two years prior to launching. Pete, Ben and I met while working for some of the country’s most popular craft beer companies and one day—over a couple of beers—discovered that we all wanted to drink a bit less. The next penny to drop was that we all had very different reasons for wanting to do so. We figured there were lots of other beer fans out there who had their own reasons for wanting to cut back on the booze, without giving up the beers. IR: How have the last 12 months been? Tell us about the work that went into creating a non alcoholic beer that actually tastes good.  AM: Benny spent six months of lockdown running home brew trials in his kitchen. In this time, he developed a unique recipe and process that we then took to a mate’s brewery to test how it would scale into a commercial brewing process. We were so shit-scared about launching a brand new beer brand in the middle of lockdowns that we pre-sold about 80 per cent of our first batch before we even finished brewing it. It was that moment that convinced us there were a lot more people like us, looking for a beer like Heaps Normal. IR: How important is it to have the backing of high profile investors from brands like Adore Beauty and Koala? AM: We’re so inspired by the legends who believed in us and back Heaps Normal from very early in our journey. Many of them have built our favourite brands and businesses – like Kate Morris (Adore Beauty founder), Dany Milham (Koala founder), Jaddan Comerford (Unified Music Group founder), Craig Davis (Sendle co-founder), Alex Zaccaria (Linktree co-founder) and a handful of other angel investors who have backed Australia’s most successful start-ups, like Canva. IR: What’s on the cards for the next 12 months? AM: We’re currently developing an exciting new beer that will have a permanent place in our range from early 2022. There are also a bunch of exciting non-beer projects we’ve been working on this year that we’ll finally have a chance to introduce to the world when our cities start to open up again.  Our team is growing rapidly and we’re planning to build our own brewery next year too. We can’t wait to have that space to bring our community together. IR: What will the brand’s physical presence look like in the future? AM: We’ll have a full production brewery in place next year, dedicated to brewing non-alcoholic beer. It will also incorporate a bar and event space.