Sobah

Husband-and-wife team Clinton and Lozen Schultz built Australia's first dedicated non-alcoholic brewery on Kombumerri country at Burleigh Heads in 2017, driven by a plainly stated goal: reduce the stigma that still clings to staying sober at the pub. The brews lean on native botanicals rather than abstinence-as-deprivation — lemon aspen sharpens the pilsner, finger lime lifts the cerveza, mountain pepperberry gives the IPA its bite, Davidson plum carries a gluten-free ale. Everything is preservative-free and vegan, judged on medals from the Royal Queensland Agricultural Society and the Independent Brewers Association rather than novelty. The brewery doubles as a cafe serving a native-ingredient-led menu from 7am most days, with an upstairs gallery devoted to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art. It reads less like a workaround for drinkers cutting back than a genuine culinary project in its own right, one that treats bush food as the point rather than a marketing footnote, and treats the absence of alcohol as an opportunity rather than a compromise.