From ‘bad decisions’ to redemption: Brantley Gilbert launches late Hulk Hogan-inspired non-alcoholic beer
Brantley Gilbert, the seven-time No.1 country hit singer-songwriter, has experienced more than one occasion in his life where his 14-year sobriety felt like sitting on the sidelines.
"Nothing beats a cold beer when you're grilling out or watching a game with your buddies, your family. And as a country music songwriter, we write about cold beer in every other song," Gilbert told Fox News Digital.
"This is a chance for those of us that have taken alcohol out of our lives for one reason or another to drink a cold beer," he said, "and share one with our buddies."
America’s oldest and youngest generations are drinking less, with U.S. alcohol use hitting its lowest point in nearly a century, according to the 2025 Gallup Consumption Habits survey. Only 54% of adults reported using alcohol last year, with half of 18-to-34-year-olds not drinking at all — a steep drop from the 72% of young adults who did two decades ago.
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The desire to cut back on alcoholic beverages has poured into a budding market of non-alcoholic beers and wines, which Gilbert is now proudly a part of.
Going from fan to owner, the country music powerhouse is Real American Beer’s (RAB) latest major equity partner. He’s spearheading the launch of RAB Zero, the brand’s first non-alcoholic drink that promises "real beer energy" without compromise.
For every case that’s sold, RAB plans to donate $1 to the U.S.O.
"The RAB folks are just next-level people, and they're patriots," Gilbert said. "They're about God, family and country, and that's easy to get on board with for me."
Real American Beer aims to set itself apart from rivals by making the beer a part of a meaningful experience rather than focusing on the product itself. The brand launched in 2024 and pays homage to its late founder, Hulk Hogan.
Led by former Anheuser-Busch InBev executive Terri Francis, he previously told FOX Business that it had been Hogan's dream to "be bigger than Bud Light" before his death in July 2025 at age 71, just over a year after launching the company.
"[Growing] up, watching wrestling, I thought Hulk Hogan was almost the second coming, and getting a chance to meet him and knowing what he was up to with Real American Freestyle, I got a chance to kind of become friends with him and writing the theme song for that, what he wanted it to sound like," Gilbert reflected. "Really, you know, the conversation had to develop into, what do you want this brand to be about? And obviously that was just all-American."
"I don't really partner with people that I don't believe in or products that I don't use myself," he added. "Having a stake in the game obviously adds to the equation."
Gilbert, who has been sober since December 2011, explained why he wanted a product that allowed people to participate in "beer moments" without alcohol.
"I finally came to terms with the fact that I'm allergic to alcohol, like I break out in handcuffs and bad decisions," Gilbert said.
"It’s not that I can't drink. It's that I choose not to, you know what I mean? It's a choice. And I think people are a little more respectful towards that… This is an option... for beer lovers like myself to still pop a top and cheers your buddies and have a cold beer without having all the bad decisions, all the negative things that come with it."
The country music star views this partnership as a way to carry the torch for his late friend while celebrating his own personal redemption as a married dad of three.
He also sees 2026 as "a hell of a ride," even teasing that more new music is coming.
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"My story is one of those being blessed… My wife coming back in the picture and giving me a chance to love her after not seeing or speaking to each other for six or seven years," Gilbert said. "It is this kind of redemption story that, without, frankly, I would be not in a great place."
"Years down the road, God willing, we are cheers-ing and celebrating not just the success story of this brand, but the success story of American patriotism."
FOX Business' Daniella Genovese contributed to this report.