Recently I tasted non-alcoholic beer. It didn’t give feeling as beer does. I’m wondering if both versions are made using a similar process or different method and what ingredients are used. On the other hand, what are the special benefits of non-alcoholic beer that could offer than alcoholic beer?
People don’t give you as much shit for hanging out in a bar at midnight as with your 10th iced tea?
Special benefits?
You can drink and drive.
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So I don’t get hosed for starting a topic that already exists, I’ll post on here and try to revive this thread. For various reasons mostly related to sleep quality and fitness, I’ve tried to reduce my consumption of alcohol during “school nights.” It’s been great for my sleep and workout quality, and I’ve lost about five pounds since implementation to get back down closer to my fighting weight. When in Germany last year I noticed that non-alcoholic beer is totally normal. People would order a beer and a non-alcoholic beer. Drink their beer, then sit and consume the non-alcoholic beer before leaving the restaurant and driving home. Even stranger for me, a doner kebab places, the soft drink fridge often had high quality non-alcoholic beer. Folks would stop in, order a kebab to go with a 0 booze hefe or lager.
Since I like to have a drink with dinner, I’ve begun trying non-alcoholic beers. First, it seems like it must be easier to make a non-alcoholic IPA, given the dominant flavor of hops, than other beers because that seems like much of the market for US producers. Second, it has become much easier to find reputable producers so piss water O’Douls isn’t the only option.
Athletic Brewing Co. Golden is okay, with a beer like flavor and a hit of hops.
Guinness 0 is pretty well down with its nitro, cascading foam, and rich flavor.
Heineken 0.0 is surprisingly refreshing, and reminds of a decent pilsner. Colder is better here.
I also had one from a smaller belgian producer but have only ever seen it at Central Market and it was not my fave.
Any suggestions?
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The Athletic hazy ipa really surprised me how decent it was when I did a couple weeks dry spell. It has the look for sure but not the ott sweetness that some have which I find preferable anyways. Still keep it around for occasional use. I’ve had way worse with alcohol.
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My wife bought an assorted lot of Athletic Brewing non-alcoholic beer for dry January and I’ve been sipping along. I find that the hoppier ones do a better job of masking the absence of alcohol. My two favorites have been the hazy IPA and the dark ale.
Technically not an NA “beer” since there’s no malt component but I really enjoy the sparkling hop teas from HopLark as a beer substitute. Supremely refreshing, hoppy, goes well with food and, best of all, zero calories. Whole Foods occasionally has them if you’re curious to try.
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Given all of the advances in N/A beer, I am all for making this topic active again.
Best Day Brewing Kolsch is so far the best N/A Beer I’ve had so far. The body and finish are both full and lacks the emptiness I am finding in a lot of N/A beers. It also veers a bit more malty than I like my Kolschs. Going to try out their IPAs, since if they veer a bit more malty then I might be able to enjoy them.
Guinness 0 is solid - but I find that the finish is missing just a little bit of bitterness that the normal version has.
Currently drinking a Weihenstephaner N/A. It’s decent and for the most part mostly tastes like what I remember Weihenstephaner tasting like. But like many other N/A beers, I find that the finish is a bit hollow and watery. As a result, I drink them much faster than I want to. Debating if this one will make the re-buy list for me.
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Asahi 0 works well with Japanese good.
Guiness 0 is my fave.
Clausshaller original is great.
Travel ling through Australia, there is always a decent one on the menu. Haven’t had the same one twice , so don’t recall the names , but they are mostly licsl.
Heineken 0 is ok.
(I don’t like IPAs).
Here in Denmark it has become a rather big market part of beer sales. So competiton is up, which is awesome for us consumers. Most big city super markets have a decent selection now, which I really appreciate. It is a good substitute for enjoying something nice if you don’t feel like drinking wine everyday.
I agree IPA is the most successful. Luckily I love IPA. But I’ve also tasted other great N/A beers. Most of them come from smaller danish breweries, but I will see if some of them are distributed to the US (like Mikkeller which I mentioned in the other thread)
A lot more craft breweries are getting into the N/A game over the last few years. Don’t know if the COVID effect to the market as a whole spurred it on or if it was going to happen anyway, but the change in has been significant in that time frame. Most of them are trying to get as far away as possible from the mass market lagers, usually retrofitting their core recipes for their flagship beers, so you will see a lot of IPAs. Many are doing sours, and you can even find some darker malt ones in cooler weather (hesitate to call them Stouts or Porters, closer to a Brown Ale or Dark Mild usually). The Euro N/A lagers are always going to suffer from shipping with no alcohol and little hops to preserve them at all, so as good as they can be there I just haven’t tasted one that is more than a lukewarm response.
Won’t get too much into producers as I focus on local/regional producers for my work, but I am sure the vast majority of those on this board should have no problem finding a good local option to patronize. I have at least five from Virginia that do at least 2-3 styles. On the broader scale Athletic is very solid, but their best options are on their mailing list (N/A beers don’t have the ABC restrictions for mailing, which is one of the reasons I think COVID sped up their development). Partake is a very decent Canadian producer that has a lot of styles in their lineup. Brewdog does a lot, mostly IPAs, but are largely different from each other. Old school brewer Brooklyn has a few in their Special Effects lineup.
Glad to see this convo pop back up. I just crossed 4 years AF and over the last year have been tasting through NA beers. So my starting point was no beer for 3 years which gave me a good place to start with thinking of NA beers as their own thing and not so much compared to all the great beers of the world—just a quick background on the state of my palate.
Athletic is pretty much untouchable in this space. And they have lots of options if you go direct or get their Pilot Program. Keep in mind, that they to stay high on the calorie count if that is a concern. They currently have the Blueberry Mosiac which is outstanding.
Brewdog makes a lot, like their regular beers, about 1 out of 10 is drinkable.
European beers are generally better at this stage because it is a major part of the culture.
Crux is making some that I want to try but they are unattainable in California.
Sierra Nevada is in the game so I will look to try that.
Here are a couple of recent ones that were very good.
I’ve noticed many NA list at .5%. Is that a requirement or is there still actually some alcohol?
Some will say 0.0 like Guinness and Heineken. But most will had trace amounts of alcohol. Like a Kombucha, hamburger bun or ripe banana. .5% is the max allowed.
Jason
Sam Adams Just the Haze is really tasty, but too easy to drink. Very yummy.
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Thanks for the tip. I haven’t had a chance to try that yet.
Jason
I have been experimenting with NA brews for the last year or so. Athletic Run Wild and Free Wave, along with Lagunitas IPNA and Heineken 0.0 and Clausthauler have been my faves, until the last week.
Big Drop Brewing has two that I have tried so far— Coba Maya Cerveza (37 cal) and Paradiso IPA (11 cal and gluten free!!!) are head and shoulders above the others pour moi. Award-winning alcohol-free craft beer | Big Drop
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