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That St Peters Without is vile stuff.
I liked it, if everything else is nicer than that I'm gonna be a happy man!
Erdinger Weiss bier or Franziskaner Weiss if you prefer a little less sweet
One or both of those are usually £3 for 3 from Sainsburys home delivery. Lidl Patronus is OK as well at under a pound.
They're my go to drink now when i want something refreshing and not full of sugar.
St Peters Without” doubt the most awful thing I have ever tasted! Absolutely vile 🙁
You've not tried their Plum Porter then.
Worst.
Beer.
Ever.
I struggle to do 3 nights off so following this thread I road tested a few on Wednesday from Tesco's.
Flat Tyre tasted pretty much like a cold lager so I guess thats ok if thats your sort of thing.
Last Drop Pale was bad enough for me to pour away.
Infinite Session Pale was pretty impressive, tasted close enough to a session craft beer.
Long Drop Stout was genuinely impressive.
So thats Tues, Wed Thur this week 🙂
Just bought brewdog nanny state to give a try. Will report later/tomorrow
God that's horrific! !!! !! !!
Just tried that st peters without, ooft, howling!...
Quite a few I've never tried mentioned on here, I'll need to check them out, cheers.
My go to ones are Heineken, Erdinger or if there's nothing else then Bud. Really didn't like Becks or Brew Dog. All make me feel really bloated after a few though.
Bavaria is a good 0% lager, Asda sells it cheap in cans and bottles but tastes better than brand names imo.
I read a few recommendations for Nanny State but I thought it was horrible. I can believe that Mikellers do a good a good one but I'm willing to bet I can't afford it 🙂
Just tried a big drop pale ale. Very tasty. Gotta be honest, the Bavaria Lager seems to do much the same thing for less calories, less alcohol and less cash. (...and less flavour.)
I'm gonna buy a good selection of all these and go alc free this Xmas. Really grateful for this thread, opened my eyes to a lot of opportunities.
Also grateful that I seem to be fairly easily pleased in the beer stakes, which is a bit of a blessing. 🙂
My favourite is still the Bavaria. The flat tyre is pretty good too though. I really like stout but I thought that the big drop stout tasted like slightly flat coke with an odd aftertaste 🙁
My favourite is still the Bavaria.
I love the Bavarias in summer, ice cold. Like those little French bottled lagers but you can drink them at a time and situation that would normally be totally inappropriate.
Erdinger Blue or Nanny State.
Interested to try some of the suggestions on the thread too though.
(old enough to remember Kaliber, so really any modern low/non alcohol beer is bound to taste decent by comparison...)
Cobra AF reminded me of kaliber, truly boak inducing.
Anyone tried warsteiner? Mate from Marstons recommended it and I found it a pretty good compromise. Bit more flavour to it than bavaria, pretty drinkable.
Yeah, not too bad that one.
Mini-PSA - the Lidl Patronus stuff was reduced to 69p a bottle in Lidl last night (that was at the one in east Coventry neat the A46, assume it's the same everywhere)
“Without” doubt the most awful thing I have ever tasted! Absolutely vile 🙁
Its the single worst "beer" I've ever had. Poured 90% of it down the sink, I've got two unopened bottle in the house from when I was trying different non-alcoholic beers in the summer.
Franziskaner Alcoholfrei is excellent, its much better then Erdinger which has a kind of yeasty, chemically tang to it. Schneider Weisse is even better if you can find it.
I do like Nanny State too, nice and cold and they just taste like a weak session IPA
Are you all alocholics or something? Why the **** would you drink alcohol free beer.
It's like vaping.
agreed on the "without" - nasty
AFB is more like anti-vaping, I'd say, rbw. Vaping equivalent would be more like drinking pure alcohol to avoid all that "other" stuff in there.
I drink AF because I prefer it (or tonic) to other soft drinks, don't want to just drink water and because I like to be able to drive if I need to
I quite like
Mikkeller drink'in the sun (very "hoppy")
Fat Tire
Adnams Ghost Ship, as slated up ^ there (better than their sole star IMO)
Didn't like ST Peter without, Palm Green, Beck's blue (not bad, just v bland)
Bought some Beck's Blue this week. Not my preferred NA drink but all there was in the Sainsbury's Local. I put it through the scanner and apparently it needs approval from staff as it has 0.05% alcohol in it. Jobsworth fella took great pride in telling me. I think he was hoping I'd buy 500 cans to see if I could get tipsy. I'd die of hyponatremia first I think. Anyway, as recommended above, it's much better with a squeeze of lime in the glass first - oh and a vodka.
I had a few bottles of Erdinger after riding the Golfy on a hot summers evening and it hit the spot. Furstenberg is okay if you can get a hold of it.
Are you all alocholics or something? Why the **** would you drink alcohol free beer.
It’s like vaping.
Agree, but disagree
I'm an alchy, no doubt, but can do a month off - and do every year. Sod alcohol free beer, what's the point? It all tastes like shit, without the good side of it. I can't actually believe that I've read further back about people getting 'mini hangovers' from it ffs. Hold on, I'll not get pissed, but still feel like shit the next day????
Vaping though - you still get the addictive bit, nicotine, so a bit different. I feel a damn sight better vaping than smoking fags
What's the point?
Well, I enjoy the taste of beer, but not the effects of alcohol. Surely even the hard of understanding can process such a simple rationale?.
While I'm not the park bench kind of alky I definitely drink more than I want to. AF beer is part of the picture in cutting down for me.
What’s the point?
Well, I enjoy the taste of beer, but not the effects of alcohol. Surely even the hard of understanding can process such a simple rationale?.
That. I guess there are some folk for whom getting alcohol down their neck is more important than the taste though.
As for the "hangover" thing from AF/LA beer, it's a genuine effect for some folk. There is an enzyme produced during the malting process of barley that stays in the final product. Some folk react to that. For a few years it would cause me to develop a migraine. Some beers are worse than others. Wheat beers are the least affected.
The St Peter's alcohol free ale is the most horrific beer related product i've ever tasted......absolutely howfin!
Krombacher and Paulaner do some decent wheat and pilsner styles.
Dry Drinker do a great selection including some worthwhile mixed cases.
What’s the point?
Well, I enjoy the taste of beer, but not the effects of alcohol. Surely even the hard of understanding can process such a simple rationale?.
I'm also amazed people need to ask. If Pork Pies normally came laced with heroin then I'd be keen to try "Heroin Free Pork Pies". In the same way if I can have beer without falling over and making a **** of myself without too much of a sacrifice in taste I'm gonna jump at it.
A lot less calories as well.
On another note I am seriously proud that I seem to be alone in not only being able to stomach St Peter’s without, but also quite enjoy it. Go me!
I am seriously proud that I seem to be alone in not only being able to stomach St Peter’s without, but also quite enjoy it.
I recommended it earlier in the thread. I reckon it has too much taste for the effete lager/hopster types.
I recommended it earlier in the thread. I reckon it has too much taste for the effete lager/hopster types.
Like it, let's go with the working hypothesis that 'we' have more sophisticated taste than 'them'.
Absolutely!
Not sure if they've been mentioned but Adnams now make Ghost Ship in 0.5% which is very good, they also make 2 other beers at 0.9 and 3.4 so reasonably low alcohol.
Woah there folks,I never claimed to have sophisticated tastes!😊
I’m just back from Fuerteventura and found Falke lager in the supermarket.
0% and very cheap, yet tasty in a Bavaria kind of way.
Don’t know if it can be obtained in the UK but it was very refreshing in the 29 degree heat.
I reckon it has too much taste for the effete lager/hopster types.
Nah, I like proper beer, not a fan of bland commercial lagers.
But that stuff just tastes like sh*t.
EDIT - what happened to the swear filter? Thought it was meant to auto *** stuff?
Interesting read, we have been pretty much alcohol free since June. Unlike other times when I've just avoided booze we have actually been drinking alcohol free versions of many drinks which has been interesting.
Things I've learned
I actually like alcohol free beer - but was never really a fan of the real stuff. Bavaria and erdinger are our favourites.
Alcohol free fruit ciders are just like pop
Red wine is the hardest to replace - Rawsons retreat is bearable, but not as good as their white of fizzy options.
Alcohol free gin is a surprising find. Seedlip spice and ceder are my favourites - Mr Wench prefers seedlip garden
Tescos seem to be at the head of the game for alcohol free options, the superstore near us has an amazing range.
I don't think you have to be an alcoholic to want to avoid alcohol, it's been a real eye opener to Mr Wench as he's never really gone alcohol free in his entire life and is now a convert.
We have a few big celebrations next year so I imagine we will push the boat out - but if a recent celebratory trip to London was anything to go by, our 'lets go mad and drink' consisted of two glasses of champagne at st pancs and a bottle of red wine
Can't say I miss it at all this time. Although the kids have said they don't want us sober at Christmas as it won't feel like a proper Christmas. 😮
Good post AW, it's great to see the choices finally growing.
Agree re the not having to be an alcoholic bit, Having changed roles at work and starting uni day release at 43, I just don't really have time to be having the drink-lethargy any more, I have little enough time to get biking etc, I don't wanna waste that time.
The price of that alcohol free gin is a joke, more expensive than the real stuff.
Accoroding to brother-in-law who owns a pub the gin thing is because to make it alcohol free they have to make proper gin first then remove the alcohol afterwards, so it is an additional stage in production and therefore more expensive to make than alcoholic gin.
That's technically true but there is no Excise Duty on alcohol free drinks (less than 0.5%)
Rawsons retreat is bearable
Thanks for the tip. I thought red wine was a lost cause, but will try this just in case.
We have also recently tried a couple from Waitrose which were nice.
Natureo a Spanish Syrah - which we both thought was one of the best so far
And Fre a Californian red blend - very fruity
Erdinger is very pleasant. They were giving it out at the end of the Manchester Marathon and the 2 pints I polished off didn't touch the sides. It was very drinkable.
So I've come to the end of my quest for Alc Free beer.
Rawson's retreat: Taste more like wine than I could ever have imagined, but somehow I'm not that keen. Not sure why.
Flat Tyre: Very nice.
But there's a clear winner for me: Nanny State. Quite drinkable, maybe a bit too sharp. But jeeze, 19 calories a can. That makes it a clear winner in my book, a fraction of the calories of all the others.
My experience so far has been there hasn't been an Alc free beer I didn't like, except Ghost Ship. (Tragically Ghost Ship was the one I really wanted to like.)
Gonna be Bavaria 0.0s for me for now on and slash out a bit more £££ on Nanny State if I want a bit more flavour and a few less Calories.
Terrific thread, thanks OP.