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I'm not drinking alcohol for a long time whilst recovering from a back injury with some irritating nerve damage causing all sorts of havoc which will take a hideously long time to fix, if it even does.
So I’m on the alcohol free beers, have tried quite a few already and found WCA’s thread from 4 years ago, I thought there would be more threads, but they didn’t turn up on my search for alcohol free beers.
thread here https://singletrackworld.com/forum/off-topic/alcohol-free-beer-reviews-orders-a-big-mixed-box-of-them/
I’ve tried:
nirvana’s mixed case - means I’ve tried most of theirs, mostly really very good, wasn’t a huge fan of the German style lagers
days lager and pale ale, the pale ale was good, lager less so.
ghost ship - nice, drinkable but nothing great
butcombe brewery (now on Amazon who’ve managed to completely smash two orders ! so that’s a no from now on) gleam IPA nice beer, tall tales pale ale was ok but forgettable.
Lucky saint - about the most drinkable of the ones you can find when at a pub.
I'm not after the usual suspects that I can get from the supermarkets, I’m thinking there must be loads from good smaller breweries that I just don’t know about and wouldn’t find out about due to how google ranks its search results, but maybe - just maybe someone at STW does?
There's a brewery near me called Jump Ship that are a dedicated AF brewer. Durty Breweries in Innerleithen have one AF beer called Carl's Lane which is very good.
Kronenbourg do a nice one now, spicy hops. Erdinger now available in large tins, Brooklyn special effects. There may be more on the sobriety thread.
Brooklyn are great, my personal favourite at the moment is nirvana brewery - available on ocado if you use them
Dartmoor do an excellent ipa. I necked one then immediately bought another.
Dartmoor do an excellent ipa. I necked one then immediately bought another.
This is very very good indeed as an AF IPA. Found entirely by accident in a local beer shop and bought a case the following week.
I tried the Impossibrew (sp) that's heavily advertised on IG with 50% off last Jan. Wasn't sure it was worth the hype.
My goto is still erdinger, shame I can't seem to get the citrus one anymore.
And I know you said no mainstream but Corona 0.0% is the best I've tried and it's not stupidly expensive.
Arbor Ales -New horizons is a belting good craft IPA. £3 a pint can though
Anything from Thornbridge or abbeydale
Cloudwater do a nice one although not sure if permanent.
Northern monk also do them from time to time.
Mashgang is a dedicated AF brewery and do some good stuff (plus some weird crap).
Black Isle brewery do the Halo range of lager, IPA and stout. I can definitely recommend the IPA. The stout is probably more "marmite" - depends on your particular taste buds.
About the best I've found is Guinness 0.0, and I'm not a Guinness drinker.
For lagers, Asahi Dry is good, though obvs twice the price for half the amount.
I don't see the point in alcohol free cider. I've got a bottle of AF cider in the fridge at the moment, it's called "Tango Apple" and costs <£2 for a 2L bottle.
Some AF spirits are decent. Tesco do a "Clean Co" rum-a-like which is great with coke, you wouldn't know it wasn't alcoholic. ASDA has a bourbon analogue, but it's never in stock.
Corona 0.0% is the best I've tried
I thought it tasted like water. Maybe it needed fruit.
I always add lime. I'm not a savage 🙂
About the best I've found is Guinness 0.0, and I'm not a Guinness drinker.
Agreed. Guinness 0.0% the best by a mile, unless you actively don't like Guinness.
Yeah, the Guinness is good if you like stout. Ghost Ship is, as you say, drinkable, not horrific, but not amazing either. I like the Brewdog stuff.
Tesco once substituted some St Peter's Ale stuff that is the single worst thing I've ever drunk, including Bolivian-brewed beer produced at high altitude that was so fizzy you had to let it stand for 20 minutes before drinking. Don't get that.
Ignoring the OP's request, I think that Heineken and Asahi are the best fizzy lagers, Guinness is a really good evening adult drink, and Erdinger is quite a good flavourful/afternoon drink.
Black Isle brewery do the Halo range of lager, IPA and stout. I can definitely recommend the IPA. The stout is probably more "marmite" - depends on your particular taste buds.
Yep, black isle brewery halo is excellent. I like the iPa although the lager is my new favorite. The stout is nice with a meal, something like a steak pie or pasty, sat by the fire so perhaps not a summer drink
Guinness zero is pretty good I have to say
I've tried loads, halo is my fave by far. A decent beery taste, for me it leaves a nice mouth taste afterwards and I often end up double checking I'm drinking af.
Aldi zero Reinbacher Pilsner. Good, and cheap at around 60p a 330ml bottle.
Can be hard to find but Theakstons "Nowt Peculier" is pretty good.
Tesco once substituted some St Peter's Ale stuff
I tried a few St Peter's years ago when out in the US, before American beer not being like sex in a canoe was really a thing. It was awful then, so I can only imagine how bad their AF offering is.
Can be hard to find but Theakstons "Nowt Peculier" is pretty good.
This is relevant to my interests. Where did you get it from?
There's some decent AF versions 'mainstream' ales. Doom Bar is good, and I seem to remember enjoying Old Speckled Hen but I've not had (or seen) that in ages.
We seem to be in a Next Generation of AF beer. I remember when Becks Blue came out and everyone was drinking it for the sole reason that it wasn't Kaliber. I was staggered to find 0% Kronenbourg 1664 on draught in a pub the other week. That was exceptional.
butcombe brewery (now on Amazon who’ve managed to completely smash two orders ! so that’s a no from now on)
They sell it in cans too - much less likely to suffer at the hands of a delivery driver.
I tried a few St Peter's years ago when out in the US, before American beer not being like sex in a canoe was really a thing. It was awful then, so I can only imagine how bad their AF offering is
It was unimaginably bad, honest. It was hard to believe that anyone would buy it more than once. Just about the only thing about it was the pretty bottle. We 'drank' the first bottle of a four-pack - ie: tried a few mouthfulls then poured it down the sink while feeling it was a bit harsh on the sewer rates - then binned the rest on the grounds that giving it away was both cruel and would abruptly end any positive relationship we had with the recipient.
I genuinely have no idea who would drink that stuff, Baffling that it had made it into production. Anyway...
Unlike Cougar, I thought the low alcohol ciders (less than 1%) were OK, certainly didn't taste like appletize. Reminded me of the Breton Cidre I used to drink out of bowls with Crepes when I was living in Brittany 30 years ago. I'm not a cider drinker though so haven't got much to compare them with - this maybe the issue for a lot of us with the AF beers. I'm very much a Voodoo Jazz Hat type of beer drinker and so whilst Erdinger, Guiness 0.0 and Leff 0.0 taste better than many full strength beers they don't taste anything like proper Belgian or Dutch dubbels or good British craft beer so they are always a disappointment.
I also think that a lot of the 'buzz' from alcohol is in the mind - how many of us have felt no effect when drinking in a bad mood or with work colleagues etc but got 'merry' on a sniff from the bar maids apron when with a great crowd or when listening to a brilliant pub band or at a festival etc. Perhaps if you didn't know it was AF it might taste better....
I also think that a lot of the 'buzz' from alcohol is in the mind - how many of us have felt no effect when drinking in a bad mood or with work colleagues etc but got 'merry' on a sniff from the bar maids apron when with a great crowd or when listening to a brilliant pub band or at a festival etc. Perhaps if you didn't know it was AF it might taste better....
It's funny how everyone's tastes are different as quite a few of the above that I've tried I found awful, I'll not point out which because I think beers are like saddles, you can recommend them to other people as you find the saddle comfy but their ass is potentially completely different.
So I like the aforementioned 0.0 Guinness and I like the Shipyard 0 alcohol beer too
I’m told that Guinness 0 is one of the better ones.
Cloudwater AF is OK.
thornbridge Green Mountain 0.5% is nice - like a strong hop ‘tea’ in some ways but plenty of flavor.
the alcohol free lagers I’ve had have not been impressive. Including the nicer German brands.
Of the stuff I generally see available somewhere I able to buy, Guineas, although most of what makes AF beer nice, is the weather being warm and the beer being very cold.
I had a pint of this the other day on tap in a pub. Was very nice.
Think they are Bristol based
https://wiperandtrue.com/products/tomorrow?variant=40354955526277
Wow ! None of these came up on my searches. Fantastic stuff.
i have tried corona zero & I’m not a fan,
Guinness zero is very good for a stout - but I’m not a fan of Guinness (side note the nirvana stout is superb btw)
thornbridge I’ve also tried - very nice beer.
have ordered some of the wiper and true - tomorrow.
and will try and find some nowt peculiar
after that I’ll try the Black Isle brewery offerings.
mashgang have some weird beers going on. I’m intrigued, but also not too sure on them.
the Nolia looks interesting, @tuboflard where did you buy from ? Their website shop doesn’t appear to be working.
edit : this may be a huge mistake, but I also ordered a mixed case from bero. Never heard of them until today when looking at the drydrinker site.
I got it from their site here
but just been on and it doesn’t appear to let you buy anything at the moment.
Mashgang is
Jordan Childs’, formerly of Sick! Bikes, current thing IIRC. If that means anything to you.
If that means anything to you.
Didnt know that but to be fair he seems rather better at beers than bikes. Maybe dont buy a large stock in advance though.
I'll have to hunt for 'nowt peculiar '. I do love old peculiar, well draught straight from the barrel at least. Always thought of it as black milk 😀
Guinness 0 seems to set the standard. I actually think the Brewdog ones are OK, but morally dubious. I love Thornbridge beers (on the subject of morally dubious) but was disappointed by their Jaipur 0, maybe because the regular is my favourite IPA.
Confused by references to St Peters and American. I quite like the stuff from St Peters Brewery at Beccles/Bungay, their AF versions are OK. Their normal Whiskey Beer is an odd one
Been wracking my brain all afternoon and finally remembered the af beer I've had a few times at a local - Brulo lust for life ipa.
Very very good, proper beery flavour and after taste. It seemed quite expensive but, tbf, they all seem pricey these days.
God the days of a 79p pint of Ridley's IPA. Halcyon times
Confused by references to St Peters and American.
The first time I came across it was in America. Flattened bottles almost hip flask shaped, ribbed like an old poison bottle. Where it's actually from and whether we're talking about the same thing I have no idea.
I’m into the Leffe blonde 0.0 atm, the and the Guinness are my staples.
Just me for the Corona 0.0 then? Had a couple of cold ones in the garden last night. With lime obviously 😉
Will try those Wipr AF- enjoyed their full fat versions.
Our local has another Bristol brewery on Tap. Clear Head: https://www.bristolbeerfactory.co.uk/pages/clear-head?srsltid=AfmBOoqKSgHmbpR0Ds8fzOdctYWocGoESzJEYWB-1mfa_Pl12TNJINYr
If you can find that, also recommended. It's my Dry Jan pint of choice.