Getting Familiar with Modern Non-Alcoholic Brews
Getting Familiar with Modern Non-Alcoholic Brews – Are They Near Enough?
Not having done a “Dry January” since before it was called that, I decided to give it a go again this year, limiting myself to imbibing only Hop Water and Non-Alcoholic Beer. Apparently, I was not alone in contributing to the NA Beer spike in sales for that month, which — according to stats released in early February by Bart Watson, the chief economist with the Brewers Association — accounted for nearly 1% of total beer volume for January.
For the second two weeks on the month, my Dry January got a little damper, as I decided to progress(?) to Non Alcoholic beer (<0.5% abv), moistening things a bit. It is also called “near beer” — as it was known when it was the only beer allowed to be brewed and sold during Prohibition, which coincidentally began 104 years ago this past January.
NA beer, especially the modern craft versions that are becoming increasingly popular, is something I’ve rarely tasted, let alone drank, outside of judging (blind) a few of them in beer competitions. Like with the Hop Water, I limited my samplings to what I could find at local grocery and drug stores, as well as local craft breweries. Following are my tasting notes:
Firestone Walker Propagator Hop Fix NA IPA <0.5% abv (on tap)
Fruity hop nose, quickly dissipating head. Grainy (but not worty) flavor, very light-bodied and somewhat watery. There’s hop flavor too, but not like a real IPA. Body drops out pretty quickly. Still, a marked improvement on the Propagator’s first foray into draught NA Beer last year, a wheaty Blonde called Good Decisions. I must confess, the smell and taste of hops on Hop Fix were tantalizing temptations to abandon my experiment, especially with other hop-forward bonafide beers on tap handles next to the NA offering. But my will power kicked in.
About a week later, I decided to give the Hop Fix NA IPA a try again. Somehow, it seemed to improve. The head still dissipates quickly, as do the hops, but the body was much less watery, and more like a regular, clean beer, albeit a light one. As its name seems to suggest, Hop Fix is a work-in-progress, similar to the brewery’s Hop Water.
Another local brewery, Three Weavers, has taken the NA plunge, albeit with beers that have been de-alcoholized (alcohol removed from finished brews). No draught, just cans. Here are my impressions:
Three Weavers NA Lager <0.5% abv (2-month-old can, including one can pour in taproom)
Pours a light, pale yellow with a big white head that quickly disappears. Not much of an aroma. Sweet flavor with touches of herbal/slightly metallic notes, A worty-ness emerges as it warms. No cereal notes detected, as might be expected. Drinks like an ultra-light-bodied lager.
Three Weavers NA IPA <0.5% abv (1-month-old can)
A mostly clear, golden color pour with big foam that goes away fast, though leaves some lacing. Very subtle hop aroma and flavor, but minimal bitterness. Extremely mild fruity hop notes as it warms. This drinks like a golden ale, not an IPA. The addition of wheat contributes to a medium mouthfeel, almost like an alcoholic beer.
Three Weavers NA Hazy IPA <0.5% abv (2-month-old can)
This one pours hazy orange gold with a big white rocky head. The foam reduces quickly, but leaves a thin layer atop the liquid, as well as some bubbly lacing. Aroma-wise, peach ring notes permeate. Mild, sweet peachy cream flavor with some citrus notes as it warms. Medium orange creamy mouthfeel similar to a regular hazy, though lighter body than that would have, thanks no doubt to the wheat and oats in the grist.
My fave of the 3W NAs, despite not being a fan of Hazy IPAs.
Sierra Nevada Trail Pass NA Golden <0.5% (2-month-old can)
Mild fruity hop nose that disappears very quickly. Pours clear golden yellow with a pillowy white head that doesn’t last too long — but longer than the aroma! Any flavor from the Bravo, Cascade and Centennial hops are hard to decipher, but the medium- light body, with some subtle fruity undertones, does not drop out.
This is not worty or watery, and at least has the mouthfeel of a beer. A Sierra Nevada near beer that isn’t hop-forward? There is more hop evidence in the brewery’s Hop Splash Hop Water! Unfortunately, I was unable to find any of its sibling, Trail Pass NA IPA, which would just have to be hoppier, wouldn’t it?
Lagunitas IPNA <0.5% abv (No best before date on bottle or carton)
Initial dry-hop-fruity aroma similar to the brewery’s Hoppy Refresher sparkling water, coupled with sweet malt. But it doesn’t hang around very long. Pours an ultra-clear golden color, with massive, but quickly diminishing head of foam.
Mild hops on first taste, but they fade quickly too, so it drinks more like a light-bodied lager. There is a subtle sweetness, but no worty off-flavor. There is a medium mouthfeel that is not watery. But ultimately pretty bland, given the brewery. Maybe it was past its Best By date?
Athletic Brewing is the undisputed leader in non-alcoholic beer sales, and I’ve heard great things about their “nearer beers,” so I had to try the three more widely available releases, including the flagship IPA. I was surprised.
Athletic Run Wild NA IPA <0.5% abv (1.5-month-old can)
This flagship pours a cloudy orange (thanks to oats and wheat in the grain bill) with a generous white head that fades quickly. Hoppy, worty, DMS-y (creamed corn) nose, the last of which sticks around for a bit. Grainy, slightly fruity cereal notes in flavor, along with some hop bitterness. Mouthfeel is more like a regular beer, definitely not watery. DMS notes lessen as it warms. Subsequent cans from the six-pack of Run Wild didn’t have those off-flavor flaws, aside from the unfermented taste and texture.
Athletic Free Wave NA Hazy IPA <0.5% abv (1-month-old can)
Worty nose up from, overriding slight fruity hop notes. Large head disappears fast but leaves some lacing, mostly at the top of the glass. Medium-full body, grainy, semi-cereal-y flavor. Fruit notes are extremely subtle, but citrus hints emerge somewhat as it warms. A dry, almost clinging finish at first, but that pulls back too. Ultimately, this does not taste like an IPA, hazy or otherwise.
Athletic Upside Dawn NA Golden Ale <0.5% (1.5-month-old can)
Worty smell right from the just-opened can, which continues after the pour. Large foamy head, which diminishes to a thin ring on the edge of the liquid. Flavor is fruity cereal notes, as in sweetened breakfast cereal. Mouthfeel and body more like a normal beer. Interestingly, this one seems to get better as it warms.
Guinness 0 <0.5% abv (no date on can with nitro widget) (notice it’s not labeled 0.0, as many Euro-brewed NAs are)
Pours like a regular Guinness nitrogenated Stout with thick, off-white head that actually stays around for a long while. Similar bubble cascade too. Aroma includes a slightly sour smell, like the original. But there’s a worty-ness to the nose. Artificially sweetened malty/yeasty, with a baker’s chocolate cookie dough flavor (before baking). Only a touch of roast is detectable. The Guinness website admits to using fructose in this NA version, but remains mum on the “natural flavourings” listed as part of the ingredients.
This is not an unpleasant tasting NA offering at all, but it’s also not at all much like real beer, let alone a regular Guinness, either. It’s actually a beery, chocolatety, full-bodied, cold-brew malted soft drink — that happens to pair wonderfully with (baked) chocolate chip cookies. Surprisingly, the long-lasting lacing coats the glass once it is otherwise empty!
Heineken 0.0% abv (bottle, best before 9/24) No hiss upon opening the bottle. Pours like an alcoholic beer with a very clear golden color and a typical foam top, but it vanishes soon after. Sweet bitter-y burnt(?) malt aroma with some kind of herbal note, and some skunkiness. Similar flavor — and off-flavor — follows in the mouth. It’s a touch smoky, a bit oxidized, and quite worty. Some unfermented cereal notes emerge as it warms. It’s not watery at all, more like the body and mouthfeel of a regular Heineken. However, of the several bottles in the six-pack I tried, some did open with a hiss, and the aroma and flavor were less flawed, but still rather bland.
This is really disappointing to me, as some five years ago, I sampled a newly poured pint of Heineken 0.0 on draught in a pub in London (it was released in Europe years before coming to the States). I was genuinely surprised to find it tastinging like a very good, full-strength Euro-lager (almost like drinking fresh Heineken on draught in Amsterdam!).
Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0% abv (bottle, best before 10/24)
This Doppio Zero pours with a big white head that fades, but more slowly than other N/A beers, and still never disappears. It actually smells like the alcoholic Italian adjunct Pilsner-y lager of the same name. Tastes like it too; sparkly, sweet, subtle malt and very slight herbal notes from hops. Drinks very clean.
I cannot recall the last time I had a regular Peroni Nastro Azzurro, but his NA version drinks just like I remember the alcoholic version tasting. Paradoxically, while I am certainly no fan of Peroni (especially in this era of amazing Italian craft beers) as a Euro pseudo-Pils, I think that this N/A version, with double zeds, is one of the few non-alcoholic beers that tastes the most like its bev-alc big brother.
Samuel Adams Just the Haze NA Hazy IPA <0.5% abv (can, best before 5/24)
A heavily cloudy golden orange color in the pour, with a big white head that dissipates more slowly than other NAs, and leaves some lacing as it does. Surprisingly massive apricot-y hop aroma as it pours and on initial sniffs. Fruity hops continue in the flavor, with a note of pineapple emerging beneath the apricot, and while flavor mellows as the NA beer warms, it is still evident. An also unexpected medium mouthfeel, almost juice-like given the flavors, also sets this apart from other near beers; more than most, it tastes like a regular juicy Hazy IPA.
After writing the above notes, I noticed on the six pack carton that this NA beer had won Silver at the World Beer Cup 2023, Gold at GABF 2022 and Silver at the World Beer Awards 2022. That I did not find surprising!
Who knew that, to my alcoholic-parched palate at least, Just the Haze would be the most drinkable-while-still-being-beer-like near beer I tasted during this exercise? And the irony is not lost on me that while I am generally not a fan of hazy IPAs, I found that it’s the NA Hazies that taste the most like their alcoholic counterparts in American craft. Although some of the European 0.0 lagers (like the Peroni, and the Heineken I tried in London) come pretty close to their original versions as well.
Because after all, isn’t the most one should expect from a good NA Beer is that it actually tastes like a real beer? American beer drinkers a century ago should’ve been so lucky.
Tomm Carroll is a beer writer / judge / educator / historian / collector / traveler / drinker (not always in that order). He can be reached at [email protected].
