I’ve gone on medication that makes drinking kind of problematic, but I really love beer of all kinds, IPAs, sours, etc. I like flavorful and varied beers. I’d like to try some interesting non-alcoholic options. What is your favorite non-alcoholic beer?
Athletic brewing company has a a stout...that if they billed as an ESB would be amazingly convincing.
I swear to you, I am (or I guess used to be) a BJCP certified beer judge. (former) Cicerone ii
Athletic is the best out there for NA, that I've seen. And that stout... I was intrigued to see how you could make beery. And you can't. But... an ESBs flavor profile is, for all intents and purposes, a watered down (Still spritzy) dry stout.
I'll bet there are better for hopheads. Hell, I prefer lagunitas's NIPA offering more than athletics pale ale. So... yeah.
Maybe they’ve improved but Athletics IPAs were some if the worst liquid I’ve ever had. I don’t even want to call it a beverage. IME, the only companies that make passable NA beer also make regular beer. But I never really tried anything else from Athletic because the IPA was so bad, maybe I’m missing out.
Athletic brewing company has a a stout...that if they billed as an ESB would be amazingly convincing.
I swear to you, I am (or I guess used to be) a BJCP certified beer judge. (former) Cicerone ii
Athletic is the best out there for NA, that I've seen. And that stout... I was intrigued to see how you could make beery. And you can't. But... an ESBs flavor profile is, for all intents and purposes, a watered down (Still spritzy) dry stout.
I'll bet there are better for hopheads. Hell, I prefer lagunitas's NIPA offering more than athletics oale ale. So... yeah.
Guinness has the best NA stout because it tastes just like regular Guinness. When I had to stop drinking, I really missed this and none of the other NA stouts scratched the itch. Once this came out, I was really happy.
Other than that, anything from Athletic Brewing Company is awesome. They have some good IPAs, their sour and gose options are really good, there’s a cerveza that tastes similar to negra modelo and a bunch of their seasonal offerings are really good. A big problem with a lot of NA beers is that they don’t get the carbonation right (brew dog has some good tasting ones, but their carbonation is no good). Athletic nails it.
After that I’d say Brooklyn Brewing and Partake both have a few really solid ones; just pick whatever looks interesting from them and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.
I love Athletic Brewing Company. Their Oktoberfest is very good, and their Blueberry Lemon Mango sour is my favorite NA beer on the market. I also really like Best Day, especially their Kolsch.
Agree with everyone on Athletic I like their upside dawn golden. I also like Black Butte Port which is a NA I’ve only seen at BiMart of all places. I go through a lot of the Claushaller dry hopped.
Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0 -- really scratches the lager itch.
Sam Adams, Just The Haze -- my fav NA IPA
Athletic Brewing Company -- many offerings but Upside Dawn Golden is my favorite.
Give mulled cider (NOT spiked) a try. Super easy to heat up a batch, fairly inexpensive (and Simply Apple works for cider if you can't get apple cider out of season), and, to me, at least, it "feels" like something alcoholic but with zero alcohol (unless you make the spiked version).
I actually prefer malt drinks like Barbican. For me it is significantly cheaper than NA lager. I also like the flavored Barbicans (pomegranate) but they're closer to a soft drink than a NA Radler.
If they'll ship to wherever you are, you should give Mash Gang a try. My personal favourite is a fruited west-coast IPA, but mostly I just like that they're constantly trying new things. Since giving up alcohol, it's the closest I've gotten to that feeling of trying a bunch of crazy craft beers and not knowing exactly what you're about to get.
Non-alcoholic beer has come along in leaps and bounds and there are many very drinkable beverages available now.
For the past 2 years, I've bought a non-alc beer Advent Calendar, which is basically a case of beer with perforated "doors" that you get a can from for the first 24 days of December and then about 4 cans for 25 December itself. Only one or two that I didn't like enough to not drink them and several I thought were amazing.
As I live in Australia, the majority are from here. There were some from the US and Europe, though. Some that spring to mind are : Athletic, Løwlander, Vandestreek, Sheep in Wolf's Clothing, Bravus, Big Drop.