Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
Looks like another celebrity is entering the beer game but with an N/A twist. Tom Holland is founding a company with the un-Marvel name of Bero and will have three non-alcoholic beers initially. Kingston Golden Pils, Edge Hill Hazy IPA and Noon Wheat. Nary a spider pun to be found but certainly some British influence.
It will be direct to consumer via their website with plans to launch in Target next year. Holland has discussed his sobriety which makes a venture into near beer a good call.
I am not a social media power user (still no Tikety Tokety for me) but I have noticed pushback on Dry January from various and sundry folks with half the month now past even in the face of the amount of N/A options increasing significantly. Lots of #PubJanuary hashtags out there.
Maybe instead, the moderation talk can be spread throughout the year instead of focusing on the slow times in January.
We know why taprooms are slow and less crowded, the reasons are twofold. Financial and seasonal. When the weather is crappy, people go out less and they certainly don’t sit out on a patio with a beer or two. Customers have also probably over celebrated during the holidays and take a breather for a bit. Whatever the reason, the brewery books do not look rosy because of it each January and into February.
So ironically, you end up promoting a month of drinking less in an already slow month which, in essence, is setting an easier goal for yourself. If you wanted to take a bigger swing, then pick a month in the high summer drinking time.
Before I go further, I am not against N/A options, in fact, I think all the options should be on the menu. Choice is great and needed. And if someone uses January to re-set themselves healthwise, again, all for it. But if you don’t go to breweries or bottle shops for a month, you cannot expect all to be there when you want to binge on February 1st.
The pendulum has swung in favor of the survival of breweries as we sit in non-growth times for craft beer. Dry January may have been a non-factor when growth was big but now that it isn’t it is most certainly seen.
What to do? Well, moderate your drinking through the year. instead of one lump sum. I advocate taking days off each week. I don’t drink alcohol two days of the week and I watch my intake to keep it at a certain level the rest of the days. I end up with three sober months that way. And local business’s get my money each month.
Option two is to buy craft N/A options at their taprooms. One can go out with friends without drinking. If more people did that, breweries, bottle shops and bars would notice and probably increase the N/A section of the menu.
You can support locally AND be healthful at the same time.
I have had limited success with Non-Alcoholic beers but maybe my luck will turn with 2 Towns Ciderhouse and their N/A Cosmic Crisp and Pacific Pineapple ciders, sorry, Sidekicks…
sidekick cc – pours a super light yellow color. tiny vinegar tang upon opening the can. apples being pressed aroma. some sweetness. nice carbonation. has that Martinelli’s sparkle to it.
sidekick pp – big pineapple aroma on this one. much like the cc. a teeny vinegar note tucked into the folds of what is essentially pineapple juice. pp does not have the carbonation balance though. Could be amped up to create the illusion of a pineapple cider.
If blind tasting, I would not have pegged either as de-alcoholed cider. I would have said both were juice. With the Cosmic Crisp being the closer to hard cider to me.
As the beers of winter get warmer, one sometimes needs a break and the appropriately named Clausthaler fits that N/A bill.
“Santa Clausthaler features a crisp and well-balanced taste of Clausthaler Original premium non-alcoholic beer blended with flavors of cranberry and cinnamon.”
Not a big fan of the un-groovy name, Grüvi but I was interested in a N/A Nitro Mocha Stout. “This creamy non-alcoholic brew is a smooth yet full-bodied ale with notes of coffee and chocolate. The addition of nitrogen makes tiny bubbles and helps us create an ultra-creamy beer that pours like a dream.” It even shows how to do an aggressive pour.
Did not get a big nitro pour from the can. Maybe it needs that widget that I did not hear in the bottom of the can. As with most non-alcoholic beers, this is pretty thin, which is really evident in a stout. Past that, there is a bit of a Mexican Hot Chocolate vibe off of this. Of the three adjectives on the packaging, it is a bit creamy, kind of smooth and roasted for sure. Overall, kind of disappointing.
The Non-Alcoholic beer options just keep expanding for those who want craft but without the ABV. There is a new N/A producer up in the Thousand Oaks area by the cheeky name of SoBear Brewing. Get it?
Currently they have a Hazy Pale Ale out in cans and coming soon are a Guava Sour and an American Light Lager. Though I am starting to wonder why it isn’t the big imperial stouts or DIPAs that aren’t getting the treatment.
Tucked between Ferment and pFriem on the Hood River waterfront is Wilderton Botanical Spirits. The Non-Alcoholic distiller opened their tasting room at the beginning of July with three products, Lustre (gin), Earthen (whiskey) and Bittersweet Apertivo.
I had both a taster of the three as well as one of their two seasonal mocktails to see what was what.
The Apertivo was my least favorite but I am not on the bandwagon for the spirit in either version. Weirdly bitter and tasted of beets. Earthen seemed a really pale comparison to whiskey. No oak or vanilla or coconut, it just sort of sat there. The faux gin was easily the best of the bunch. Botanicals just fit with gin.
The genius bit of the tasting was that each of the three N/A spirits had a sample cocktail. Tonic for Lustre, ginger ale for Earthen both really worked because the Fever Tree drinks are top notch. The G&T could have fooled people.
It is a small but welcoming space and a fantastic diversion from the beer and cider in Hood River.
There is a new non-alcoholic hopped seltzer based in Oregon called Lolo Hops.
The drinks are hoppee with Pacific Northwest-grown hops, and come in three flavors (two of which are non hoppy flavors) Pomelo Sage, Yuzu Orange Blossom, and Cascadia Field Blend.
Hopefully more “just the hops please” flavors will be added. Aurora Elixirs which is the company making these also do CBD drinks as well. That is a negative to me but to others it is a good sign.
I check up on Athletic Brewing and their new beers from their Pilot Program and recently picked up their Thai Coconut IPA (which I quickly posted about earlier this month) and their Hefeweizen. Do they hit the mark?
Starting with the Hefe, which could do with a better name than Athletic Hefe, initially I get a minty hit more Belgian in nature than German. Further sips in and some banana creeps in but it is as if the traditional Hefe clove was replaced with mint and then doubled up. Some of the typical “young” beer flavor is there as well but is masked, for the most part.
Beer two should be both easier and harder. Tropical IPAs abound so there should be an easy path to that flavor profile. Harder because coconut can be too sweet and overpower everything. All I get from this IPA is grapefruit. I was expecting a bit more milkshake style to it, with big coconut but it isn’t there for me. Not bad if the line is citrus but a miss if coconut.
Looks like AleSmith is trying their hand at extending their quality IPA work with a new N/A IPA.
I expect their hop knowledge should catapult this to the top of the no alcohol pack.