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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.
Still on the market for a really good (and consistent) Non-Alcoholic beer? Well, I found another one, this time in Illinois in Go Brewing.
They have a Witbier, hazy IPA, pilsner, IPA and a nitro coffee N/A beer amongst other members only beers.
My dabbling in the realm of Non-Alcoholic drinks hasn’t touched upon the realm of spirits but that might change with this intriguing Gin? like drink from Amass called Riverine. Here is the ingredient listing: “Coniferous notes from Juniper are brightened by Sumac, Sorrel, Lemon Peel, and Apple, while Thyme, Mint, and Parsley lend a rich herbal earthiness.”
We are at the end of the five part series of reviews of Partake Brewing, and we close with the Stout.
This beer garners the silver medal even though it is more a porter or brown ale. It has good flavor and is less watery than the rest. There is a bit of coffee taste as well as a slight tinge of cola. A bit of minerality in the finish that could be toned down but overall decent.
Next up in the five part series of reviews of Partake Brewing is the Red Ale. We currently sit at 1/2 on the non-alcoholic beers.
This one falls in between the Blonde and the Pale. Primarily due to its beautiful color. Deep red and brown. Like a tea / coffee mix. The taste is OK. The first thing that jumps out is a really watery character. Not much hoppiness here with the barest hint of malt struggling to land. There is a tiny kellerbier note in the back as well. The score is now 1 and a half out of three beers tasted.
Non-Alcoholic East Coast brewer Athletic has pounced on the former Ballast Point “Trade Street” brewing facility and will be shipping their beer out the door in mid-May. This new production hub will increase their capacity and help them meet a demand across its 10 state distribution footprint. And maybe they will even add a taproom to this spot as well.
The low ABV craze seems to have given way to a current wave of Low Cal – Low ABV IPA’s (hence my featured reviews this month) but there are still pushes in the N/A arena. BrewDog, no stranger to experimenting on either end of the ABV spectrum have gone the collaboration route with Lamb of God (honestly don’t know who they are and fear what Google will do if I type that in). I like the label art though I don’t know that it screams N/A.
Almost at the same time as I Untappd my first Athletic N/A beer, I received an e-mail from Surreal Brewing.
Closer to us customers in Los Angeles is another new N/A brewer. Up in the Bay Area, Surreal Brewing Company founded by Donna Hockey and her husband,Tammer Zein-El-Abedein. Hockey, due to a cancer scare has a post-treatment diet which does not include alcohol. So they started their company to remedy this situation.
Out of the gate was their first offering Chandelier Red IPA which has now been followed by their 17 Mile Porter. The beers are in at Total Wine so I will be looking for them soon to see if the positive trend in taste filled N/A beers is going up.
I have been long fascinated by the Non-Alcoholic sector of craft beer. It seems so wide open. Then I taste an N/A beer and realize that it must be harder than thought ’cause they always taste off in one small way or another.
In one of my bursts of podcast binging, I heard about Athletic Brewing and for Christmas, I bought the IPA and Stout. Will my bad run continue?
Starting with the IPA, Run Wild, there is a pronounced orange and grapefruit aroma as you pop the can. This is quite hoppy with a bracing bitter finish. It has a watery quenching mouthfeel like a session IPA. As the beer warms up I get pine and grapefruit pith tastes.
All Out Stout starts off with a big pillowy espresso hued head. A bit like a cold brew coffee taste. It is a little thin with a mixture of tastes like licorice and cocoa beans. It is more a porter to me and a touch too sweet.
Overall though, these taste like beer. None of my quibbles are do to the usual N/A complaints of tasting like wort or having a weird secondary flavor. I would drink the hell out of the IPA, especially on a hot day. I guess the best recommendation is that I want to try more. Their Saison really intrigues me.
Each year beer pundits (myself included) like to delude themselves that this is the year of the pilsner/light lager. Each those styles do fine but never really break out of their ordained orbit. What I think will leap this year is the N/A beer. No alcohol. So, when I see some, I will review them.
Hence Dry Hopped Clausthaler that I found at Trader Joe’s.
This N/A beer pours dark orange to brown color. Very unfiltered. 2017 World Beer Award winner with Cascade hops. Smells and tastes predominantly like wort. Some pine notes. Less than .5 in abv mouthfeel and texture is a little wetter than usual.and lots of carbonation. some grapefruit bitterness here. Probably the closest to alcohol beer that I have had.