Non Alchohol Beer.

bburned

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i've had maybe 3 beers since Christmas. i simply stopped. i'm not a heavy drinker. i like about 4 pints a week before. now, i still miss the flavor, but my body doesnt do all that well with alchohol anymore. i feel better now that i have stopped. i will occasionally taste some wine from my wife's glass, or taste her beer. (it's like a choir of angels singing in my mouth).

i am losing weight :)

i have been exploring non-alchohol beers. most of them are barely drinkable. but a few have been surprisingly, not awful. nothing and i mean nothing will replace a great IPA from my local breweries. (Russian River, and Laguinitas to name two), but it does kinda quench the thirst. i dont call it beer. i call it a malted beverage. i cook with ODoul's. it taste okay. but some of the breweries around here are making some boozeless.

you all find any?
 
I am in the same boat. Non-alcohol beers are picking up popularity in Europe, and even in Canada. Sadly, not so much in the US.

I have found that St. Pauli Girl's NA beer is pretty good -- best with food, not alone. That beer with good pizza works form me. It is also not hard to find in stores. In bars around here, you ask about non-alcohol beer and they look at you like you have three eyes.

For cooking, I use regular beers and wines. Per serving, after cooking, I'm not consuming enough alcohol to worry about.

We have hundreds of good micro-breweries in Texas. I wish some of them would put a little effort into non-alcohol beer.

CD
 
There’s only one NA beer that I’ve ever found that tastes like a proper beer (and like its regular brother), but it’s extremely hard to find, and that’s Franziskaner’s hefe.

I think when my wife had to stop drinking for a while, she settled on Kaliber, and that’s not too difficult to track down.
 
The problem with non-alcoholic beer is that it usually doesn´t taste of anything. If only the brewers could work out how to maintain the hoppy, bitter, citrussy flavours, then great, but it seems that the process of removing the alcohol also removes the taste. they could even think about (1) removing the alcohol then (2) adding flavour. Anathema to a real ale drinker, but it could be an option.
Having said that, there´s a German beer here (Erdinger) which is non-alcoholic (well, 0.5%) and tasty. I doubt it would be available in California, but it´s worth a try.
The biggest brewery in Venezuela once launched a 0% pilsen. I got to try it one day at a restaurant. The highly attractive Sales Promoter purred through her presentation and expertly poured the beer into a spotlessly clean glass. She then stood over me like a cat watching a mouse until she got some feedback. I said something like:
" Excellent non-alcoholic option, especially for those who are driving, or don´t want anything alcoholic. Love the presentation, the bottle looks really attractive, eye-catching label. And as usual, excellent quality as I would only expect from Polar Breweries."
"There´s only one problem though: it tastes of nothing!" :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
 
I had my first non-alcoholic beer yesterday (pic below) since it came as a gift with some stuff I ordered from an online supermarket. Yep, tasted really bland. I'd never pay to drink this unless I had some medical issue that required me not to drink alcohol.
1652778685018.png
 
During Dry January I tried Sam Adam's "Just the Haze" and really enjoyed it.
How is Lagunitas IPNA? That's local to you and non alcoholic.
Brewdog seems to have a whole line of non-alcoholic as well (haven't tried it, but hear good things).
Other than those, you have the very mainstream Heineken 0.0 and ODoul's, but I've not personally tried either.
 
During Dry January I tried Sam Adam's "Just the Haze" and really enjoyed it.
How is Lagunitas IPNA? That's local to you and non alcoholic.
Brewdog seems to have a whole line of non-alcoholic as well (haven't tried it, but hear good things).
Other than those, you have the very mainstream Heineken 0.0 and ODoul's, but I've not personally tried either.
Laquinitas IPNA is pretty bad. very watery in flavor and mouth feel. they were giving out free samples at the brewery which was a bad idea, because tasting it next to a real beer was very dramatic.
 
I´ve just had a thought (a pretty rare occasion these days, but hey, gotta share it).
What is the target market for non-alcoholic beer? Is it
  • people who used to drink beer but can´t anymore
  • people who, for religious or health reasons, can´t drink normal beer
  • people who believe that non-alcoholic beer is less fattening
  • people who don´t enjoy getting drunk
  • people who think it´s trendy to drink non-alcoholic drinks
Whaddya think?
 
I´ve just had a thought (a pretty rare occasion these days, but hey, gotta share it).
What is the target market for non-alcoholic beer? Is it
  • people who used to drink beer but can´t anymore
  • people who, for religious or health reasons, can´t drink normal beer
  • people who believe that non-alcoholic beer is less fattening
  • people who don´t enjoy getting drunk
  • people who think it´s trendy to drink non-alcoholic drinks
Whaddya think?
I went non-alcoholic for "Dry January" a health-related "break" from alcohol and Wifey is pregnant, so no alcohol there. I don't think she's a target demographic, but both my temporary break and her 9 month break give credibility to your second point of "health reasons"

I think people who automatically assume alcohol free means "diet-friendly" or "less fattening" are... misguided.
 
For my wife, it was temporary, at the direction of one of her doctors.

I did know a guy, back in my AF days, who’d gotten a couple of DUI’s, and when he’d drive through the front gate (where you had to stop and show ID to a gate guard), he delighted in swigging from an O’Doul’s, just so he could tease them a bit. He was a jerk. :laugh:
 
Yes, FFT - I can understand that. I´d rather drink a beer than a scotch, rum, vodka, etc., but I´m interested to know why others might choose a NA beer.
 
i've had maybe 3 beers since Christmas. i simply stopped. i'm not a heavy drinker. i like about 4 pints a week before. now, i still miss the flavor, but my body doesnt do all that well with alchohol anymore. i feel better now that i have stopped. i will occasionally taste some wine from my wife's glass, or taste her beer. (it's like a choir of angels singing in my mouth).

i am losing weight :)

i have been exploring non-alchohol beers. most of them are barely drinkable. but a few have been surprisingly, not awful. nothing and i mean nothing will replace a great IPA from my local breweries. (Russian River, and Laguinitas to name two), but it does kinda quench the thirst. i dont call it beer. i call it a malted beverage. i cook with ODoul's. it taste okay. but some of the breweries around here are making some boozeless.

you all find any?
As far as cooking with alcohol, usually the alcohol all evaporates while cooking. If I don't want alcohol, I will just drink water. I am not a fan of juice or soda unless it's mixed with booze.
 
The only person I know who drinks non alcoholic beer is someone who had to give up alcohol for medical reasons. My guess is that people like that make up the target demographic for non alcoholic beers, I really don't know who would willingly drink this stuff 😕
 
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