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🍺 Low-booze reviews

(updated 2021-09-01)

Lately I've been replacing the beers and ciders in the fridge with low- or no-alcohol versions. As a midweek special for my blog, my reviews of the ones I've tried so far follow.

MAISEL'S WEISSE ALKOHOLFREI⁽ᵃ⁾ actually tastes very similar to alcoholic wheat beers, including that slight banana flavour some of them have. Actually, the banana is pretty strong in this one! It's quite light and not too bitter. ♥

(a) maisel.com — via https

BIG DROP GALACTIC MILK STOUT⁽ᵃ⁾ was interesting to me because I am a fan of milk stout. This is dark and rich. I could even say it's chocolatey or tastes a bit of vanilla. Smooth and stouty. ♥

(a) bigdropbrew.com — via https

HAMBLETON POINT FIVE⁽ᵃ⁾ is a pale ale with American hops with a balanced flavour and goes down nicely. ♥

(a) hambletonbrewery.co.uk — via https

CRAFTY NECTAR ALCOHOL FREE CIDER⁽ᵃ⁾ does a credible job of tasting like a cider and it's certainly refreshing. Not a massive depth of flavour compared to a full farmhouse cider, and mostly a sweet, acidic flavour, but pleasant all the same. ★★★

(a) craftynectar.com — via https

BREW DOG NANNY STATE⁽ᵃ⁾ is rich, hoppy, malty, bitter and a bit citric all in one. With six hops this is quite an intense and interesting flavour. I like it. ★★★

(a) brewdog.com — via https

JEVER FUN⁽ᵃ⁾ is a Pilsner, slightly bitter but very much like a summer lager, bubbly and fairly crisp. I'd bring it to a barbecue. ★★★

(a) jever.de — via https

FRANZISKANER ALKOHOLFREI⁽ᵃ⁾ doesn't have quite the same wheaty flavour as its alcoholic equivalents. I'm not really expecting absolute versimilitude, but this is more like a mix of the Weißbier flavour and the malty flavour of Supermalt⁽ᵇ⁾. Not banana-like at all! ★★

(a) franziskaner-weissbier.de — via https

(b) supermalt.com — via https

BIG DROP PARADISO CITRA IPA⁽ᵃ⁾ is also a little watery but has a more sastifying citric (maybe grapefruit-like) bitterness. ★★

(a) bigdropbrew.com — via https

SMALL BEER DARK LAGER⁽ᵃ⁾ is 1.0%, so perhaps not non-alcoholic any more. It tastes a bit like a coffee-like porter on the first taste but this then disappears to taste like a more watery lager. ★★

(a) theoriginalsmallbeer.com — via https

LUCKY SAINT⁽ᵃ⁾ is really quite light and, relative to the others, rather watery, at least during the first few gulps. And then a flavour quite a bit like alcoholic lager develops. ★★

(a) luckysaint.co — via https

FRÜH KÖLSCH 0,0% ALKOHOLFREI⁽ᵃ⁾ tastes a lot like Kölsch and is enjoyable enough, but I guess I'm not the world's biggest Kölsch fan. ★★

(a) frueh.de — via https

BITBURGER 0,0% ALKOHOLFREIES PILS⁽ᵃ⁾ is nothing wild or unusual, but it is a reasonably light and pleasant Pils. ★★

(a) bitburger.de — via https

ADNAMS GHOST SHIP ⁽ᵃ⁾ is a pale ale with a citrus flavour. Nothing hugely out of the ordinary, but a pleasant drink. ★★

(a) adnams.co.uk — via https

SCHNEIDER WIESSE ALKOHOLFREI⁽ᵃ⁾ is a wheat beer, but on the first few gulps I'm not sure you could tell. It settles down to a quite acidic wheaty flavour later. ★★

(a) schneider-weisse.de — via https

PERONI LIBERA is a lager, refreshing and crisp, maybe a bit sweet, but nothing particuarly interesting. I tend to have these with a meal rather than on their own. If I wanted a beer at the end of the day I'd pick something with a bit more character, I guess.

BREWDOG PUNK AF⁽ᵃ⁾. Like a lot of alcohol-free beers, this is really quite hoppy and tastes a bit like tropical fruits or mangoes. Rather than removing alcohol after brewing, this is made with low-sugar wort, though they added lactose. A bit watery maybe. ★

(a) brewdog.com — via https

BIG DROP UPTOWN CRAFT LAGER⁽ᵃ⁾ is really quite watery and thin. I think I prefer something with more flavour but as a quick refreshing drink in the middle of summer it might be pleasant enough. ★

(a) bigdropbrew.com — via https

ILKLEY BREWERY VIRGIN MARY⁽ᵃ⁾ is a citrus pale ale. It has a bitter citrus flavour that disappears pretty rapidly. ★

(a) ilkleybrewery.co.uk — via https

THORNBRIDGE ZERO FIVE⁽ᵃ⁾ tastes malty but also metallic. Kinda one-dimensional and slightly watery. ★

(a) thornbridgebrewery.co.uk — via https

TINY REBEL CLWB TROPICA⁽ᵃ⁾ is a tropical IPA, meaning it's got pineapples, mangoes, peaches and passion fruit flavours in there, with a bit of bitterness. Not really my thing. ★

(a) tinyrebel.co.uk — via https

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