Soooooo far OT - non / low alcohol beers

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thenorthwind
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Re: Soooooo far OT - non / low alcohol beers

Post by thenorthwind »

Interesting thread. I've been meaning to try more AF beers recently, but only got as far as a couple of Erdingers, which I thought were decent, if a bit sweet.

I get where people are coming from with "if you don't want alcohol, just don't drink beer" I don't see an alternative that quite fits the bill really. Having a beer in the evening is about relaxing, and it's as much about the symbolism of sitting down with a drink than it is about the alcohol. It might be after a day at work that's been mentally taxing, after doing something physical, or just marking the point where I'm stopping pretending I'm doing anything useful and I'm sitting down to read a book. I generally want something refreshing and savoury, so hot drinks and sweet soft drinks are out, and that pretty much rules anything except beer out. If it's not too late, I might have a can of coke/lemonade/whatever in the summer (thought we rarely have them in the house), but I can only drink one of them, whereas a good beer I can have two or three of and not get tired of.
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Boab
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Re: Soooooo far OT - non / low alcohol beers

Post by Boab »

I find most NoLo beer to be too sweet, but as I've been off the sauce for the last month, I've been trying a few different ones to see if any float my boat. No BrewDog, as they're arseholes and like SportsDirect, you shouldn't give them any of your money.

I thought the Woodcutter Brown Ale by Big Drop Brewing Co was pretty good.
Zero Five by Thornbridge Brewery tasted of carbon dioxide and disappointment.
Ghost Ship 0.5 by Adnams, doesn't taste anything like normal Ghost Ship, but was surprisingly good.
Riedenburger Ur-Dinkel Alkoholfrei by Riedenburger Brauhaus tastes good enough that you forget it's not got alcohol in it.
Lazer Crush by Beavertown, more like a fizzy pop than a beer, but all the betterer for it.

The best of the bunch, IMNSHO, was Alkoholfrei (TAP03) by Schneider Weisse G. Schneider & Sohn; tastes like a proper wheat beer, and doesn't suffer from being too sweet like Erdinger or too grainy like Franziskaner. Recommended.
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Borderer
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Re: Soooooo far OT - non / low alcohol beers

Post by Borderer »

I got really into alcohol-free lager when we were in Spain. They have it on tap there even in little out-of-the-way bars and it's great - really crisp and refreshing without that 'drag you down' feeling of alcohol on a hot day.
When we got back I went through all the ones I could find and my favourite by far is the one by Estrella Damm of Barcelona. It's called Free Damm and you can get it in most supermarkets. It's really light and fresh and doesn't have that cloying aftertaste of most alcohol free lagers.

https://groceries.morrisons.com/product ... -388096011
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Bearlegged
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Re: Soooooo far OT - non / low alcohol beers

Post by Bearlegged »

Borderer wrote: Mon Jul 12, 2021 12:59 pm Free Damm
I can see how that would go down well in your neck of the woods!
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Re: Soooooo far OT - non / low alcohol beers

Post by Boab »

Landslide wrote: Mon Jul 12, 2021 1:17 pm
Borderer wrote: Mon Jul 12, 2021 12:59 pm Free Damm
I can see how that would go down well in your neck of the woods!
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Matt C
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Re: Soooooo far OT - non / low alcohol beers

Post by Matt C »

We're usually alcohol free during the week so have tried lots of AF beers. Flat Tyre lager is decent, but then I also like the Punk AF Brewdog stuff so our tastes may not be aligned.. Used to drink Erdinger but find it a bit too malty now.
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Re: Soooooo far OT - non / low alcohol beers

Post by Scud »

I tend to like the stronger, citrusy IPA and Pale Ales, and found any alcohol free ones i bought in supermarket or pub, were gopping.

BUT, this is a really good IPA:

https://drydrinker.com/product/big-drop ... 2-x-330ml/

The whole Dry Drinker website is good, i had a 4 months off the beer, and bought 24 box of varied AF beers from them, of that 24, there was a good 10-11 of them that i would happily drink time and time again.
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thenorthwind
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Re: Soooooo far OT - non / low alcohol beers

Post by thenorthwind »

Scud wrote: Mon Jul 12, 2021 3:28 pm I tend to like the stronger, citrusy IPA and Pale Ales, and found any alcohol free ones i bought in supermarket or pub, were gopping.

BUT, this is a really good IPA:

https://drydrinker.com/product/big-drop ... 2-x-330ml/

The whole Dry Drinker website is good, i had a 4 months off the beer, and bought 24 box of varied AF beers from them, of that 24, there was a good 10-11 of them that i would happily drink time and time again.
Will look out for that, cheers. I like a big hoppy IPA too, and its hard enough (judging by the results) when brewers try to recreate that in a session-strength beer, let alone 0.5% or AF, so I just assumed they'd all be crap, but I should at least try some.
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Re: Soooooo far OT - non / low alcohol beers

Post by Cheeky Monkey »

I'll not be buying anymore of the Punk stuff I've tried (Nanny state, Hazy AF and a larger one). Really poor taste.

Have ordered some of the coast stuff to try. Stupidly expensive but they do a "recommend a friend" thing for discounts to both so if you want to try some a bit cheaper:

https://www.coastbeer.co/a/refer-a-frie ... 6b1ua/4822

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thenorthwind
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Re: Soooooo far OT - non / low alcohol beers

Post by thenorthwind »

Scud wrote: Mon Jul 12, 2021 3:28 pm I tend to like the stronger, citrusy IPA and Pale Ales, and found any alcohol free ones i bought in supermarket or pub, were gopping.

BUT, this is a really good IPA:

https://drydrinker.com/product/big-drop ... 2-x-330ml/

The whole Dry Drinker website is good, i had a 4 months off the beer, and bought 24 box of varied AF beers from them, of that 24, there was a good 10-11 of them that i would happily drink time and time again.
Turns out my favourite pub, who've been doing a good range of click and collect throughout lockdown, which is still going now they're open again, have some of this. I picked up a bottle when I went for pint, and had it on Wednesday. I was pretty impressed for a AF beer. Got a bottle of the stout as well - looking forward to trying that as I reckon it's probably easier to replicate sans alcohol.

The funny thing about buying AF beer is that I've realised I use the ABV of normal beer as guide to what I'm going to get... e.g. if I'm buying a stout, I might expect a 5% to be mild and milky, or more like a porter, whereas I know an 8% is going to be going for the big bold flavours - chocolate, coffee, etc. But with a 0.5%... it's anyone's guess.
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voodoo_simon
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Re: Soooooo far OT - non / low alcohol beers

Post by voodoo_simon »

Birra Moretti Zero is one to avoid, the original is lovely, the AF definitely lacks taste :roll: Very disappointing
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Re: Soooooo far OT - non / low alcohol beers

Post by Pete-G »

voodoo_simon wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 10:30 pm Birra Moretti Zero is one to avoid, the original is lovely, the AF definitely lacks taste :roll: Very disappointing
You can put the Peroni Libra in that category too.
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Re: Soooooo far OT - non / low alcohol beers

Post by Zippy »

https://www.adnams.co.uk/beer/shop-by-t ... no-alcohol

The non alc Ghost Ship is good (I'm not a big fan of the full alcoholed ghost ship actually!)
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Re: Soooooo far OT - non / low alcohol beers

Post by holdsteady »

Borderer wrote: Mon Jul 12, 2021 12:59 pm I got really into alcohol-free lager when we were in Spain. They have it on tap there even in little out-of-the-way bars and it's great - really crisp and refreshing without that 'drag you down' feeling of alcohol on a hot day.
When we got back I went through all the ones I could find and my favourite by far is the one by Estrella Damm of Barcelona. It's called Free Damm and you can get it in most supermarkets. It's really light and fresh and doesn't have that cloying aftertaste of most alcohol free lagers.

https://groceries.morrisons.com/product ... -388096011
I picked up some of the Estrella Free Damm by accident instead of normal Estrella and found it very drinkable, although prefer the alcoholic version but I tend to drink for the alcohol and not the taste - I’d rather have a water, full fat coke or a vimto.
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Re: Soooooo far OT - non / low alcohol beers

Post by ledburner »

Pete-G wrote: Sat Jul 24, 2021 3:13 pm
voodoo_simon wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 10:30 pm Birra Moretti Zero is one to avoid, the original is lovely, the AF definitely lacks taste :roll: Very disappointing
You can put the Peroni Libra in that category too.
add Erdinger Alkoholfrei as well awful. but Adhams ghost ship was better much than pop.

and if this is too be believed..
[urlhttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/drin ... mmer-2021/][/url]
I hope you think you know, what I might of exactly meant.
Warning - may contain value odded typos & ither mythspellings..
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