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Good non alcoholic beer?

Tirvine

ancient grey sweatophile
I have enjoyed both Stella and Heinekin NA, but I am no beer fancier. I'd rather have just one non-inebriating glass of a great Oregon PN or a small single martini or Old Fashioned.
 
I've had some NA beers in certain styles at local craft breweries that were pretty good, some hazy IPAs and things like that. I think they are best thought of as their own category but I'd happily buy them again, very refreshing on a hot day.

I've been meaning to try some NA porters or stouts from local liquor stores as well and haven't gotten around to it.

"Commonly available" per the original post of this thread is maybe a different thing though? I'm not sure where you'd draw that line.

If you get into very low alcohol things like kvass etc it opens up a third can of worms.
 
I have been confined to non-alcoholic beers for many years, due to a history with Pancreatitis.
This happened when I was only 20 years old. Before then, I loved drinking beer (alcoholic).
So I have observed the availability for many years.

There has been a significant development in recent years, choice of non-alcoholic beer has expanded considerably.
Yet, in my view, there are clearly some discernible patterns.

Recently a lot of "0.0 %" alcohol beers have seen the light of the day.
It may not sound like much difference, but in terms of flavor, there is a HUGE difference between 0.0 % alcohol beers, and "<0.5%" alcohol beers. The latter are by far the best in terms of flavor.
Avoid 0.0, pure and simple..!!
As for brands, German made non-alcoholic beer consistently remain by far the best.
(no, I am not German...!)
Why that is, I don't know, but there is little question about it.

NOTE:
in what follows, I list a number of GOOD non alcoholic beers that I can vouch for, based on many years' experience.
There are also a number of mediocre non-alcoholic beer around ..!
Non-alcoholic beer seems to have turned into a bit of a fad these days, and there seems to be many opportunists around -- READ: a lot of "non alcoholic beer", that is not very flavorful. BUT, there are some gems, and in what follows I provide a listing of just those (i.e I entirely circumvent a "negative" list of "avoid these", but I could have easily made one..!
IN other words, The following listing are ones that stand out as good, worth-while non alcoholic beer.

My favourite German brands are these (again, go for the <0.5%, as opposed to 0.0%):

__ Warsteiner
__ Claustaler
__ Perlenbacher (excellent, and very reasonably priced)
__ Krombacher

Apart from German made beer, there are also some excellent Norwegian made non/alcoholic beer.
Perhaps this is due to a long record of very restrictive legislation in Norway regarding alcohol.
Whatever the reason, they sure have figured out the art of making good non alcoholic beer in Norway.
The following are some I can vouch for:
__ Aass brewery's "Uten" (0.7% alcohol)
__ Munkholm (various nonalcoholic options, most of them good)

I am based in Denmark, but the only Danish made non alcoholic beer I would recommend is
the Svaneke brewery's "Don't Worry" (again <0.5%). They make two versions of "Don't Worry", the "IPA" (Indian Pale Ale}, and the "Brown Ale". Both excellent. Only come in 0.5 L bottles.

As for the more famous Danish breweries Carlsberg and Tuborg, they haven't figure out how to make non alcoholic beer. They do of course ride along the fad and produce a variety of non alcoholic beer, but it's all crap .. avoid it..!

The same goes for other internationally famous beer brands like Heineken. Their non-alcoholic beer (0.0% alcohol, at least to date) is nothing less than an embarrassment to Heineken, piece of ****, avoid it...!!

There you have it..! Enjoy..!
 
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I have been confined to non-alcoholic beers for many years, due to a history with Pancreatitis.
This happened when I was only 20 years old. Before then, I loved drinking beer (alcoholic).
So I have observed the availability for many years.

There has been a significant development in recent years, choice of non-alcoholic beer has expanded considerably.
Yet, in my view, there are clearly some discernible patterns.

Recently a lot of "0.0 %" alcohol beers have seen the light of the day.
It may not sound like much difference, but in terms of flavor, there is a HUGE difference between 0.0 % alcohol beers, and "<0.5%" alcohol beers. The latter are by far the best in terms of flavor.
Avoid 0.0, pure and simple..!!
As for brands, German made non-alcoholic beer consistently remain by far the best.
(no, I am not German...!)
Why that is, I don't know, but there is little question about it.

NOTE:
in what follows, I list a number of GOOD non alcoholic beers that I can vouch for, based on many years' experience.
There are also a number of mediocre non-alcoholic beer around ..!
Non-alcoholic beer seems to have turned into a bit of a fad these days, and there seems to be many opportunists around -- READ: a lot of "non alcoholic beer", that is not very flavorful. BUT, there are some gems, and in what follows I provide a listing of just those (i.e I entirely circumvent a "negative" list of "avoid these", but I could have easily made one..!
IN other words, The following listing are ones that stand out as good, worth-while non alcoholic beer.

My favourite German brands are these (again, go for the <0.5%, as opposed to 0.0%):

__ Warsteiner
__ Claustaler
__ Perlenbacher (excellent, and very reasonably priced)
__ Krombacher

Apart from German made beer, there are also some excellent Norwegian made non/alcoholic beer.
Perhaps this is due to a long record of very restrictive legislation in Norway regarding alcohol.
Whatever the reason, they sure have figured out the art of making good non alcoholic beer in Norway.
The following are some I can vouch for:
__ Aass brewery's "Uten" (0.7% alcohol)
__ Munkholm (various nonalcoholic options, most of them good)

I am based in Denmark, but the only Danish made non alcoholic beer I would recommend is
the Svaneke brewery's "Don't Worry" (again <0.5%). They make two versions of "Don't Worry", the "IPA" (Indian Pale Ale}, and the "Brown Ale". Both excellent. Only come in 0.5 L bottles.

As for the more famous Danish breweries Carlsberg and Tuborg, they haven't figure out how to make non alcoholic beer. They do of course ride along the fad and produce a variety of non alcoholic beer, but it's all crap .. avoid it..!

The same goes for other internationally famous beer brands like Heineken. Their non-alcoholic beer (0.0% alcohol, at least to date) is nothing less than an embarrassment to Heineken, piece of ****, avoid it...!!

There you have it..! Enjoy..!
Totally agree about the Heineken NA beer. Ugh!
 

Chan Eil Whiskers

Fumbling about.
I have been confined to non-alcoholic beers for many years, due to a history with Pancreatitis.
This happened when I was only 20 years old. Before then, I loved drinking beer (alcoholic).
So I have observed the availability for many years.

There has been a significant development in recent years, choice of non-alcoholic beer has expanded considerably.
Yet, in my view, there are clearly some discernible patterns.

Recently a lot of "0.0 %" alcohol beers have seen the light of the day.
It may not sound like much difference, but in terms of flavor, there is a HUGE difference between 0.0 % alcohol beers, and "<0.5%" alcohol beers. The latter are by far the best in terms of flavor.
Avoid 0.0, pure and simple..!!
As for brands, German made non-alcoholic beer consistently remain by far the best.
(no, I am not German...!)
Why that is, I don't know, but there is little question about it.

NOTE:
in what follows, I list a number of GOOD non alcoholic beers that I can vouch for, based on many years' experience.
There are also a number of mediocre non-alcoholic beer around ..!
Non-alcoholic beer seems to have turned into a bit of a fad these days, and there seems to be many opportunists around -- READ: a lot of "non alcoholic beer", that is not very flavorful. BUT, there are some gems, and in what follows I provide a listing of just those (i.e I entirely circumvent a "negative" list of "avoid these", but I could have easily made one..!
IN other words, The following listing are ones that stand out as good, worth-while non alcoholic beer.

My favourite German brands are these (again, go for the <0.5%, as opposed to 0.0%):

__ Warsteiner
__ Claustaler
__ Perlenbacher (excellent, and very reasonably priced)
__ Krombacher

Apart from German made beer, there are also some excellent Norwegian made non/alcoholic beer.
Perhaps this is due to a long record of very restrictive legislation in Norway regarding alcohol.
Whatever the reason, they sure have figured out the art of making good non alcoholic beer in Norway.
The following are some I can vouch for:
__ Aass brewery's "Uten" (0.7% alcohol)
__ Munkholm (various nonalcoholic options, most of them good)

I am based in Denmark, but the only Danish made non alcoholic beer I would recommend is
the Svaneke brewery's "Don't Worry" (again <0.5%). They make two versions of "Don't Worry", the "IPA" (Indian Pale Ale}, and the "Brown Ale". Both excellent. Only come in 0.5 L bottles.

As for the more famous Danish breweries Carlsberg and Tuborg, they haven't figure out how to make non alcoholic beer. They do of course ride along the fad and produce a variety of non alcoholic beer, but it's all crap .. avoid it..!

The same goes for other internationally famous beer brands like Heineken. Their non-alcoholic beer (0.0% alcohol, at least to date) is nothing less than an embarrassment to Heineken, piece of ****, avoid it...!!

There you have it..! Enjoy..!



Very nicely done. Thanks.

Some of the NA beers you mention I've not tried. Of the few I know - Clausthaler
and Heineken - I agree.

Happy shaves,

Jim
 

Chan Eil Whiskers

Fumbling about.
There have been plenty of times when I've had a big swallow or small taste of this one and had to doublecheck the label to make sure I wasn't drinking an alcohol laden German beer.


1713705347979.png



Most folks who think all NA beers taste like water haven't had a Clausthaler.

Happy shaves,

Jim
 
There have been plenty of times when I've had a big swallow or small taste of this one and had to doublecheck the label to make sure I wasn't drinking an alcohol laden German beer.


View attachment 1833281



Most folks who think all NA beers taste like water haven't had a Clausthaler.

Happy shaves,

Jim
I tried Clausthaler today for the first time and was very impressed by it. I had just about given up on NA beers and finally stumbled across this today. Good call on those who mentioned this beer.
 
I finally got myself a bottle of Clausthaler. I had high hopes, but the Brooklyn Special remains my favorite NA. (in fact it is the only NA I drink).
Imo the Clausthaler is good in its category, it beats mainstream NA beers, but for me it is nothing like a real German beer. YMMV, I guess.
 
I finally got myself a bottle of Clausthaler. I had high hopes, but the Brooklyn Special remains my favorite NA. (in fact it is the only NA I drink).
Imo the Clausthaler is good in its category, it beats mainstream NA beers, but for me it is nothing like a real German beer.
Clausthaler is "real" beer! I guess a reason German non-alcoholic beer is often so good, is that many of them are actually brewed like regular beer (with alcohol), just de-alcoholized subsequent to brewing.
Clausthaler took a bit of getting used to for me. I preferred Warsteiner's NA at first, that might work better for you too.
I never really caught on to the Brooklyn's non-alcoholic beer on the other hand ... It's usually over-prized too. For a German NA, I find Clausthalers very reasonably prized.
 
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I have never been a drinker, but I like a lot of the NA options because they got me away from having soda so much. My favorite is Sam Adams IPA offering, "Just the Haze". Very good stuff.
 

luvmysuper

My elbows leak
Staff member
For seekers of non alcohol beer and non alcohol aftershave, I suggest one ultimate solution.
Club Soda. The sparkle without the heart!
I'm tempted to say that a non alcohol beer is similar to a Chocolate Martini - meaning that neither one exists.
A Martini is Gin and Vermouth. If you put coffee or chocolate in it, you may like it, but it AIN'T a Martini.
A non alcohol beer is a barley and hops soda pop, not a beer.
I wonder how it tastes with "almond milk ice cream" and a "soy burger". :lol1:
 
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