I've been trying to cut back on my alcohol consumption recently. I do like the taste of a beer so I decided to pick up some non-alcoholic drinks. I understand that general consensus about these drinks is that they're pointless and/or that they don't taste very nice, but the idea of being able to have a few without the grogginess is worth exploring to me, so for a little while I'll be trying different varieties.
Would anyone be interested in a kind of review thread? I'll pick up recommendations and report on price, taste, availability, what to drink with, or whatever anyone else wants me to comment on. Right now I have Guinness' Kaliber and Cobra Zero waiting to be tested.
Ah, Cobra Zero is foul! Not tried Kaliber.
Yes, do report on your progress. You might also like to consider the wuss-beers - I've just had a couple of Adnams' Sole Star (which sneaks into my wuss category at 2.7%, and is a quid a bottle). Not bad at all for a summer beer. If you're hunting a lager, Becks Blue tastes a lot like regular Becks. You may or may not find this appealing.
I know someone who is a bit of a problem drinker, not in terms of quantity but definitely in that they will try to match everyone else pint for pint and be utterly wasted after three or four, leading to various problems. Last week we had them every other pint on Becks Blue (Becks 0% alcohol) and they didn't notice the difference. Make of that what you will.
M&S do an excellent range of non-alcoholic brewed drinks called "Soft Brew". They don't taste exactly like beer and they're not supposed to, but they have an interesting flavour with malt and hops.
Not him, but a lot of kids at my school drank supermalt 15-20 odd years ago, so it's definitely been marketed here for a long old time. Never seen it marketed / offered as a non-alcoholic beer, though.
Right, so it's summer time and some reviews are due.
Kaliber: Like many canned lagers this stuff had a metallic, gassy taste. The taste was bearable, and had some hints of hops, but it was admittedly a thin and watery brew. I won't be getting this again. It's not a nice drink on it's own, and it doesn't quite work as a beer substitute, either. I've heard Kaliber is better overseas than here, but while I'm in the UK it's a no from me.
Cobra Zero: This actually tasted good to me. The hops were much stronger in this one than in Kaliber, and when served from the fridge, out of an attractive bottle, it really does make a difference in making you feel like you're enjoying a regular beer. The aftertaste is perhaps the weakest part, but otherwise it's a cheap and pleasant drink. This is what I'm sticking with for now, though I'll be trying more in the future.
A good general rule I've discovered for drinking NA beers is to serve them as cold as you possibly can. The colder the better, I can't stress this enough. Alcohol has a certain 'feel' in the mouth that's not present in these beers, almost like a certain numbness or burn/tingle on the palate. Ice cold beverages can create a similar feel, even when they're not alcoholic.
Next up: I'd really like to give Supermalt a try. Also on my list is Erdinger Weissbier (Alkoholfrei). Will update when I find these.
>>5885 Supermalt isn't what you're expecting. It's not really a NA beer, more of a liquid bread tasting thing that's near unbearably sweet. I used to have them after a run since they're packed full of sugar and B-vitamins.
That doesn't sound half-bad. I wouldn't mind giving it a try anyway, even if it isn't strictly an NA beer. Funny you should mention running, too, I'm one of the /fat/ty runners. I suppose that's two of the three of us, then/
Supermalt is awful. I've only tried it once, and none of the 4 or 5 people I was with liked it either. I can't even remember what it tasted like, other than just really, really bad.
>>5786 I don't know whether they sell it here but when I was in KSA, I had a lot of Barbican non-alcoholic beers. They had regular and fruit flavoured ones. Try them, if you can find them.
>>5889 Supermalt, Afrimalt and the plethora of other drinks of that ilk is nothing to do with beer other than vaguely tasting like pre-fermentation unhopped beer. They are carbonized malt sugar in water. Look at the nutritional information, even your average sugar-heavy energy drink can't keep up with their massive sugar content.
Personally, I find them quite nice (I like sweet things) but if you're looking for alcohol free beer avoid anything with "malt" in the name.
I've heard Bitburger's 0% is alright tasting, I think it's called "drive" over here, not sure where you'd get it. Here's a list of low alcohol beer to work your way through anyway http://beeradvocate.com/lists/style/5
Low alcohol ales are a good way to go if you still want flavour as ale brewers tend to make better use of hops. Fullers (used to?) brew a beer called The Mighty Atom that is only 2.8% but tastes amazingly complex and satisfying.