Stella Artois Liberté
Stella Artois

 

11.2oz green bottle Best Before 30MAY23 poured into a Stella Artois chalice at fridge temp with 0.0% ABV claimed on the label instead of the usual >0.5. The beer pours brilliantly bright pale gold with nearly white head. The head recedes to a thin ring and island leaving behind quite a bit of patchy lacing. The aroma is mild with sweet pale malt and a hint of skunk. The taste is semisweet pale malt with a hint of wort before a lightly bitter, lightly skunky finish. The mouthfeel is thin bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, excellent NA beer. I would prefer this to most macro light lagers.

 

 

Stella Liberte non alcoholic; most realistic beer on market. Out of ALL the Non-alcoholic beers on the market this one is the one that Most tastes like a real beer to me. The taste is like a real Stella beer. I absolutely love this beer. By far my favorite non alcoholic beer currently on the market.

 

 

 

 

 

Overall this not is not a bad alcohol free beer. Stella Artois previously had a non-alcoholic called "Stella Artois NA" and this one looks like its evolutionary successor.

Poured from a glass bottle into a standard pint glass. Good moderate foaming reduces to near zero lacing (only a vague "foam ring" around the rim). The initial head is thin, but uneven with good open and closed bubbles as well as unequal froth. Unfortunately it reduces to nothing though.

High amount of carbonation. Very active. Crystal clear yellow body. Smells of good malt sweetness (similar to how Heineken Zero smells), but there is a very good "skunk" hop note above that. It smells like your standard German lager and similar to Beck's NA on that side. So somewhere between the two is where this nose lies-- and it is rather pleasant. Lots of fruit, skunk weed, and corn. A bit of sweet biscuit. Scent is very pleasing.

On the front palate, lots of malt. Very sweet corn muffins. Some bitter hop notes with undertone of "skunk". Adds a crispness. Lots of fruitiness-- almost 7Up like. Very much like Heineken Zero's yeast notes. Lots of ester, gummy fruit pieces, and a bit of sugar candy. Mid-palate there is a lots more of that fruity soda taste. Some circus peanuts. A little passion fruit. A bit of diet chewing gum (twin girls not included). Some more corn muffin. Back palette is some paste notes, a bit of hop bitters, lots of esters and that familiar Stella Artois dryness. A little fruit notes-- more diet chewing gum and circus peanuts. After taste is clean. A bit of fruit gummy candy. A bit of esters and chewing gum. Some linger skunky hops notes.

Very wet mouthfeel. Thin and clean. Very refreshing. Light mouth thickness-- very thin with clean wet finish. Good crispness to the after taste. Surprisingly thirst quenching.

I think that from the standard of Euro ales this is not a bad beer at all. It's about average overall. You definitely get that Stella Artois taste, but the layer of fruity esters from the yeast is a nice surprise. It actually adds complexity to the standard alcohol Stella Artois that I did not expect and makes it a bit more pleasing. I actually like it a bit better than the standard ABV version as such. But in the end it is average. Very drinkable. Goes good with a meal and would compliment Italian very well or anything where you have lots of savor notes that would work well with the wet crisp fruity sweetness of the beverage.

3.34 out of 5. Good albeit average.