Non-Alcoholic (ABV < 0.5%) Beers (2023)

The addition of flavoring ingredients is not why the TTB does not allow NAs to be labeled "beer". (See point 4 below). Here's the rule followed by the legal definition of "Beer" "Cereal Beverage" and "Near Beer".

 

Sounds like a lot of the "NA naysayers" here, have never tried any of the many German NA beers - or some of the newer US ones (like Barrel Bros in CA)....if you try a Bitburger Drive, or Weihenstephaner NA, or Einbecker NA, and still these beers are "boring" - you may want to get a taste bud check.....ha!

 

Thanks for calling me out on that. I don't know for a fact that they use RO as cold filtration could mean a non-RO membrane filtration, but in the limited amount I've read it does appear that RO is a common membrane filtration method used for dealcoholization. For example, see https://www.gea.com/en/stories/alcohol-free-beer.jsp.

So my interpretation of the blurb is that they brew Guinness Draught as usual, push it through membrane filtration (potentially RO) to remove the alcohol (which will also remove other compounds), and then add some of those flavor compounds back in.

Thanks for pulling the regs on this. I wasn't aware that you couldn't call a beverage beer even when you've followed all the same brewing processes and simply filtered out the alcohol. Makes sense, though, as it is chemically a different liquid than before filtration.

 

I've tried a Bitburger NA (if Drive is the only one, then that's it) and Weihenstephan's NA. They had the same issue. Thin, wort heavy, disappointing.

Well I believe most of these breweries are using RO water for brewing. Sounds like the cold filtration part is what's doing the trick.

 

I wish that had some of those beers to try, but the stores that are easily available to me don't carry any of them. That's why I keep saying 'nay' to most of those that I've tried.

 

So I will start with that I have been two years plus "dry" and really wandering the NA beer road long and hard. I will say that the last two years have been a bit of a NA renaissance and though I totally did not plan it (thank you random medical issues and my persistent medical care team for the timing) there honestly is no better time to consider the NA beer as either an alternative to drinking full volume ABV beers, but as a better (in some cases) beer that is truly better tasting than the light beer counterparts that offer more calories and are not really giving you any benefit in taste. Again things vary from beer to beer. Admittedly the longer you drink NA and the longer it has been since you drank a "regular beer" the more your taste palate changes. This is not a good change or a bad change, but as humans we adapt over time to what we eat/consume and normalize our palates to find exciting things in what we are habitually consuming. So the short story is there is both a psychological and physiological change in how you perceive NA beers over time. I like to use Athletic Brewing Run Wild NA IPA as my meter for this. When I first consumed it (12/18/20... thank you BA beer list for that bookmarked date) I thought wow this is pretty good, but VERY different. Now (as in 2 days ago) it's much different, more normal and yes-- it is more IPA by every regard to the point where my brain now accepts this is what an IPA is. I'm sure if I were to actually consume a full ABV IPA my expectations would be wrecked. It could be bad. It could be good. It will no doubt be "whoa" in every possible way and again reestablish how then followed by the NA version I would now "see" the difference. I've come to self accepted viewpoint in this light that when I am doing my BA beer list taste notes today that it is very different albeit still weighed against a standard of me doing the same 3 years ago on a given beer style. Before my standard would have been for a given style something I saw as meeting that standards notes and designated values in its full ABV form. Today I'm doing the same, but with a taste palate that is maybe slighted to see those NA notes better. I'm going to take Athletic Brewing Wit End as an example since it's my newest "thing". Did it make Witbier status? Yes, I found a very Witbier status and to me it hit all the right notes/style designations. Was it Allagash White? Yes, to me it was though at a very specific point in the session it seemed like it. Was it really? No probably not and to the regular ABV Witbier drinker the NA would have probably failed but to me and my very now sensitized taste profile-- it was. I definitely taste "more" now in a given beer than I ever did and I absolutely credit it to not being limited by the alcohol when raw on the tongue. Now do not get me wrong, that totally changes what beer does with food and there's another direction you have to consider. Pairing really changes. So that's what I think, if you spend long enough going NA you begin to really understand NA. I think this may even happen more to most people who drink for taste and are on the more "beer snobby" end as myself. You're going after flavor and notes and feel-- not how blitzed you are 5 in so you're now super focused on that taste experience verse the drunk experience. You're going to find that thing still happens and it will happen in your own little world that maybe only a few others exist in because they've been in it long enough to be there. It doesn't make you better or worse or whatever. It just means it's your thing. Spend long enough doing something and it becomes a thing no matter what that thing is. So there is my little NA beer taste note elevator speech.

 

@digitalflood Funny enough, I was typing this out before work got busy, but I'm basically echoing some of what you're saying above. Glad you weighed in, albeit the wall of text is a touch tricky to read!

I think a big point for me is understanding why you're drinking an NA beer and what you're trying to get from it. Which is why there are so many different takes on the perceived quality of a given beer. I don't drink an na beer on a monday night and think that it's good but I would rather have a pale lager. Similarly, I don't drink Lapsang Souchong at lunch time and say I'd prefer Ardbeg 10. I love having athletic's stuff from the can while on the golf course for example, I can drink it quickly, it's refreshing, the carbs are great for a burst of energy and I don't feel foggy.

I also know that @beer_beer probably has the best experience with these because he doesn't consume the comparative. Maybe that's why folks go all in on this stuff during dry spells. NA beer tastes best when it's not being set against any established standard. I read a review for Guinness N/A not long ago that hearkened it would taste best alongside a pour of redbreast or something, that's completely beyond the intent of the product. That's like saying broccoli is tasty but it would arguably taste better alongside a mid rare ribeye.

It's worth finding what's most reliable for you and letting that kinda do what it does. And yeah, price is a factor, Guinness is pretty expensive unfortunately, so too is untitled arts. Folks always seem to set these brand new expectations on NA beer. You rarely see someone talk about the high carb count or calories of leaded beers, but it's always a consideration for NA beer. If you keep moving the yardstick it's highly unlikely anything will ever meet those ever-changing criteria.

The point I suppose is that you'll get exactly what you want from NA beers, whether that is to barely tolerate them or to love that they provide a given alternative or to just consume them quietly for exactly what they are.

There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking sure does make it so.

P.S I would indeed rather have a pale lager and ardbeg 10

 

Funny, have never had that sort of experience with any of the many German NA beers I have tried - quite the opposite

 

You can always ask your favorite bottle shop to bring them in - I do that quite often, and the manager / owner knows me, and he most always brings in a case (I only have to buy a 6er) - all they have to do is ask the appropriate distributor who carries said brew.....not a big deal actually....any decent shop that you frequent should be able to do the same....

 

I should try that. My favorite store is moving into larger quarters in a month or so, so more room will be available. And the asst. mgr. told me the last time I chatted with him that NA beers are almost flying off the shelf, so they should be receptive to recommendations for new ones if they're available in Michigan.

 

Man! I wish I knew about this last year, when my wife was pregnant with our third kid (first daughter!) I abstained from drinking as a show of support. I drank a lot of sparking water. But I would have been slaying this!

 

Very inspiring article! Personally I'm glad there are also good NA IPAs (and other ales) to get where I live. The time NA beer was just (not always optimal) lagers is luckily behind.

 

Using Citra hops is a big plus for me. However, the description of the hops being "dank" is a big minus (although a later description in the article sounded a bit different). But I'd try this beer just to see for myself. Sadly there's no opportunity to try this beer until I visit CA and OR in a few months. I'll be looking for it.

 

Do different States tax N/A beer the same as other beers? I'm only familiar with MD, where they add a surcharge on alcohol transactions but only charge the regular sales tax on N/A beers (although I have seen smaller retailers lump everything together and tax it at the higher rate).

 

I just looked at my receipt for my last purchase where food items, regular beers and NA beer were purchased, and 6% Michigan sales tax was added for both types of beer. I can only assume that the store knows what type of beer is subject to the tax.

 

Anxiously awaiting the Fremont NA in my neck of the woods. I find Untitled Art’s NA IPAs hang with full strength stuff, but they’re pricey and not local.

 

NY taxes it the same, at least on the retail end. (& I still have to show ID)

 

Should be zero alcohol tax, some logic

https://www.brewpublik.com/is-non-alcoholic-beer-taxable/?utm_content=cmp-true

Googled alcohol tax, apparently great differencies between states.