Non-Alcoholic Craft Beer: Yea or Nay?

Nay to the concept. I look to craft beer for more, not less.

 

Hell nay

 

It's not for me, but I guess there must be a market for it?

I'm an avid cyclist, and many long group rides and/or more casual races are celebrated with beers after, but the folks I know who don't drink have never expressed a desire to have an NA beer instead of standard soft drinks.

 

Must admit I have yet to try one of these of any kind, old school like O'Douls, nor any new attempts like Athletic in link above

For those here who drink them: Do the brewers try to replace the taste of alcohol by using other flavors that taste similar? Do they try to cover up the lack of alcohol taste somehow? How close to actual beer taste do they achieve?

 

Nay. Alcohol is an integral part of the process and the experience. That said, O'Doul's Amber is a pretty good medium for boiling bratwurst.

 

Yay. I actually like them. Not as a beer substitute, but as something else entirely. They're a bit like drinking a Grape Nuts soda with hops tossed in. Very sweet and the hops almost have a dry hopped note to them.
They scratch a little bit of the beer itch (especially if I'm driving), though.
Never actually had O'Doul's or one of the ones from Miller Coors, but I've enjoyed the German ones I've had.

 

Nay

 

As a retailer, I say Yes! My NA sales overall have been trending up mostly due to older drinkers who are switching to NA for health reasons, but there are younger drinkers who are buying it as well. BTW @NeroFiddled , you can add Schmohz 120 to the list.

 

Hard pass for me. When I crave a beer I want a beer. I assume for some they would enjoy this so that is cool, if there is a market go for it. Just not my thing.

 

If the taste is the same then that’d be a yay for me. They could have a place for me....if I’m somewhere I had to drive far too, have to wake up early the next morning, etc

 

Nay. When I got off the sauce for eight years to get my life in order, I tried O'Doul's out of curiosity and found it unsatisfying and irritating.

 

If there's a market for it...go for it, I guess.

Personally I have no interest. If I want beer, I'll have beer. If I want something w/o alcohol, I'll just have lemonade or fizzy water or something like that.

edit - I do think the momentary boomlet in NA beers is nothing more than a momentary thing, and is being swept along by the hard-sparking water/hard kombucha trend. People are just looking for something different...which I think also spells impending concerns for beers-that-don't-taste-like-beers, but that's a discussion for another thread.

 

Just have a seltzer for Shiva's sake.
But N/A beers taste like ass.
It's a placebo, nothing else.

 

I didn't care about NA beer, but then I got samples of Heineken 0.0 which does taste just like Heineken. I haven't bought any, but It's quite nice on a non-drinking day.

I guess that's a yae.

 

I've had an IPA from one of the producers in @NeroFiddled 's post. Just going with initial impressions, I would easily pick a Heineken 0.0 or the Lagunitas hop seltzer over it... and I'd easily pick a regular Heineken or cheaper seltzer respectively over those two. So NA "craft" is really low in the hierarchy so far.

 

Exactly, if I cannot drink or don't want to drink I am not reaching for a beer product I will just have a coffee or water, etc.

 

Even though I don't see myself getting them too often, I can see them serving a purpose. If the flavors improve, I can see going for one about as often as I would a Sanbitter (like if I had to drive or something. )

 

One thing that jumped at me with this thread is the discussion that was held in another thread about do people drink beer for the taste or for the effect. I argued in that thread that I drink for the taste and was bombarded with "that is just not accurate since its the effect we subconsciously seek".
With that said then how on earth is there a market for a product that tastes like beer but no effect? Seems like maybe people do drink for the taste otherwise would NA beer exist? Anyway just interesting since that thread was pretty heated and now this popped, seems like maybe that article/study sort of missed something after all.
Cheers