Planning Thread: NA Beer Tasting (Scheduled for Jan 14-16)

Bah. Gonna have my last Lakefront NA Stein Beer this afternoon and won't be in the neighborhood to get more before 1/14.

Might have to look for that Lagunitas.

 

Worth mentioning, Notch Brewing has a (or some?) NA options. Another local option for those in the Boston, MA area.

Having not been able to try any Notch beers, I'm curious how their NA beers are in general.

Thanks for opening this up, @elNopalero

 

I'm very much mentally with you here! Great timing with dry January and all.

 

I've had their Pils and New England IPA. I think anyone on here knows, I'm a HUGE Notch fanboy, it's my favorite brewery. Wasn't a huge fan of these, but loved their "Here Comes a Regular" Series (2-3% beers).

This is one tasting that could actually happen during the week because no one will be hungover!

 

Also worth mentioning, Two Roots and Barrel Brothers make some of the tastiest, most like leaded beer NA beers. If you are looking for low carb, NA try exploring Partake and One for the Road--both out of Canada. Thanks for getting this started.

 

I’m going to do some searching! Thanks to @elNopalero for leading this one!

 

I like to participate in these online tastings that are for beer styles/types that I generally do not buy. It is an opportunity for discovery.

However, to be completely honest, I'm struggling with this one. IDK, maybe it is memories of O'Doul's and Sharp's plus badly-done "session" IPAs.

If today's brewers are hit and miss to have a decent-tasting IPA in the 4.0-4.5% range, what can I expect in a sub 0.5% IPA? One of our MN brewers has a NA beer they actually name "Hop Water." Really. Doesn't sound inviting to me.

I'll probably break down and buy one or two, but this is not a category I want to stock up on.

My instinct says to stay away from hoppy "IPA" styles, but, honestly, IDK really.

What do you all recommend as the top 2 NA beers? Not brands or breweries, but specific widely available beers?

Do any MN breweries brew a decent NA beer?

 

I appreciate the offer, but I can buy UA beer locally.

Out of that sample pack, have you tried any of them before? I can get the Italian Pils and the Juicy here in 6 packs (and also the sample pack).

 

I had the Special Effects IPA from Brooklyn and didn't like it - I ended up drain pouring 3 of the 6 cans. Athletic on the other hand was quite good and I've bought that several times. I won't buy the Brooklyn one again though, just tasted weird. So far the Athletic is the best NA beer I've found around here. The UA looks like it has some potential.

 

Laginitas' Hop Water is damned good...for water . Never had their N/A beer tho. Come to think of it I've never had any N/A beers. Cheers guys..or not idk

 

If you can buy a single of fresh All Out ("Stout") by Athletic, that may be your best bet. Unfortunately, it may only be available in six packs in your area. Whole Foods does occasionally stock NA in the mix six / singles section, FYI.

Edit: if you can buy Untitled Art, I'd go that route. I hear their NA stuff is popular and noteworthy. I, myself, have yet to try any from them.

 

I feel the exact same way on this one but I plan to try and buy at least a single. Best part is it won’t dip into my alcohol limit each week/end, so I figure what could it hurt.

This is actually the one I was hoping to find, I saw they made a stout and for some reason I figured it would be able to retain more beer aspect than other NA styles. No basis for my guess, just a hunch.

 

I was going to suggest the stout from Athletic for @MNAle . It's the best N/A beer in my opinion for the reasons @jonphisher states.

I'll be totally honest, I've tried MANY others, and they mostly are very mediocre to flat out bad. The flat out bad one's taste like unfermented wort, and they're all thin (even the stout).

Well, the one thing that "hurts" is they all still have calories, albeit much lower than regular beer.

However, the caveat with the stout is that it is by far the most calorically dense out of Athletic's line, being 90 calories per can. That was a tough pill to swallow because I found myself thinking I could just have an Amstel Light at 95 calories (I actually don't mind this beer) and actually catch a buzz at 3.5% ABV.

Also...

Corona Premier is only 90 calories at 4%
Miller Lite at 95 calories and 4.2%
Mich Ultra 95 calories at 4.2%

...and so on and so forth.

I've found these aren't bad because they taste like hops, but also tea, for you tea fans out there. Plus, with the exception of the Chamomile one, they all have caffeine too.

https://hoplark.com/

 

Perspective is funny, and I'm not trying to be combative, but someone in the '21 NA thread expressed the thought that All Out was too thick. Experiences with NA seem to range quite widely. Not sure why.

 

As for two beers to set a bar high, my go to widely available NA IPA is Two Roots Straight Drank. It changed my mind about NA IPAs. Weihenstephaner NA is a near clone of their wheat beers. I also don't think you can go wrong with Wellbeing. I like their Victory Wheat as a post lawn work beer.

 

I have tried all of them. Of them the best is the Florida Weiss. Nice and juicy, semi-sour. It is the one I have ordered multiple times. All of the others are solid but I think other NA breweries make better versions of the styles. I think Untitled Art's best beer is their Chocolate Milk Stout.

 

Really? Like, compared to a regular stout (even a non imperial one)?

 

I can't speak to that, but I don't think there was intent to compare it with the leaded version. They just thought it was too thick.

 

Perhaps I need to find Weihenstephaner's NA. I have some Athletic lined up, but wouldn't mind tossing in an import to mix things up.

 

I totally 100% agree as I still drink the leaded stuff. I have had that conversation in my head a lot, especially when it comes to carb counting, which has hit a higher importance with me lately. That is what has lead me to Canadian brewers and Brew Dog. They are the breweries that I feel best capture low calorie/carb and still add flavor. One for the Road's No Regrets Marzen is a game changer for me. Tastes like a solid leaded marzen but 27 calories I believe--I think this is about half of what Athletic's--really tasty Octoberfest.

 

As you might guess, I'm in.
Need to push out beyond my usual safety zone (Untitled Art) and try a few others again.
Was not impressed by Wellbeing or Athletic stuff the first few tries, but I'm here, and I'll give it another shot.
Cheers to all of you on the Dryuary train or at least... trying.
Haven't totally cut it all out, but doing better.

 

The best that ive found so far is one that @SFACRKnight put me onto. Intentional IPA from Wellbeing is well balanced and compares with any 'average' IPA. I've had a 4-pack of them that is about 6 months old, so it isn't a one-and-done opinion. My last one was drunk over a period of about an hour or so and I noticed some sourness in the last few sips, so drinking it cold is probably the way to go. It should be easy to find.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/50986/457971/

 

Your comment here about All Out makes me wonder if there might be consistency issues with that one. That's the one that is called Extra Dark and is not stout-like at all to me. I thought it felt and tasted like roasted barley water. Inconsistency in brewing, or different taste perspectives? I don't know.

 

Should we not be using the term heavy vs leaded? My stomach turns at the thought of leaded beer.

 

I just found the nutritional info I was looking for on Lakefront's Riverwest Stein NA:
60 Calories & 12 grams carbs per 12 ounces. Total sugars zero.

Since this one tastes so good, I was afraid it was going to be carb & sugar heavy*.

(*leaden? )

 

@tigg924's comment about the Weihenstephaner NA Hefe got me thinking about perhaps maybe I might consider possibly (wishy-washy enough?) doing a side-by-side of the same / similar style beers NA vs regular from the same brewer (e.g. Untitled Art NA Chocolate Milk Stout & UA Mexican Chocolate Pot De Creme Imperial Stout).

Bad idea? Unfair to the NA versions?

 

I think it is fair. I have done that with Barrel Brothers before. They make NA and leaded versions of several of their beers, Dark Sarcasm and State Sponsored Juicing amongst them. As long as you don't expect the body to be the same, I found it fun to compare and find some of the flavor differences. I think I came out with a split on preferring the alcohol and sans alcohol versions. Dessert stouts in particular can be done really well by NA brewers--Untitled Art excels at this. My experiment certainly gave me an appreciation for the quality of some really well done NA beers.

 

I think it's fair, especially if the NA version comes out tasting pretty similar to its alcoholic partner. We need to know about NA beers like that.

 

I'm planning to do this (on my own, not for the tasting) with the Lakefront Riverwest Stein NA -- the story is that it's the same recipe as their standard Riverwest, only with the alcohol removed (I haven't learned their process).

Based on drinking thru a six of the NA, I think they've come very close to the original.

@PapaGoose03

 

I don't normally participate in these various tasting threads because I don't analyze tastes very precisely, but I've been getting more involved in trying NA beers so I'll be here for this one. I hope by posting here with my notes from the beers that I'm going to try it will help everyone discover good ones and consider bypassing ones that I don't like. It will be interesting to get different taste perspectives on the same beers, so just because I'm going to try certain ones doesn't mean that no one else should. I've already had multiple cans of 4 of these, so I've already decided which ones that I like and my notes will reflect that.

Here are the ones that I've accumulated for the tasting (5 IPAs and an Extra Dark):

 

Good on your @elNopalero for hosting this. Thank you @FBarber and @Harrison8 for helping to set this up.

Wish everyone the best. I may check in, but cave season starts on the 13th, which means from the 13th to the 22nd or so I will be underground for ~12 hours a day, and only getting a few hours of sleep each night. May not be on BA at all physically, but I will be here in spirit! Afterward, I intend to read through the thread as I normally do.

Goodluck everyone!