Category Archives: NA craft beer

not an expert, just a lifelong craft beer lover who is now obsessed with non-alcoholic craft beer, my pandemic/post-surgery “hobby.” using it as an excuse to learn more and write about beer and the industry.

last of the singles batch

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more NA beer reviews. i have finally finished the last of those singles that i bought at total wine.

no picture for the brooklyn brewery special effects because i drank it on mardi gras while freezing my ass off in full costume outdoors at a friend’s house and i just forgot. i thought it was pretty beer-like but I was quickly reminded that i don’t usually like their beer because it is hoppier than i prefer for a lager. but if you like their style of beer then you will probably like this. it seems to get really good reviews, but it’s just not really my jam. i drank it while eating gumbo and fried chicken, but i just probably wouldn’t buy it again.

the first picture here is of the moritz 0.0 which i had one day with my lunch of lentil soup. this spanish NA lager was very beer-like in every way, light and refreshing and a little malt forward. people keep comparing it to corona but i don’t really like corona and i actually really liked this. it’s not really my favorite style of beer but i think in the summer it would make for a great brew on a hot day. i would buy it again because it was solid.

the next picture is the partake brewing blonde. partake is canadian and known for their low calorie, low carb beers and this one certainly fits that description coming in at 15 calories! it was ok and i did drink it but i don’t think i’d buy it again. it was light but really thin and didn’t have a lot of flavor. i will still give their other beers a try though because they certainly have a following.

the last one is from suntory, all-free, from japan. i’ve read a lot of really great reviews of this brand but again i don’t think it’s my jam. it’s very light and crisp but there’s a weird aftertaste to this one that i can’t put my finger on but it’s not pleasurable. there’s definitely a hint of lemon/citrus here & it has the mouthfeel of a lighter beer, but there’s just not a lot of flavor here. i’m about halfway through the glass and i’m not sure i’m gonna finish it. but i’m glad i gave it a try.

beer talk

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i’ve had a lifelong love of beer, with craft beer being my alcohol of choice for most of my adult life. (in high school it was all mickey’s, bass ale and wine coolers; by college rolling rock and miller high life were my go-to beers. but i was lucky enough to move to new orleans post-college, where abita beer was already a thing. it was my first introduction to craft beer and their brews are still some of my favorites. i’ve probably drunk more abita amber than any other beer in my lifetime.)

in recent years, however, i started to notice my body REALLY not liking alcohol anymore. so i reduced the amount of beer i was drinking, usually no more than 1 or 2 at a time and only on the weekends, because of how awful it made me feel the next day. alcohol is very much a way of life here in new orleans, though, so it was still very much a part of my social life, even at a reduced amount. i just tried to get smarter about choosing lighter beers, drinking only with food, interspersing water with beers, and stopping at 2 in a night. but even with all that, it was still affecting me adversely.

about a month before my brain surgery (around september of last year), i stopped drinking alcohol entirely, wanting to go into surgery feeling as good as i possibly could. post surgery, i have not felt like i am ready yet to return to alcohol; i’m wanting to give my body and brain some more time to heal without the inflammation and toxicity that alcohol brings. i’ve dropped and kept off 10 pounds or so, and all my pants are loose, which feels good. given all that, around mid-november, ahead of the holiday season and some anticipated socially-distanced social gatherings, i began investigating non-alcoholic beer as a possible option.

much to my surprise, i’ve found a burgeoning and exciting NA craft beer scene taking root in the US. (NA beer has already been a much bigger thing in europe and other parts of the world, but as usual, the US lags behind.) i started sampling various brands and breweries, mostly ordering online because it’s so hard to find locally, and joined a few facebook groups dedicated to non-alcoholic beer appreciation as a way to learn more. i now find myself reading a lot of articles online and listening to several podcasts about NA beer and its makers. i’m a little obsessed!

so i am making a category here on this blog to easily catalog all my reviews of various NA brews and other thoughts on the trend/industry as it develops. not that i’m any kind of expert, just documenting mostly for myself what i’m learning – and if it can help anyone else, great! i am hopeful that the craft brewing scene here in new orleans will eventually catch on and some of our successful local breweries will take on the challenge of making delicious NA brews of their own.

bravus brewing – oatmeal stout and raspberry gose

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more NA beer reviews! these are the fourth and fifth beers from my singles purchase last week at total wine. yesterday i had the bravus brewing oatmeal stout and it was delicious! a little chocolate-y, a hint of coffee and lots of creamy dark goodness. maybe a little sweeter than i anticipated but it went down very smoothly. will definitely buy some of these the next time i see a six pack.

and then just now i decided to try their raspberry gose. this is not a style of beer that i generally like though i’ve had a couple that were ok. but i’d read some really good reviews of this one so i gave it a shot and was delightfully surprised that i actually really loved it. it doesn’t really taste like a beer and not at all like the goses i have had, but it’s a really delicious refreshing drink. the sweetness and tartness of raspberries is balanced very well here. it’s likely to be a favorite in the summer months or anytime i want something fruity, crisp and light.

so two thumbs up for bravus brewing here! now if i can just get my hands on their peanut butter stout which I’ve read nothing but good things about i will be a happy woman. hopefully my total wine in metairie will start stocking it soon. going to have to make friends with their beer manager to make some suggestions.

first batch of singles!

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well my tasting adventure with the nine new single NA beers that i got yesterday started off rather disappointingly last night. during my weekly friday night zoom happy hour i decided to randomly pick a few of my new stash to try.

first was the hairless dog black ale. i’ve seen a lot of bad reviews but i wanted to try it for myself because i’ll never learn what i like and what i don’t like if i don’t sample things. but apparently all those people who hated on this brew were right! this was gross and i think the wording i used while drinking it was “garbage water.” 😂 it had a really pungent overpowering foul smell that was not in anyway enticing and sadly the taste was not much better. i had a few sips and let it sit for a while, and then came back to it but it was still bad. i couldn’t drink it so i poured that one out. (80 calories, no yeast used, basically an unfermented wort, if i’m understanding the criticisms i’m reading about it.)

next i figured i would try the surreal brewing kolsch, thinking it would be a good palate cleanser. i had read some good reviews and the brewery definitely has its fans in the facebook groups i’m in. it has an interesting but strange nose to it, some kind of subtle fruit smell. it says honeydew melon on the can but i’m not sure that’s what i was smelling. it’s not offensive but a little weird. good mouthfeel, it felt like i had a real beer in my mouth, but sadly the taste was just sort of not there. like not much taste at all. i felt like i was drinking air. i ended up drinking that one and it was fine but i’m not sure i really want another. but i guess if you are a fan of really light beer, maybe you would like this. (17 calories!!! and there is yeast in this one though i’m not exactly sure of their process.)

after that one i was really hoping partake brewing’s stout would end my evening on a high note. wah-wah. this canadian brewery has a lot of fans in the groups i’m in and maybe i was just primed for disappointment but this one didn’t work for me either. thin and fairly flat in carbonation. wasn’t offensive but as the third attempt in the evening to have a satisfying brew, it just did not deliver what i was looking for. i don’t even remember now what the flavor profile was but it was enough to make me pour it out. i would maybe give this one another try another time but definitely without much expectation. this one has 30 calories and also does use yeast.

so it was an unsatisfying evening all around. three down, six to go. hopefully some of the others are better. but at least now i know!

singles at total wine!

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finding places locally that carry more than one or two kinds of NA beer is hard. a few weeks ago i made my first pilgrimage to total wine out in metairie and was delighted to see a pretty good selection of many of the beers i’ve been reading about. i bought a couple of six packs but i only ended up liking one of them sadly.

i decided to go back today hoping to see something new, and was pleasantly surprised to find many new beers and a new top shelf offering singles of every beer they sell! i walked out with nine different individual NA beers to try and i’m very excited! (and none of them cost more than $2.79 apiece, which is pretty cheap compared to the online shops that charge $3-$4 a piece plus then you still have to pay shipping.)

i will of course be reporting back about each and everyone of them. 😂 happy mardi gras weekend to me!

athletic brewing – pilot program: maple brown

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NA beer of the evening. i smell the maple more than i taste it, but this is still a smooth, slightly sweet, medium body brown ale that i enjoyed. goes down easily. would definitely drink again though not sure if i’d prioritize purchasing it again anytime soon, given that there’s still so many yummy NA beers to discover. but i appreciate NA brews for giving me access to this one via an athletic brewing sample pack. (i do still have a couple left, luckily.)

athletic brewing – pilot program: coffee porter

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this might be my favorite NA beer i’ve had yet! good coffee aroma and more subtle taste, more on the bitter end than sweet, which seems true to a real porter (as opposed to the sweetness of so many stouts). good mouthfeel, good body, not overly carbonated, smooth going down! really hope this becomes a regular release. athletic brewing really knows what they are doing with non alcoholic beer!

i got this from NA brews, who really win the prize in terms of packaging and shipping. each can was really well cushioned, no dents or spills, and it got here really fast!

penn’s best – non alcoholic malt beverage

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since i first decided to try NA beer, i joined a couple of facebook groups to learn more and see what beers people were drinking. this is where I learned about penn’s best. lots of folks seem to think it was good enough – basic beer to keep in the fridge for when you run out of the good stuff. and it cost only $2.99 for a six pack! so i figured, why not? might as well try it.

sadly, i think it’s pretty awful. too sweet, malty, and thin. and now i’m stuck with five of them! guess the price tag should’ve tipped me off to not have high expectations but so many people in my facebook groups like it that i thought it was worth giving it a shot. but i don’t like bud lite, busch, or PBR, so i guess it makes sense that i don’t like this. cross it off the list!

wellbeing brewing – intrepid traveler coffee cream brew

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tonight’s NA beer indulgence was this delicious coffee cream stout from wellbeing brewing. i drank a little bit so i’d know what it tasted like – my kinda stout, exactly as described, creamy, coffee-y, good mouthfeel – but then decided what i really wanted was dessert. so i turned it into an ice cream float, which was really delicious!

this was right before the spoon fell down into the glass, causing an eruption of foam which spilled out all over the place, wasting perfectly good beer and ice cream and making quite a mess! too bad the second one of these from the sample pack had a can defect and leaked in the packaging, making it not drinkable. (they did refund me for it, though.) will have to wait til i can procure a six pack to drink anymore. but i will definitely have this one again!

wellbeing brewing – victory citrus wheat + electrolytes

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my NA beer tasting from the sample pack from wellbeing brewing continues with this delightful wheat that’s billed as a “sports brew” due to some added electrolytes. but it’s DELICIOUS! light, crisp with a hint of orange. this one doesn’t quite have the mouthfeel that i’m usually looking for in a beer – it’s a bit thin. it’s kind of like if beer was a soda. something about the carbonation i can’t quite put my finger on. i can tell it’s not a real beer, but i don’t care! it hit the spot and scratches the itch that i feel when i want a beer. and it went great with my pasta dinner. i can see how this would be a great choice after a workout or playing sports. might come in handy this summer!Â