Best Non-Alcoholic Beer

Brewdog- Nanny State is 0.5%, and surprisingly good; it's probably hard to get and expensive stateside unfortunately.

 

I used to sell this one in a pub in London - not sure what it tasted like though:

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/32/84503

 

Even had you tried it, you still might not be sure.

 

Clausthaler and Buckler for sure. I quit drinking for some years and those were the only two that satisfied my craving for beer.

 

Was going to suggest the same thing, so +1 on the Malta Goya.

 

My favorite quote about NA, aka Near Beer, which I like to throw down whenever the topic appears:

"The man who called it near beer wasn't a very good judge of distance."---Mark Twain

 

Not sure what you are trying to say here...Thanks for backing up my post with historical and actual facts I suppose?

In the end it's still...well...it's beer...low abv or high abv....still beer. And actually, The US Federal government has their regulations and "classifications" of beer styles set up according to ABV for ales and lagers...If you look at some imported beers, they must change the abv when importing to the US in order to classify as an ale as apposed to a lager, because even though an ALE is top fermented at a warmer temp and LAGER is bottom fermented at a cooler temp, the US federal Government would rather "classify" certain brews as "malt beverage" or "lager" even though it may be TOP fermented and is indeed an ALE...SOOO...the breweries that import will sometimes end up being higher abv than their original brew, distributed overseas (depending on what country). This mainly pertains to europe, but also take into consideration that most European countries will calculate their alcohol by weight or ABW as apposed to our (US) alcohol by volume or ABV...many factors to consider.

 

You are confusing individual state regulations in the US (primarily and infamously Texas', which where recently changed*) with Federal TTB regulations. Check out the same link as above, The Beverage Alcohol Manual (BAM)
Chapter 4- all the ABV's specs for US's "Beer Classes & Types" are either "0.5% or more alcohol by volume" or, for non-alcoholic beer, "less than 0.5% alcohol by volume".

* Texas, which charges different excise tax rates for beer over 4% abw, once required such "mislabeling" because their TABC regulation states:

Because Texas is such a huge beer market in the US, many brewers and importers over the years choose to print "one size fits all" labels, rather than have separate labels for that state.

A court decision recently ended that label requirement -
TABC Issues Interim Guidelines After Jester King Verdict
...but it will probably take a while for those "Ale (Malt liquor) in Texas" labels to disappear from the market.

 

Gerstel has always been a favorite near beer of mine. It's my no guilt beer that I drink in the am or before work.

 

Yea, I get that...everything varies from state to state, not just import laws. What I am saying is that the importers must change their abv in order to export their beer to the United states entirely, and or way they brew the beer in order to import it as an ale, or lager depending upon the abv... Buy a beer in London, England that is classified as a porter...a dark "ale" that is top fermented...it clocks in at 4.4% abv...in america it will now be considered a malt beverage OR they will raise the abv to 5% to import and still be considered an ale, due to the fact that the US considers anything over 5% an ale and anything under a lager/malt beverage...

 

What the.....
Never had one and never will!! I do not want a mangina to start forming!!! LOL

 

If you truly want a beer with no alcohol at all, go with this offering from San Miguel:



It has less than 0.0 wt.% alcohol (interesting fact, there is less alcohol in this beer than a can of Coke). Considering that it goes through a distillation column, it tastes quite decent for an AL (actually get a satisfying malt/hops combo). Good luck finding it, I do know that San Miguel does have some US distribution as I have seen it on shelves in Chicago.

 

I believe it's the opposite--US has traditionally been the place that used ABW but the practice has been abandoned as things have become more standardized. Some laws referring to ABW are still on the books in some US states (Texas?) but you're not likely to see it on the label.

 

Clausthaler and Clausthaler Amber

 

You are correct - US was ABW, Europe was ABV. This is the reason why many people mistakenly believe that German beer has higher alcohol content.

 

I understand that pretty much everyone here is a die-hard "regular" beer fan. I see a lot of comments like "Haven't tried it and never would" or that drinking N/A beer would sprout a mangina. I'd guess that you'd be amazed at how many people actually drink N/A for whatever reason. And it is an unfortunate fact that not too many breweries even give N/A a thought.

I voluntarily quit drinking 2+ years ago. Alcoholism runs strong in my family and has already killed one relative and nearly two others. I decided to cut it off before it became a problem for me.

I used to be hardcore into wine. Pinot Noir was a favorite. After I quit drinking, I looked for N/A wines to try and calm the cravings. N/A wine sucks worse that Sharps or O'Douls! I don't know why it's impossible for anyone to create a halfway decent N/A wine, but they just don't exist. So, I looked to N/A beer. Back in my drinking days, I used to enjoy the occasional beer, but wasn't that big into it, preferring wine instead. However, the beer industry actually has a few halfway decent N/A beers. I just wish someone would put a little effort into making even better N/As. Just because there are those of us who either don't want to drink alcohol or cannot drink alcohol for whatever reason, does not mean we do not enjoy the taste of a good beer. I have often considered trying my hand at brewing my own N/A beer and starting a craft N/A beer niche market.

With all that said, of the small handful of N/As that I have been able to find, there are a few that aren't too bad, and one or two that are pretty decent. I prefer Clausthaler, not because it is the best N/A, but mainly because it is the one decent N/A I can almost always find. St. Pauli N/A is pretty good, too. Becks N/A is hit or miss. Most of the time when I buy it at the store and drink it at home, it has a bit of a skunky smell and taste to it. However, just yesterday I was at Navy Pier in Chicago. There was one vendor that had N/A beer and it was Becks. They had it in bottles and poured it into a plastic cup. For whatever reason, it actually tasted pretty darn good. Better than any of the Becks I had ever had. I don't know if they just had fresher bottles, or if it was the plastic cup, or it it was simply because I was walking around Navy Pier on a beautiful day enjoying a cold one. Tonight, I found a new N/A that I have never seen before. It was labeled a new import at Binny's Beverage Depot. It is called Krombacher Weizen. I'm just waiting for it to chill a bit before I crack it open. If anyone is actually interested in N/A beer (someone must have been to start this thread), I'll be happy to report back with my opinion.

Worst N/As in my opinion are Sharps and O'Douls. They basically taste like beer-flavored water; WEAKLY beer-flavored water. When I'm out at a restaurant and ask if they have N/A, if they offer Sharps or O'Douls, I simply go with a Diet Coke. I can't stand them. Now, Sharps Amber is slightly better, and I will accept that in a pinch. I don't really care for Kaliber by Guiness. I know others have cited it as one of the better N/As, but to me it tastes like an N/A beer that they went and added a lot of carmel flavoring (or is that malt flavoring) to it. Something just tastes artificial to it (and I don't just mean fake beer).

Anyway, if anyone has any real recommendations for N/A beer (other than drink Goya), I would appreciate the input. And for those that responded negatively about N/A beers (especially the mangina comment), try to be respectful. Someone started a thread specifically about best N/A beers and asked for suggestions on others to try. If you don't have anything positive or pertinent to add to the thread, just don't add anything. If you don't or never would drink N/A beer, why even post a comment, especially if it is negative and/or borderline offensive? You simply come off as immature and trollish.

 

Einbecker is pretty good. Clausthaler Premium, too. I'm not crazy about Clausthaler Amber (and watch out for skunking from green bottles for both). But Einbecker is what most good places here in NYC tend to carry.

 

I'm trying to remember if I've had Einbecker or not. It's possible. Sometimes I can't put the names with the packaging offhand. Next time I'm at my local beverage depot, I'll look for it. Once I see the packaging, I'm pretty sure I'll remember if I've had it. Unfortunately, that doesn't necessarily mean I'll remember if I liked it or not. Of course, that's just an excuse to try it again!

Yeah, I'm not too big on the Clausthaler Amber either. Much prefer the original. I finally tried the new Krombacher Weizen I got tonight. My first impression? It's okay. Mostly a positive opinion. However, much like a rich cheesecake, I couldn't have too much of it in one sitting. It is very hoppy and has a sweet, spicy flavor. The most dominant flavor is banana. I had read this in some reviews, and they were right. It definitely has a very strong banana flavor to it. With the other spice notes combined with the banana, the overall flavor actually reminds me of Juicy Fruit chewing gum. So, it was a good tasting beer, but to sweet and fruity for me to consume in large quantities.

 

Isn't that kind of like asking "what's the best non-meat burger?"
But seriously, I haven't actually tried any besides Malta Goya. Back then I wasn't into beer, tried it because I had a "weird soda" phase. It tasted weird.

 

I thought Beck's was good out of all the NA's I tried when my wife was pregnant. There was a lot of hype over Clausthauler (as much "hype" as you can get over an NA) but it was hard to find, kind of expensive, and still tasted like an NA to me, anyway. I actually heard the Paulaner one was good, but I never found it.

I suggest finding a low alcohol real beer and drinking that. I felt like I was just drinking cokes or something with the NA's, and I don't drink no cokes.