Non Alcoholic Beer

Clareboy

As a frequent visitor to Spain, I am always impressed by the widespread availability of non alcoholic beer. It can be found in supermarkets and bars and is available on draught in some places. It is great for drivers on a hot day when they can enjoy a cool beer without alcohol.

Here in Ireland, non alcoholic beer is not promoted and is not that widely available - I wonder why? Beer without alcohol would solve a lot of our social problem such as street violence, road accidents, and rural isolation.

BeerNut

Unfortunately it's just about impossible to make something that tastes like beer but is without alcohol. Kinda like a fat-free steak.

CantGetNoSleep

So would drinking 7 up

Our social problems are not caused by people drinking beers on a warm day, but by people choosing to drink excessive alcohol every night

JohnK

I'd agree with you on the social problems bit but I do think its could help with the road accidents if people had more of a choice.

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

So would drinking 7 up

Yes I agree thats an option, however I've personally found that drinks like 7up, Coke etc tend to lose their appeal after about two glasses, which I drink a lot quicker than 2 glasses of beer, as they're just too sweet and I feel like I've got furry teeth & tongue after it. Added to that, I've never found them to be particularly good thirst quenchers so not very appealing on a hot day to begin with.

Now if you take away those options (ie, beer & softdrinks) whats left? Tea, coffee and maybe orange juice. I'd almost put orange (or any fruit) juice in the same category as the softdrinks as I wouldnt drink a whole lot of it and if its a hot day then I certainly dont want a hot drink so options are quite limited as it boils do to either something alcoholic, sickly sweet or hot. And yes I know theres always the option of water but frankly thats bland and boring. At least a non-alcoholic beer would give a bit of flavour thats not sweet, hot or prevents you from driving.

Now I should add that I dont think I've ever tasted a non-alcoholic beer so they might just taste like arse but I think it'd be good to give people the choice.

Edited to add: While I think of it, I have noticed in Dunnes Stores today that they had a section with 6 different non-alcoholic beers and a non-alcoholic wine all next to each other so maybe things are changing a bit?

Clareboy

BeerNut wrote: »

Unfortunately it's just about impossible to make something that tastes like beer but is without alcohol. Kinda like a fat-free steak.

Speaking as a beer drinker, there is absolutely no difference in taste between regular beer and non alcoholic beer.

BeerNut

Speaking also as a beer drinker, I beg to differ. Here's my take on the ones I've tried recently, all of them far sweeter than their alcoholic counterparts. Which brands have you found closest?

Bigcheeze

BeerNut wrote: »

Speaking also as a beer drinker, I beg to differ. Here's my take on the ones I've tried recently, all of them far sweeter than their alcoholic counterparts. Which brands have you found closest?

They certainly are sweeter. I find that a slice of lemon helps to cut the sweetness and make the non alcoholic wheat beers more palatable.

loyatemu

Erdinger is the best of the NA options by far IMO. I would like to see a better range of NA beers in pubs and more reasonable prices (seeing as there is no duty on NA beers, but you could make the same point about the crazy prices for soft drinks in pubs).

I don't agree though that better availability of NA beers in pubs would have any major affect on Ireland's alcohol problems - people do drink beer for the alcohol, NA beer no matter how good it tastes is not the same thing.

ChattyChick

Thankfully things here Ireland have improved a whole lot in the last eight and a half years.

When I stopped drinking in 2002 there was very little on the market for someone who needed to stay on the dry but really didn't have a sweet tooth. I just couldn't stomach the usual soft drinks on a night out. All that sugar made me feel way more sick than my usual benders! Besides, I loved the taste of beer, especially an ice cold one on a summers day.

When I went to Spain that year I was totally overwhelmed by what was available and absurdly grateful that nobody there made me feel like a weirdo for not wanting to drink alcohol. At the time here in Ireland, saying I didn't drink was akin to saying I was some sort of sexual deviant!

Each year things get better. There is a much wider selection of non-alcoholic beers available (though the wines are AWFUL!) and either people are less concerned about someone who doesn't drink or else I'm older and wiser and less inclined to care. Now and then someone will as me what's "wrong" with me or try to get to have one "just this once" but as a nation, we seemed to have copped on to the fact that not everyone can be a social drinker. Some of us can't stop if we start so we decide not to start in the first place.

Technocentral

Clareboy wrote: »

rural isolation.

Never heard anyone blaming beer on that before! Surely poor roads, public transport and neighbors are the cause of that? Also beer without alcohol is pointless it tastes completely different (horrible and sweet with no bite), beer is one of the few affordable pleasures if your not into it fair enough but this is the beer, wine & spirits board not the teetotalers (dread word) board.

BeerNut

I agree with all your points and will happily subscribe to your newsletter, but...

Technocentral wrote: »

this is the beer, wine & spirits board

Non-alcoholic beer is still beer. Deal with it.

(Pro-tip: I find alcohol offers an excellent coping mechanism.)

Technocentral

BeerNut wrote: »

I agree with all your points and will happily subscribe to your newsletter, but...
Non-alcoholic beer is still beer. Deal with it.

(Pro-tip: I find alcohol offers an excellent coping mechanism.)

I suppose it could be considered to be beer in the same way that easi singles come under the cheese heading and pot noodles are considered to be food, but no self respecting beer lover I know would touch them with a barge pole.

the beer revolu

Technocentral wrote: »

I suppose it could be considered to be beer in the same way that easi singles come under the cheese heading and pot noodles are considered to be food, but no self respecting beer lover I know would touch them with a barge pole.

When off the drink and faced with sugary drinks (out of fizzy water), I chose the odd NA beer (Weihenstephaner).
I love beer.
I do not possess a barge pole.
I respect myself.

Not sure it will cure rural isolation either and, no, it does not taste like beer with alcohol in.

Berty

Becks Non Alcoholic is truly a beer as it is a de-alcoholised product(originally alcoholic) whereas the more mainsteam N/As like Erdinger, Budvar, Krombacher and Paulaner are created as a non alcoholic product.

Personally I would rather, for the sake of annoying people of the world, have a "fake" beer rather than a mineral/soft drink. It lasts longer, tastes better and in the case of Erdinger its actually Isotonic.

Bigcheeze

Berty wrote: »

Becks Non Alcoholic is truly a beer as it is a de-alcoholised product(originally alcoholic) whereas the more mainsteam N/As like Erdinger, Budvar, Krombacher and Paulaner are created as a non alcoholic product.

Personally I would rather, for the sake of annoying people of the world, have a "fake" beer rather than a mineral/soft drink. It lasts longer, tastes better and in the case of Erdinger its actually Isotonic.

Source? I'd have thought they all start with alcohol in them.

Berty

Bigcheeze wrote: »

Source? I'd have thought they all start with alcohol in them.

Noreast Beers is the source.

http://www.noreast.ie

It might be worth adding that Erdinger Non Alcoholic has a small bit of Alcohol but you'd have to drink a LOT of it before you would be any way on or over any drink driving limit.

BeerNut

Berty wrote: »

Noreast Beers is the source.

I think he means "Why do you think Erdinger N/A is not fermented before being de-alcoholised?"

the beer revolu

Berty wrote: »

Noreast Beers is the source.

http://www.noreast.ie

Could you be a bit more specific, please?

The Hill Billy

Maybe the information quoted appears on the website somewhere. No big deal really. It's not as if 'real' beers were being discussed.

Berty

BeerNut wrote: »

I think he means "Why do you think Erdinger N/A is not fermented before being de-alcoholised?"

the beer revolu wrote: »

Could you be a bit more specific, please?

I never said It was not fermented. I meant that Erdinger, Krombacher, Paulaner and Budvar are non alcoholic beer designed as a completely separate production whereas the make up of Becks is basically the same process but not fermented as much as the alcoholic version.

I used the link to Noreast as a matter of ease because there are tasting notes there and also you can find links to the Brewery websites to the products I mentioned.(except the ones Noreast doesn't do).

Bigcheeze

Berty wrote: »

I never said It was not fermented. I meant that Erdinger, Krombacher, Paulaner and Budvar are non alcoholic beer designed as a completely separate production whereas the make up of Becks is basically the same process but not fermented as much as the alcoholic version.

I used the link to Noreast as a matter of ease because there are tasting notes there and also you can find links to the Brewery websites to the products I mentioned.(except the ones Noreast doesn't do).

I've read that twice and I've no idea what you're trying to say.

alexer

Hi,
I think there is really no such thing as beer which is completely free of alcohol and the so-called non-alcoholic beers can be problem for those trying to abstain from drinking.

BeerNut

alexer wrote: »

Hi,
I think there is really no such thing as beer which is completely free of alcohol and the so-called non-alcoholic beers can be problem for those trying to abstain from drinking.

And yet a piece of ripe fruit will often have a higher % ABV than a non-alcoholic beer. It's the psychological effect of drinking "beer" that would be the problem, not the tiny amount of ethanol in it.

donaghs

BeerNut wrote: »

Unfortunately it's just about impossible to make something that tastes like beer but is without alcohol. Kinda like a fat-free steak.

As a regular beer drinker, I cant help but notice that I find some non-alcoholic beers (e.g. weihenstephaner & maisels weisse) actually taste nicer than some of the commonly found mass-produced lagers!

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

So would drinking 7 up

Our social problems are not caused by people drinking beers on a warm day, but by people choosing to drink excessive alcohol every night

I agree, but also think more availability and cheaper non-alcoholic beer would help. I find that you can't drink soft-drinks all night, but its easier to sip on a non-alcoholic beer. Sometimes you just have to meet people in a pub to stay in touch, and have to drive for some other reason too.

Krusty_Clown

BeerNut wrote: »

And yet a piece of ripe fruit will often have a higher % ABV than a non-alcoholic beer. It's the psychological effect of drinking "beer" that would be the problem, not the tiny amount of ethanol in it.

I believe your common variety fruit juice also has higher (naturally ocurring) alcohol levels than some NA 'beers'. I love beer. However, I usually give up all forms of alcohol for 4-6 weeks before a running race, and on these occasions, the NA beers are my luxury tipple of choice. I like Erdinger NA and it as the added advantage that I can still go for a run after a couple of pints of it in the pub. I prefer Paulander, but it is difficult to get the NA version outside of the supermarkets.

They are comparable in terms of cost to their alcohol-based counterparts. While I understand that the manufacturing process may be as costly (if not more so) than their tastier alternatives, but shouldn't they be eligible for a lower rates of excise duties? Apologies if this has already been discussed.

the beer revolu

donaghs wrote: »

As a regular beer drinker, I cant help but notice that I find some non-alcoholic beers (e.g. weihenstephaner & maisels weisse) actually taste nicer than some of the commonly found mass-produced lagers!

Hardly surprising really, any fresh ground decaff will probably taste better than caffeinated instant but it's not going to taste the same as good fresh ground 'proper coffee'.

donaghs wrote: »

I agree, but also think more availability and cheaper non-alcoholic beer would help. I find that you can't drink soft-drinks all night, but its easier to sip on a non-alcoholic beer. Sometimes you just have to meet people in a pub to stay in touch, and have to drive for some other reason too.

To be fair, while there may be many people - particularly in rural areas - who have a few pints and drive home who might* drink low/no alcohol versions of beer if good ones were available, I do not believe for a second that low/no alcohol beers would have any affect whatsoever on the beautiful people of our country who drink themselves into oblivion, get into fights, wreak criminal damage, injure themselves and pish and vomit in doorways. Maybe we should bring out a range of alcohol free shots and alco pops - oh hang on we have them already in the form of fizzy drinks and cordials and they don't seem to help much. More would be achieved in this regard by banning the sale of Red Bull and its ilk where alcohol is served (if not altogether).

*considering how hard it is to get the mainstream drinker to even change brand of beer, it's not going to be easy to get them to change to N/A versions.

BeerNut

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

shouldn't they be eligible for a lower rates of excise duties?

There is no excise duty payable on them. I don't know how the price is justified, especially in off-sales.

grauver

becks small bottles erdinger 33 ml and pauloner 50 ml only seem available
no cans at all drinks industry here are powerfull are they blocking giants like tesco and dunnes from selling non alc cans?

kevohmsford

The main thing with most non-alcoholic beer is that they are are alcohol removed. Erdinger in still about 0.7% alcohol content.
The nicest one I have tried is the Bavaria 0%.

loyatemu

grauver wrote: »

becks small bottles erdinger 33 ml and pauloner 50 ml only seem available
no cans at all drinks industry here are powerfull are they blocking giants like tesco and dunnes from selling non alc cans?

I'd say its a less sinister reason:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Din6TkbvN8

Berty

kevohmsford wrote: »

The nicest one I have tried is the Bavaria 0%.

I dare you to try Krombacher N/A. I think it is the nicest one I have tried so far. I thought Paulaner was a bit of meh, Erdinger is better but just ok(even though I sell it) but Krombacher is the best one for me.

Bavaria although nice sets off the beer snob alert in me.