Fav Alcohol Free Beer?

BeerNut · 16-01-2021 1:10am

KP81 wrote: »

tastes good

"tastes the same" is how that old joke goes.

bunny_ · 16-01-2021 1:14am

I don't really see any sense in free alcohol beer huh

16-01-2021 1:19am

banchang wrote: »

Anyone know when Guinness 0.0 will be back on shelves ?

Guinness website simply says :

We are working hard to return Guinness 0.0 to shelves as soon as possible. Production will only recommence when we are completely satisfied that we have eliminated the root cause of the issue and the product meets the highest standards of quality that we and our Guinness drinkers expect.

They still don't know what caused the contamination issue before. Also they are waiting until the public forget about the contamination issue! It's going to be a few more months before its relaunched.

Prefect_1998 · 16-01-2021 1:20am

This stuff is not bad.

Tastes like wattery ipa

Cloudio9 · 16-01-2021 1:32pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

They still don't know what caused the contamination issue before. Also they are waiting until the public forget about the contamination issue! It's going to be a few more months before its relaunched.

I doubt that much of the public are aware that the product even exists. It never made it to the shelves in ireland was never marketed beyond some media previews and was released to limited areas in England.

I don’t believe that they don’t know what the cause of contamination is and suspect the re-release will be driven by an updated marketing plan.

16-01-2021 11:38pm

Cloudio9 wrote: »

I doubt that much of the public are aware that the product even exists. It never made it to the shelves in ireland was never marketed beyond some media previews and was released to limited areas in England.

I don’t believe that they don’t know what the cause of contamination is and suspect the re-release will be driven by an updated marketing plan.

What I originally posted is pretty much what I was told by our Diageo rep. The public are very much aware of it. We get asked about it in work every few days.

bluestone · 18-01-2021 2:25am

Had franziskaner n/a last night, preferred it to erdinger

L1011 · 18-01-2021 8:39am

There's a new product called SoBeer being advertised on YouTube. I was given some by someone who got a promo pack.

The "lager" actually tastes of nothing, may as well be water. The one they imply should taste like a NEIPA tastes like fruit cordial.

Avoid

Macy0161 · 18-01-2021 12:04pm

L1011 wrote: »

I've only ever seen it on draught in one conventional pub - Pebble Beach in Clontarf which is beside two golf clubs.

Well it was in a conventional pub (albeit with a kitchen, but mainly a local) that did a fair bit of day tripper trade. Now I think of it, I don't know did the main food pubs have it.

The problem up here, pre-covid, is that stuff that sells with the tourist/ day tripper trade doesn't during the week. (Off topic, hence it is hard for WW to get any kind of foothold in the "locals" pubs. It only survives/ survived in the tourist trap/ more restaurant than pub places).

Cloudio9 · 18-01-2021 5:07pm

bluestone wrote: »

Had franziskaner n/a last night, preferred it to erdinger

I'd agree it's better than Erdinger, although standard Erdinger is a bad, tasteless example of a Hefeweizen so no surprise.

Prefect_1998 · 23-01-2021 12:51pm

Birra moretti zero was on special in super value last night so tried it.

Best tasting zero beer so far !! Had peroni after it and was such a bad drop in taste

I think I have tried 10 brands and moretti is top.

Pen Rua · 26-01-2021 9:57am

L1011 wrote: »

There's a new product called SoBeer being advertised on YouTube. I was given some by someone who got a promo pack.

The "lager" actually tastes of nothing, may as well be water. The one they imply should taste like a NEIPA tastes like fruit cordial.

Avoid

For anyone wanting to still try it... from the Freebies List thread:

Curb Your Enthusiasm wrote: »

Free 4 pack Mude drinks

https://eu.thenakedcollective.com/blogs/news/freeproduct?utm_source=social&utm_medium=couponmudead&utm_campaign=coupons&fbclid=PAAaaL-2MvJ_SktB97T-vRtwj6ArhyVvavyVsfT9pLAB90IEiAavl2DvRLE24

At the bottom there is a coupon for the So.Beer

ActingDanClark · 26-01-2021 10:04am

bluestone wrote: »

Had franziskaner n/a last night, preferred it to erdinger

Where did you get that? Love franziskaner!

Cloudio9 · 26-01-2021 11:13am

ActingDanClark wrote: »

Where did you get that? Love franziskaner!

I got it in Dunnes.

RunningFlyer · 26-01-2021 11:27am

My local Tesco has been stocking Free Damm 0.0 for the last few months - from the crowd of Estrella Damm. I find it one of the nicer tasting NA lagers and one of the cheapest (€3.60 or thereabouts for 4 cans).

The Spanish were always a bit ahead on the NA front from what I recall as a lot of their big name breweries had NA versions before Heineken came along and popularity soared - San Miguel and Estrella Galicia NA also nice.

Didn’t enjoy Nanny State at all, Punk AF was decent from Brewdog.

I had Peroni and Moretti last summer and found them too citrusy, but I just had both again over the weekend and really enjoyed them this time round (maybe Dry Jan altering my taste!).

Looking forward for Guinness 0.0 to come out to try though..!

banana_bear · 26-01-2021 11:34am

Does anyone have any experience with buying alcohol free beer outside of the "permitted alcohol sale hours" these days? I mean after the recent legislation changes?

I usually go and do the weekly shopping first thing in the morning and I'd scoop up a few of the recommendations from this thread next time I go, but up until recently you couldn't buy alcohol free beer before 10:30 on week days.

Markcheese · 26-01-2021 11:44am

I had the brooklyn lager n/a a few months back , really good ,

Macy0161 · 26-01-2021 11:59am

banana_bear wrote: »

Does anyone have any experience with buying alcohol free beer outside of the "permitted alcohol sale hours" these days? I mean after the recent legislation changes?

I usually go and do the weekly shopping first thing in the morning and I'd scoop up a few of the recommendations from this thread next time I go, but up until recently you couldn't buy alcohol free beer before 10:30 on week days.

I'd try and see? I've been in when people have been at 10.25 trying to buy wine, and they just say no, no big deal (bar they have to loop around for just the wine).

fwiw in my local Dunnes and Tesco, the N/A is outside the gated alcohol section. In Aldi and Lidl, N/A is with the alcoholic beer, so I'm not sure you'd even get to it?

senordingdong · 26-01-2021 1:53pm

I wonder if alot of n/a beer being 0.5% would counter that though.

BeerNut · 26-01-2021 2:04pm

senordingdong wrote: »

I wonder if alot of n/a beer being 0.5% would counter that though.

A drink at 0.5% ABV is non-intoxicating, so the laws around intoxicating liquor would not apply. I think supermarket systems have always treated non-alcoholic beers the same as alcoholic ones (eg age checks and time restrictions) because so many of them have the same branding as alcoholic versions. A bunch of kids walking out with a try of non-alcoholic Heineken would be a bad look, even if it's perfectly legal.

L1011 · 26-01-2021 7:51pm

Irrelevantly but interestingly, at least to me, for advertising time restrictions NA beers with brand names of normal alcohol beers are treated as if they are the normal alcohol product. But that's a completely unconnected regulation.

banana_bear · 30-01-2021 10:53am

banana_bear wrote: »

Does anyone have any experience with buying alcohol free beer outside of the "permitted alcohol sale hours" these days? I mean after the recent legislation changes?

I usually go and do the weekly shopping first thing in the morning and I'd scoop up a few of the recommendations from this thread next time I go, but up until recently you couldn't buy alcohol free beer before 10:30 on week days.

To answer my own question: I just went to Tesco Wicklow, where the alcohol free beer is seperate and outside of the alcohol section (which is fenced off with saloon doors). I put three 4packs of completely alcohol free (0.0) beer in the trolley, none of them would scan. The cashier apologized and even tried to input the barcodes manually, which was nice of her but unsurprisingly fruitless.

I wrote Tesco a mail, not expecting much though to be honest. At best there will be a reply along the lines of "you can't because it's our policy".

Apart from the fact that this means I can either not buy any alcohol free beer at all, or go shopping after 10:30 when the shops are full with people, it's the idiocy of this that frustrates me the most. I can buy a can of coke (with sugar! OMG!) at 8am, but I can't buy a can of cereal soup because it has the word "beer" on it.

Antares35 · 30-01-2021 4:49pm

banana_bear wrote: »

To answer my own question: I just went to Tesco Wicklow, where the alcohol free beer is seperate and outside of the alcohol section (which is fenced off with saloon doors). I put three 4packs of completely alcohol free (0.0) beer in the trolley, none of them would scan. The cashier apologized and even tried to input the barcodes manually, which was nice of her but unsurprisingly fruitless.

I wrote Tesco a mail, not expecting much though to be honest. At best there will be a reply along the lines of "you can't because it's our policy".

Apart from the fact that this means I can either not buy any alcohol free beer at all, or go shopping after 10:30 when the shops are full with people, it's the idiocy of this that frustrates me the most. I can buy a can of coke (with sugar! OMG!) at 8am, but I can't buy a can of cereal soup because it has the word "beer" on it.

That's really annoying. I noticed when I was doing my shopping online if I put Heineken zero in the basket and my delivery slot was outside the trading hours for alcohol, it would be flagged that they couldn't deliver it. Very bad form to be discouraging it.

elperello · 30-01-2021 7:39pm

Antares35 wrote: »

That's really annoying. I noticed when I was doing my shopping online if I put Heineken zero in the basket and my delivery slot was outside the trading hours for alcohol, it would be flagged that they couldn't deliver it. Very bad form to be discouraging it.

It's beyond stupid but not the worst I've seen.

I was in a pub in the UK a couple of years ago just before Christmas and there was a note on the menu that they would not serve Christmas pudding to under 18s because there was alcohol in the recipe.

Beechwoodspark · 30-01-2021 7:48pm

Anyone know why Guinness zero still hasn’t come on the market?

30-01-2021 8:58pm

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Anyone know why Guinness zero still hasn’t come on the market?

Because they still don't know what caused the contamination issue that meant they couldn't launch it first time around. It will be a few months at least before it is released. This is according to the Diageo rep I deal with at work.

Beechwoodspark · 31-01-2021 6:25pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Because they still don't know what caused the contamination issue that meant they couldn't launch it first time around. It will be a few months at least before it is released. This is according to the Diageo rep I deal with at work.

Thanks. I see there’s talk of a budvar non alcoholic too. That has potential.

flanzer · 01-02-2021 9:21am

Was drinking Aldi's Early Start over the weekend, for the first time. Even if it was full on 5%/6% IPA, I would still say it was lovely. Proper IPA scent off it, and has a taste that lingers in the mouth, longer than any other NA beers I know of.

And at €1.69 for a 500ml bottle :eek: .. Just might be my go to beer now, irrespective of the alcohol content

dzilla · 04-02-2021 11:54am

flanzer wrote: »

Was drinking Aldi's Early Start over the weekend, for the first time. Even if it was full on 5%/6% IPA, I would still say it was lovely. Proper IPA scent off it, and has a taste that lingers in the mouth, longer than any other NA beers I know of.

And at €1.69 for a 500ml bottle :eek: .. Just might be my go to beer now, irrespective of the alcohol content

This and Gerstel have been a game changer for me this year. I was so long looking for a non alcoholic that gave the heaviness and mouth feel of real beer without the aftertaste of a non alcoholic (hard to describe, kind of like a lingering wort taste you get from bad homebrew) and these really do it for me.

Aglomerado · 04-02-2021 7:31pm

flanzer wrote: »

Was drinking Aldi's Early Start over the weekend, for the first time. Even if it was full on 5%/6% IPA, I would still say it was lovely. Proper IPA scent off it, and has a taste that lingers in the mouth, longer than any other NA beers I know of.

And at €1.69 for a 500ml bottle :eek: .. Just might be my go to beer now, irrespective of the alcohol content

Enjoying one right now, it's a great drink at a great price.

Thelonious Monk · 05-02-2021 12:35am

Yes, from the last few weeks of research and trying all sorts of non alcs (I don't even bother with 0.0 alcohol ones as they're all manky), the Aldi IPA 0.5 and the Brown Bear Lager 0.5 overall are the best ones flavour and pricewise.
About to crack one myself.
I have to say the non alc beers have been so good for me since New Year's. I was in the habit of having a couple of real beers most nights and it all adds up, now I've only drank once since NYE. I'm gonna have a few on Saturday though.
Non alc kind of gives me something to sip on in the evenings without disturbing my sleep or having a head on me the next day.
Can't wait for the Guinness, if it ever comes out, they seem to be reinventing the wheel on it though.

Thundercats Ho · 05-02-2021 9:47am

The Early start is very good. I've tried most of the NA options at this stage, and it's prob my favourite.
The isotonic ones are good in the summer, Erdinger Paulaner etc, and there's one in Dunnes for 65c or so that's nicer than the big brands imo, can't think of it's name now though.
I must get some brown bear, as people here seem to rate it. I hate the other brown bear range so that's why i avoided it.

Thelonious Monk · 05-02-2021 11:00am

Yes I have a thing for Erdinger in 500ml cans, which they do in Dunnes now. Muy refrescante.

flanzer · 05-02-2021 1:43pm

Early Start down to €1.26 in Aldi now. I'm sure it was €1.69 last week! Some price for that beer. Stocked up for the next 2 or 3 weekends!

Thelonious Monk · 05-02-2021 2:18pm

flanzer wrote: »

Early Start down to €1.26 in Aldi now. I'm sure it was €1.69 last week! Some price for that beer. Stocked up for the next 2 or 3 weekends!

Yes that's what I paid for it the other night. This is why all round it's by far the best one on the market. I just wish they did 500ml cans of it, my life would be complete. No f*cking bottle bank journeys!

Knightofcydonia · 05-02-2021 9:30pm

Fair play for the recommendation on early start folks. Picked up a couple today and really enjoyed the first one. I went through my fair share of NA beers during dry January and this is by far the best.... Also honourable mentions to Lervigs pineapple and grapefruit pale ales. Both very tasty but twice the price of Aldi's beer and only a 330ml can. Also enjoyed some of the Erdinger grapefruit and Lemon NA beers, both refreshing and cheap as chips in Tesco's

keane2097 · 05-02-2021 10:42pm

Any chance someone could post a pic of the Early Start beer? I can't seem to find anything about it.

05-02-2021 10:53pm

keane2097 wrote: »

Any chance someone could post a pic of the Early Start beer? I can't seem to find anything about it.

Search Roadworks Early Start.

Knightofcydonia · 05-02-2021 10:53pm

keane2097 wrote: »

Any chance someone could post a pic of the Early Start beer? I can't seem to find anything about it.

This is the one.

keane2097 · 05-02-2021 10:54pm

Thanks friends

matrim · 25-02-2021 9:51pm

Had a Beaverstown Lazer Crush recently and it’s quite nice. Not sure if it’s on sale anywhere in Ireland yet but worth a try if you can get it.

StaticNoise · 26-02-2021 12:36pm

I've been milling into the cans since finding them in the local. Very decent.

Peig Sayers · 20-03-2021 6:19pm

banana_bear wrote: »

Does anyone have any experience with buying alcohol free beer outside of the "permitted alcohol sale hours" these days? I mean after the recent legislation changes?

I usually go and do the weekly shopping first thing in the morning and I'd scoop up a few of the recommendations from this thread next time I go, but up until recently you couldn't buy alcohol free beer before 10:30 on week days.

I was in my local Tesco this morning at 8.15 and picked up some Free Dam n/a beer. Thought I'd give it a try and see if I could buy it. Cashier said 'ya can't buy alcohol till 12.30'. I told her it was alcohol free. She said 'I'll have to check with the manager'. She called him over and I explained it was 0.0% alcohol and he said it was fine and checked it through! Drinking one now. Not bad at all! Had a So Beer last night and it was ok too if a bit tasteless but this one is much nicer. Doesn't have that horrible malty taste you get with a lot of a/f beers. They are getting much better thank God!

L1011 · 20-03-2021 7:11pm

So Beer is absolutely awful.

Peig Sayers · 20-03-2021 7:20pm

L1011 wrote: »

So Beer is absolutely awful.

I had it chilled for about a week before I drank it! There are two types - one has a hint of grapefruit which isn't nice at all. The other is quite tasteless but it was free so I didn't mind! I wouldn't buy it

Pen Rua · 21-03-2021 11:45am

L1011 wrote: »

So Beer is absolutely awful.

Got it as a freebie from a sample thing I signed up to (see Bargain Alerts) and it was truly dreadful. Sink pour

They're making it in Larkin's.

L1011 · 21-03-2021 4:53pm

I got mine free also (load sent in to work - most of it is still there!) - has anyone actually made the mistake of buying it?

senordingdong · 21-03-2021 4:59pm

L1011 wrote: »

I got mine free also (load sent in to work - most of it is still there!) - has anyone actually made the mistake of buying it?

Well I was going to, but not now!

bluestone · 21-03-2021 8:58pm

Cloudio9 wrote: »

I got it in Dunnes.

Yes Dunnes, haven’t seen it anywhere else

bluestone · 21-03-2021 9:01pm

danielle_door wrote: »

Birra moretti zero was on special in super value last night so tried it.

Best tasting zero beer so far !! Had peroni after it and was such a bad drop in taste

I think I have tried 10 brands and moretti is top.

Tried this recently & I’d agree, it’s the nicest I’ve had as well although I haven’t tried the Aldi ones being recommended on here

Fav Alcohol Free Beer?

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