Hi! I'm Tasha, and I don't drink anymore. Back in my drinking days, beer was always my drink of choice — so I thought I'd give some non-alcoholic versions a whirl with a booze-free party with drinkers and non-drinkers.
Now, I know that non-alcoholic beer can be triggering for some non-drinkers — and if that's you, that's okay! But whether you don't drink, or if you're trying to cut back, here's what I found from my booze-free experiment:
As a heads up, non-alcoholic beer sold in the US can contain up to 0.5% alcohol. For some people, any alcohol is not the right choice — it's up to you!
One of my friends picked this up at a grocery store and it came highly recommended — and boy, it didn't disappoint. If you had handed me this, and told me it was a regular IPA, I would have believed you.
The Run Wild IPA was a hit with both drinkers and non-drinkers alike. To quote one of my friends, "This is one of my go-to drinks because it scratches the beer itch without drinking beer." I ended up topping off my night with one of these bad boys, even though I'd had enough fake beer to hydrate a small nation.
After the dizzying highs of the first non-alc IPA, I was excited to try Partake's version (which, for full disclosure, was sent to me for review). Unfortunately, both Partake's IPA and the red left a lot to be desired.
Let's start with the IPA. I don't know if we got an odd batch, but it was really not as bubbly as a beer should be. My friend Sarah remarked, "The smell was promising, but it tasted a little bitter and flat."
Then there was the red ale, which was a bit of a strange experience. It tasted a tiny bit like a watery caramel iced tea, except in a bad way. One friend added that he thought it smelled like a rabbit cage, which was a haunting image to get out of my head. My pal Jared commented, "It makes me hate myself and everything I'm doing" — which was not exactly the vibe anyone chases at a gathering.
This was actually the first non-alcoholic beer I tried, courtesy of the deli by my doctor's office. And, to be honest, I'm incredibly on the fence about it.
The problem with the Clausthaler is that it tasted incredibly sweet for a beer. One friend gave it a 1/10. Jared said, "If I'm not comparing it to a beer, I could drink it for a while." I thought the same, until I realized that I had an unopened one in the back of my fridge that I hadn't wanted to touch since that fateful night. Perhaps I'd go for it again if it were the only non-alcoholic option, but it otherwise wouldn't be my go-to.
Finishing with a bang! I picked this one up from a local grocery store and tried it myself, as I'm going to a different party (where I will be hoarding it like a dragon with gold) and wanted to have something to drink. Plus, it's truly 0.0% alcohol.
I was a big fan of Heineken's alcoholic offerings, and the 0.0 certainly didn't let me down. I'll definitely be revisiting this one, without a shadow of a doubt — it was light, bubbly, and incredibly beer-like.
