Your Favorite Beer

Today’s WSJ has an article on Athletic brand beer. It is supposed to be a significant improvement over other non-alcoholic beers. When I was in Europe last year I drank some descent low alcohol beers.

If you’ve tried Athletic I would appreciate your thoughts. So far I’ve not found it locally, but that could change.
 
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When I was in Arizona in 2022, a friend who lives there was raving about it, and said that's the only beer he drinks now.

I bought a sixpack to try it and I agree it was far better than most NA beers, but still nothing to write home about. I see that now they have a number of varieties, and hopefully have further improved their techniques, so I plan to try it again soon.
 
Started out being a bud guy for 30 years. Then I got introduced to some local craft brews. Been drinking lagers for the past 14 years. My local favs are:
Wicked Barley Left Leg (German Lager)
Wicked Barley Circle Up (Pilsner)
Veterans United Eschenfrau (Helles)
The Bog "No Name" (Pilsner)
Veterans United Fish Camp (German Pilsner)

If I happen to go out to eat, I usually have to settle for Stella Artois (times are hard).
 
Chuckanut said:
Today’s WSJ has an article on Athletic brand beer. It is supposed to be a significant improvement over other non-alcoholic beers. When I was in Europe last year I drank some descent low alcohol beers.

If you’ve tried Athletic I would appreciate your thoughts. So far I’ve not found it locally, but that could change.
Click to expand...

I saw the article too. I've been drinking Athletic for maybe six months and enjoy it. To me, it's not as full-bodied as my favorite Sierra Nevada, but it's good and I'm happy to cut back on the alcohol a bit.
 
Chuckanut said:
Today’s WSJ has an article on Athletic brand beer. It is supposed to be a significant improvement over other non-alcoholic beers. When I was in Europe last year I drank some descent low alcohol beers.

If you’ve tried Athletic I would appreciate your thoughts. So far I’ve not found it locally, but that could change.
Click to expand...

I read the same article and was curious. I was at a PCC (local co-op) later and they had Athletic, but they also had another non-alcoholic brewer, Best Day Brewing. There was another person that grabbed a six-pack of that one, so I asked them and they said both were good, but they preferred Best Day Brewing.

I went ahead and bought a six-pack of Best Day Brewing West Coast IPA. It was ok. I wish it was a blind taste test, so I didn't know it was non-alcoholic, but for me, it was missing depth. I wouldn't be disappointed to drink another, but I would prefer a fuller IPA. It did have a good color and foamed nicely. And I've had worse alcohol IPAs, so definitely not bad in that regard.

I still have five cans left, so I'll see if my opinion changes with time.
 
I have tried a number of NA beers. I lean toward IPA's so that works in my favor.

Athletic brewing I thought was pretty good. But the beer from Go Brewing is much better. Burn it down IPA, Not just another double IPA, and Sunshine State tropical, are my favorites from them. (The tropical if you like Hazy's you will probably like more).
Brewdog is another brewery that has a lot of NA selections you might try.

Now of course, if you are looking for something that will be exactly like the a full on beer. At this time, I have not found a NA that gets me there. But nice to have some alternatives on days when you want a beer but want to lay of the alchohol.
 
Chuckanut said:
Today’s WSJ has an article on Athletic brand beer. It is supposed to be a significant improvement over other non-alcoholic beers. When I was in Europe last year I drank some descent low alcohol beers.

If you’ve tried Athletic I would appreciate your thoughts. So far I’ve not found it locally, but that could change.
Click to expand...

I think it’s great and tastes like craft beer. My favorite is Running Wild.
 
I just finished trying a 4-pack (one per day with dinner) of Guinness 0, my first venture drinking non-alcoholic beer. Drank it in a tall chilled glass, not from the can. It was better than I expected. It had good color, smell, and a good foam head. With the first can, I noticed it lacked that fullness taste and I missed the buzz but kind of got use to that after finishing the rest of the cans. I'm going to buy again but will also try Athletic.
 
Jeffman52 said:
I have tried a number of NA beers. I lean toward IPA's so that works in my favor.

Athletic brewing I thought was pretty good. But the beer from Go Brewing is much better. Burn it down IPA, Not just another double IPA, and Sunshine State tropical, are my favorites from them. (The tropical if you like Hazy's you will probably like more).
Brewdog is another brewery that has a lot of NA selections you might try.

Now of course, if you are looking for something that will be exactly like the a full on beer. At this time, I have not found a NA that gets me there. But nice to have some alternatives on days when you want a beer but want to lay of the alchohol.
Click to expand...


Those are some good N/A suggestions that I'm going to try. If I could find an N/A beer that was exactly like a full on beer, I probably wouldn't drink full on beers anymore. I'm not going to hold my breath on that one. Agree that it's nice to have non-alcoholic alternatives when any amount of alcohol doesn't make sense.
 
I don't especially like either Athletic or Guinness 0. Heineken is OK. Lately I've taken to doctoring NA lagers with just a bit of spicy Bloody Mary mix. I imagine many here will find that gross, but it works for me when I want a beer but not the alcohol.
 
I’ve been drinking Athletic N/A beers for a while now. It’s the best domestic N/A I’ve run across. In fact, I just bought a 12-pack of the Golden yesterday but also enjoy their IPAs. I also enjoy most of the European N/As like Beck’s, Clausthaler and St. Pauli Girl. The Guinness is acceptable in an Irish pub or around St. Patrick’s Day but, IMO, not that great. I will not drink O’Doul’s or Sharps - I’d rather have a Diet Coke or a plain seltzer.

I read the WSJ article and found it interesting. I’ve had no trouble finding Athletic in package stores in Massachusetts. (BTW, I noticed Sam Adams N/A at the packie yesterday. Hadn’t realized they made it but will try it next time.)
 
I've been drinking Athletic Lite with a splash of bloody mary mix, like Phroig. I haven't found any NA that do it for me and most have higher calories and carbs. Athletic Lite is 25 calories and 5 g carbs. I have also been drinking Sierra Nevada Hop Splash - hop-infused sparkling water. Zero alcohol, calories and carbs. None of it matches a good beer, but like others I'm looking for some NA options.
 
Athletic Run Wild IPA seems to be their most popular.
Comparing it to Lagunitas DayTime (4% ABV), which I always have on hand:

65 calories (DayTime has 98).
14 carbs (Daytime has just 3).

So, while I like the idea of NA, that's a heavy carb load for a low carb person like me.
 
I've never tried it, even though their brewery is in my town.
 
We've been drinking Running Wild for a while now when we want a NA beer. It tastes very close to a "normal" beer but you can still tell a small difference.
 
"Your Favorite Beer"

Unfortunately, being a Londoner, there is nothing like a pint of Courage Directors Bitter (Founded by John Courage in 1787 in London, England currently Brewed in Reading just outside greater London). I have not had a pint for a very long time, and it does not travel well. Oh, you meant in the USA. Most American beers are like Making love in a Punt. But there are a few exceptions. I personally like Modelo Negra (Black), but that is Mexican. I do not mind craft dark beers, but when I buy beer it is usually Yeungling, I know nothing special, but it works for every day. We are really wine drinkers.
 
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ShokWaveRider said:
"Your Favorite Beer"

Unfortunately, being a Londoner, there is nothing like a pint of Courage Directors Bitter (Founded by John Courage in 1787 in London, England currently Brewed in Reading just outside greater London).
Click to expand...

You're showing your age.
Courage Directors was indeed an exceptional bitter, but that was long ago and the current version, brewed by a very different brewery in a very different city, is but a pale shadow of its former self.
 
Next I suppose you'll tell me that Samuel Smith's Tadcaster Porter is no more. That would be a shame.
 
braumeister said:
You're showing your age.
Courage Directors was indeed an exceptional bitter, but that was long ago and the current version, brewed by a very different brewery in a very different city, is but a pale shadow of its former self.
Click to expand...

Shows how long I have been away from the UK. I forget the year, but it was in the middle to late 90's. I remember getting off the plane going to the nearest Courage pub and downing a couple right there. I also remember I was taken back by the price, from when I was in my teens and 20's.
 
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