Types of non-alcoholic beer: an overview of 25 popular brands
Of course, we won't be able to cover all types of non-alcoholic beer, but we'll try to at least go over the most common brands in two or three words.
Overview of common brands
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Hesse (or rather - Hesser)
Austrian light soft drink produced in a number of Russian cities under the license of the Dutch beer alcohol monster Heineken.
De-alcoholized lager that retains some hop bitterness in the taste.
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With a strength of about 0.5 degrees, it retains the proper smell, taste and aftertaste.
According to the manufacturer, the drink contains water, malt, hops, rice and yeast.
At the same time, it seems that the producers of this soft drink are being somewhat disingenuous, since the abundant beer foam characteristic of it cannot be formed without the addition of cobalt, which is not listed in the list of ingredients.
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Clausthaler
German beer of 0.5 degrees strength that is not fully fermented.
The taste is characterized by frank grape, corn and herbal notes, which are not typical for the classic version of this drink.
Some resemblance to normal beer is achieved by creating a bitterness obtained by adding a mysterious hop extract.
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A non-alcoholic version of the beloved Czech lager, produced under license from.
The light bitterness and malt flavor are designed to reconcile fans of the brand with the refusal of a full-fledged drink.
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Another brainchild of Heineken in the post-Soviet space.
The inevitable dryness of the product is somewhat compensated by carbonation.
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Belgian unfiltered wheat beer containing less than 0.0% alcohol.
The depressing effect of the almost complete absence of the latter is partially mitigated by the presence of coriander and Curacao orange peel in the drink.
In addition, the taste of the product is somewhat offset by the very low (almost zero) serving temperature.
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The well-known non-alcoholic version of the St. Petersburg brand.
Contains 0.5 degrees of alcohol obtained by de-alcoholization of authentic beer through dialysis.
If you don't expect a full-fledged beer flavor set from it, it's quite drinkable.
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A light Czech lager with an alcohol strength of 0.5 degrees, produced under license by the Baltic brewers.
Partial satisfaction from the presence of the expected hop bitterness in the drink is significantly overshadowed by the presence of a dubious malt extract and no less disconcerting hop products.
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An unremarkable non-alcoholic version of a faceless American beer.
Produced in Russia under a license owned by the Belgian-Brazilian alcohol giant Anheuser-Busch InBev.
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Polar Bear
All we can say about this Russian brand is that it exists, and we wish it existed in some parallel reality.
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This is another Baltika licensed product with a standard set of parameters: 0.5 degrees, dialysis filtration method, presence of hop products and malt extract.
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Siberian crown
I just want to say: "anthrax", although, perhaps, someone likes it.
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A licensed non-alcoholic variation on the well-known Belgian theme.
Among the consumers of beer soft drinks, this drink, whose strength is limited to 0.5 degrees, is considered very good.
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Carlsberg
A light standardized Dane that has taken root in the Baltika brewery.
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Zhiguli Barne
A non-alcoholic version of the epoch-making brand from Mytishchi brewers.
Despite the reduced level of maltose and the use of several varieties of hops, the beer clearly falls short of its European counterparts.
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Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Alkoholfrei
Non-alcoholic beer from the oldest brewery in the world. Date of foundation 1040! The beer tastes like a classic lager, but has light banana flavors.
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Bavaria Malt
A licensed beer product of Dutch blood, supposedly with a complete absence of alcohol.
According to fans of the genre, this beer is not much different from a classic lager.
Although, the overly pronounced malt and apple flavor still makes itself felt.
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Another localized brand from Heineken.
It is characterized by an unnatural smell and a pronounced non-alcoholic flavor combination with the inherent notes of crushed grain, excessively bulging malt, unfermented wort, corn, grass and sawdust.
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Krombacher
A popular non-alcoholic version of the well-known light lager in Germany.
It has an unveiled fruity, malty and earthy flavor with grain interspersed and a rich foamy head of cobalt origin.
The strength of the drink is 0.5 degrees. Recommended serving temperature: +4-7 degrees Celsius.
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Erdinger
Bavarian white wheat beer. Strength 0.4 degrees.
Among this kind of soft drinks, it does not stand out in any way, except for the rather impressive amount indicated on the price tag.
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Meisels
Unfiltered Bavarian wheat ale with a strength of 0.4 degrees.
Considered one of the best in its category, but still hard to drink.
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Buckler
Beer product produced in the Chelyabinsk region. As they say: enough is enough.
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Bex
Another unremarkable light German.
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Ochakovo
A Moscow brand that does not appear in any non-alcoholic top.
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Ever Fun
Light pasteurized German beer with an alcohol content of up to 0.5 degrees.
Although the drink contains only water, hops and barley malt, its additional carbonation implies the presence of carbon compounds not listed in the list of ingredients.
At the same time, according to those who like to indulge in dubious substances, this beer product, due to the pronounced bitterness present in it and balanced carbonation, is not much different from a textbook lager.
Which non-alcoholic beer is the most natural
If we talk about the closest possible approximation to the authentic original and at the same time abstract from post-Soviet producers, then the palm should probably be given to two drinks.
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The first of them will be American Bud.
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The second is German Ever Fan.
There are also semi-mythical stories about craft soft drinks, such as Mikkeller's Drink'in the Sun, produced in Belgium, which are superior in quality to authentic drinks from global brands. However, to be honest, we would not like to have anything to do with people who want to de-alcoholize their own craft ale or lager.
Update: 24.03.2017
Category: Beer, Cider, Ale