Non-Alcoholic Beer

[El Pinguino]

Picked up the newest non-alcoholic offerings in Toronto yesterday. An IPA and a Sour from Mascot Brewery called "Stuntin'".

[El Pinguino]

Town Brewery has a couple of non-alcoholic brews out now.
Going to bike out that way next week to pick them up and give them a try.
Side Launch apparently has one now too.

[seangm]

I tried the Easy Tiger NA lager they had a few weeks ago, it was pretty good. Interestingly the can said "brewed in London for Town" or something to that effect, so it appears their NA stuff is contract brewed. Curious who's brewing it.

[S. St. Jeb]

"How non-alcoholic beer became a player in Quebec's craft brewery market"

[El Pinguino]

Harmon's has been putting out a bunch of seasonal/limited edition non-alcs the past while, and Henderson and Rainhard both have new ones.
Planning to stick mostly to non-alcs in July and will report back on any new favourites.

[Monosylabic]

I also found https://sobersips.ca/ has a lot of non alc beer selections in Barrie too. Great for going north on the 400 to the cottage.

[El Pinguino]

Ya I've ordered off Sober Sips.
Plenty of online shops out there. Each seems to have maybe 1 or 2 that other shops don't have, so you need to look around a bit.
There are a bunch of NA beers in Ottawa area that I want to try, but Knyota Drinks only carries one of them.

I currently have a bit too many NA beers taking space up at home, and am giving away free 6-packs, if anyone happens to be in the parkdale / lv area any time soon.

[seangm]

Collective Arts Guava Gose. Gotta be one of the best I've tried yet for similarity to the original. Sure it's a bit easier to pull off when you've got the sour ferm, salt and fruit puree to work with, but it really is good. I've always liked their regular guava gose, so it's a win-win since you could probably switch it out on me and I wouldn't notice.

Jelly King Dry-Hopped non-alc. Also quite good, but you do detect the loss of body a bit. Not watery though. Sours seem to be winners since they go through the same sour fermentation as their regular counterparts, which helps lend some of the underlying complexity missing from other N/A styles.

Also, for those in the east end there's a non-alc shop that's opened in Pickering: https://www.withgracemarketplace.com/. Nice to have an option for some stuff that's harder to get if you're not located downtown or don't want to order enough to hit shipping minimums.

[S. St. Jeb]

you could probably switch it out on me and I wouldn't notice.

Well, not at first.

[seangm]

you could probably switch it out on me and I wouldn't notice.

Well, not at first.

Haha touche, there would certainly be a conspicuous absence.

[cannondale]

I’ve tried a god number of new to me NA’s recently, and a couple stood out as interesting:

Low tide Brune DMC - Belgian brown ale, very malty aroma, flavour andmedium body, solid hop bite in the finish, lots of ester flavour from the Belgian yeast. Very unique NA beer, I think any craft drinker transitioning to NA will appreciate the relative complexity of this one.

Chouffe AF - Similar to above this one hits several notes expected of a Belgian ale. It’s clear that it is an NA based on the lighter body but in all other respects it either meets or falls just short of the original Chouffe.

A couple of unique NA’s to mix in with the typical pales and IPAs.

[dale cannon]

Anyone tried Go Brewing Not just another story DIPA? I’ve read some glowing reviews that seem to imply that by attempting to make an NA double, they’ve at least managed to make something that smells and tastes like an IPA.

Athletic’s dark&gourdy and stump jump are available now, I enjoyed both last fall. There’s also a fresh hop ipa w centennial.

[seangm]

I noticed that Athletic's pricing on their own website is significantly higher than retail pricing, even some 3rd party online retailers. LCBO has Run Wild for $13.95 but their 6-packs run $17-18 from them directly. I'd order more often if the pricing was close to retail, since they have a lot more options online.

I did order earlier this year though and the Paceline Pedal IPA was fantastic- one of the most convincing I've yet to try, wish it was a regular offering.

[dale cannon]

I noticed that Athletic's pricing on their own website is significantly higher than retail pricing, even some 3rd party online retailers. LCBO has Run Wild for $13.95 but their 6-packs run $17-18 from them directly. I'd order more often if the pricing was close to retail, since they have a lot more options online.

I did order earlier this year though and the Paceline Pedal IPA was fantastic- one of the most convincing I've yet to try, wish it was a regular offering.

Doesn’t make sense, does it. A paid Athletic member pays more for a 6 pack than Joe Sixpack at the lcbo.

I enjoyed the paceline as well.

[seangm]

I noticed that Athletic's pricing on their own website is significantly higher than retail pricing, even some 3rd party online retailers. LCBO has Run Wild for $13.95 but their 6-packs run $17-18 from them directly. I'd order more often if the pricing was close to retail, since they have a lot more options online.

I did order earlier this year though and the Paceline Pedal IPA was fantastic- one of the most convincing I've yet to try, wish it was a regular offering.

Doesn’t make sense, does it. A paid Athletic member pays more for a 6 pack than Joe Sixpack at the lcbo.

I enjoyed the paceline as well.

It is an odd pricing strategy and hopefully doesn't mean increased retail pricing is coming down the line. I know it's been discussed before and might not be a fair perception, but I still struggle with paying over a certain amount for NA beer. $17 feels steep, especially when Farm Boy sells Clausthaler Dry-Hop 6-packs for 12 bucks.