# Let's talk non-alcoholic beer (and other N.A. beverages) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** beer\ **Created:** [December 31, 2022, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-non-alcoholic-beer-and-other-n-a-beverages/977425 "2022-12-31T19:03:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-non-alcoholic-beer-and-other-n-a-beverages/977425/21 "2023-01-03T16:48:57Z")
Ah, okay. I haven’t encountered that abbreviation for ethyl alcohol before. I’m guessing it’s something used in chemistry? ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-non-alcoholic-beer-and-other-n-a-beverages/977425/22 "2023-01-03T18:24:19Z")
Sorry. Very common abbreviation in medical records (which I review regularly in my job). For example, blood alcohol level will be represented as ETOH. So I guess I adopted the abbrev. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-non-alcoholic-beer-and-other-n-a-beverages/977425/23 "2023-01-19T13:31:11Z")
> **[Here's why non-alcoholic beers finally taste good, and not just for Dry January](https://www.wbur.org/npr/1074133992/non-alcoholic-beer-na-guide-best-dry-january)** > > Brewers are now making non-alcoholic beers that are packed with flavor, thanks to new technology and techniques that are reinventing a category that once felt like purgatory. ---
**Author:** ![PackerMan2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/packerman2/32/2894_2.png) [@PackerMan2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PackerMan2)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-non-alcoholic-beer-and-other-n-a-beverages/977425/24 "2023-01-19T16:25:16Z")
Brew Dog is another brewery that makes some pretty decent NA beers. They are all named XXXX AF, which I think is funny. [https://www.brewdog.com/usa/non-alcoholic](https://www.brewdog.com/usa/non-alcoholic) I generally get the variety pack and they are all pretty good. I like adding some lemonade to Heineken 0.0 to make a shandy. Pretty refreshing on a hot day. Don’t really like it solo. I tried the Ritual Zero Proof whiskey. Did not like it. It tasted more like spiced cider but not in a good way. I was hoping it could make a somewhat reasonable old fashioned. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-non-alcoholic-beer-and-other-n-a-beverages/977425/25 "2023-01-19T16:45:28Z")
Being a recovered alcoholic, I find that NA beer is a life saver of sorts. I don’t mind drinking pop, but not with a fancier meal. So the ever greater variety of NA Beer makes going out with friends nicer. Some quick notes: Generic lagers are rather bland with alcohol. Removing the C2H5OH certainly doesn’t improve them. Heineken, Carlsberg and their fellow lagers are meh, with or without alcohol. As for other NA beverages: I never found NA wine that was anywhere near the real stuff. Bleargh. However, I was surprised by a bottle of Gordon’s NA Gin and Tonic. It actually tastes like a G&T, only missing that faint ethanol taste that is always present in hard booze. Too expensive for what it is though, @ $3 for an 8 oz bottle. ---
**Author:** ![BrianDime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@BrianDime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrianDime)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-non-alcoholic-beer-and-other-n-a-beverages/977425/26 "2023-01-19T17:27:11Z")
+1 for both the Athletic Brewing NA’s and the Lagunitas IPNA (Def the best NA I’ve tried!) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-non-alcoholic-beer-and-other-n-a-beverages/977425/27 "2023-01-19T18:58:04Z")
> [@Charlie\_Tan](#): > > Gordon’s NA Gin and Tonic. It actually tastes like a G&T, only missing that faint ethanol taste that is always present in hard booze. Too expensive for what it is though, @ $3 for an 8 oz bottle. I’ll have to look out for that. I don’t think I’ve seen it around. And $3 sounds fair enough to me, given some energy drinks of that size are at that price. If it really replicates a gin & tonic, that’s money well spent (that was my go-to summer drink back when I drank.) Somebody just told me an NA bourbon they had that they said was pretty good. I’ll have to taste it before I believe it, but he said they even added some cayenne or capsaicin to give it a faint burn going down. Now I have to remember who it was that told me this! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-non-alcoholic-beer-and-other-n-a-beverages/977425.md?page=1)