# Will someone please recommend a GOOD non-alcoholic beer for me?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-recommend-a-good-non-alcoholic-beer-for-me/612060
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** beer
**Created:** [February 7, 2012, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-recommend-a-good-non-alcoholic-beer-for-me/612060 "2012-02-07T09:57:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2012, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-recommend-a-good-non-alcoholic-beer-for-me/612060/1 "2012-02-07T09:57:56Z")
They must have them!
I have met a guy who is otherwise real cool, but I swear, he must’ve found the very worst brand of same on earth! It will never do. 🙂
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### Author:  [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2012, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-recommend-a-good-non-alcoholic-beer-for-me/612060/2 "2012-02-07T11:02:32Z")
I’m pretty sure the worst one tastes just about the same as the best one.
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### Author:  [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2012, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-recommend-a-good-non-alcoholic-beer-for-me/612060/3 "2012-02-07T11:12:28Z")
That’s like asking “please recommend me a blue car that is red”. It’s imaginary.
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### Author:  [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2012, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-recommend-a-good-non-alcoholic-beer-for-me/612060/4 "2012-02-07T11:23:04Z")
I am told Brew Dog’s “Nanny State” is one of the best you can get.
> **[NANNY STATE & TESCO; THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGING](https://www.brewdog.com/blog-article/153)**
>
> The beer scene is evolving.
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### Author:  [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2012, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-recommend-a-good-non-alcoholic-beer-for-me/612060/5 "2012-02-07T11:46:05Z")
The most beer-like alcohol free beer I’ve come across is weissbier. Erdinger Alkoholfrei might be the easiest one to find. The best I’ve tried so far is Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier Alkoholfrei.
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### Author:  [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2012, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-recommend-a-good-non-alcoholic-beer-for-me/612060/6 "2012-02-07T11:52:10Z")
St Pauli Girl isn’t bad at all.
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### Author:  [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2012, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-recommend-a-good-non-alcoholic-beer-for-me/612060/7 "2012-02-07T12:07:50Z")
Beck’s is pretty good. It’s called [Haake Beck](http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/32/7143).
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2012, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-recommend-a-good-non-alcoholic-beer-for-me/612060/8 "2012-02-07T12:57:32Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#):
>
> I’m pretty sure the worst one tastes just about the same as the best one.
> [@jjimm](#):
>
> That’s like asking “please recommend me a blue car that is red”. It’s imaginary.
If you don’t want the alcohol, you might as well drink iced tea or lemonade, rather than alcohol free beer.
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### Author:  [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2012, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-recommend-a-good-non-alcoholic-beer-for-me/612060/9 "2012-02-07T13:05:18Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#):
>
> If you don’t want the alcohol, you might as well drink iced tea or lemonade, rather than alcohol free beer.
Do iced tea and lemonade taste like beer to you? Or do you just enjoy thread-shitting?
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### Author:  [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2012, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-recommend-a-good-non-alcoholic-beer-for-me/612060/10 "2012-02-07T13:13:37Z")
Most NA beers are actually fermented very shortly and then boiled to remove alcohol in conjunction with a reverse osmosis filter. The boil kills off most of the flavor.
Have you tried a malt soda like Malta? It’s a soft drink made from malted barley.
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### Author:  [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2012, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-recommend-a-good-non-alcoholic-beer-for-me/612060/11 "2012-02-07T13:33:13Z")
Well, see, I _like_ beer myself, although I mostly drink red wine with my food.
However, this guy is really hot, and he buys non-alcoholic beer because, yannow, he doesn’t drink anymore. I’m just trying to save him from a fate worse than “Old Milwaukee.”
well actually, it **is** “Old Milwaukee.”
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2012, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-recommend-a-good-non-alcoholic-beer-for-me/612060/12 "2012-02-07T13:36:19Z")
Whoever first called the stuff “near beer” was a lousy judge of distance.
Drink tea.
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### Author:  [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2012, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-recommend-a-good-non-alcoholic-beer-for-me/612060/13 "2012-02-07T13:42:47Z")
> [@amanset](#):
>
> I am told Brew Dog’s “Nanny State” is one of the best you can get.
That is such a clever name.
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### Author:  [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2012, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-recommend-a-good-non-alcoholic-beer-for-me/612060/14 "2012-02-07T13:48:54Z")
When I was pregnant, Kaliber was the best widely available NA beer I found.
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### Author:  [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2012, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-recommend-a-good-non-alcoholic-beer-for-me/612060/15 "2012-02-07T13:57:41Z")
> [@brujaja](#):
>
> Well, see, I _like_ beer myself, although I mostly drink red wine with my food.
>
> However, this guy is really hot, and he buys non-alcoholic beer because, yannow, he doesn’t drink anymore. I’m just trying to save him from a fate worse than “Old Milwaukee.”
> well actually, it **is** “Old Milwaukee.”
I went through this process when I quit drinking years ago. The pickings at that time were pretty slim, O’Douls and Sharp and a few others. Then I found out about German imports like St. Pauli Girl and Beck, which were vast improvements over the first two I mentioned. They have more flavor than the American brands in the same way that their regular beers have more flavor than Bud or Miller. They don’t taste as good as real beer, but for a beer lover who can’t drink alcohol, they are a reasonable substitute, flavor-wise.
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-recommend-a-good-non-alcoholic-beer-for-me/612060/16 "2012-02-07T14:45:12Z")
Kaliber (by Guinness) is my favorite.
I also like Clausthaler, Haake Beck, St. Pauli Girl NA, and Buckler.
O’Doul’s and Sharp’s are horrible.
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### Author:  [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-recommend-a-good-non-alcoholic-beer-for-me/612060/17 "2012-02-07T15:03:30Z")
> [@brujaja](#):
>
> Well, see, I _like_ beer myself, although I mostly drink red wine with my food.
>
> However, this guy is really hot, and he buys non-alcoholic beer because, yannow, he doesn’t drink anymore.
While I echo what other posters have said that there really isn’t a passable non-alcoholic beer, he’ll love you for trying!
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### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2012, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-recommend-a-good-non-alcoholic-beer-for-me/612060/18 "2012-02-07T15:59:14Z")
> [@Crotalus](#):
>
> Do iced tea and lemonade taste like beer to you?
No, but neither does non-alcoholic beer. It’s the same reason I don’t eat Tofu “ice cream”; if I want something that tastes like ice cream I get the real stuff or do without.
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### Author:  [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2012, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-recommend-a-good-non-alcoholic-beer-for-me/612060/19 "2012-02-07T16:08:12Z")
So what? That’s your stance, but nobody asked whether or not you think NA beer is a passable substitute. The subject of the OP obviously thinks it is.
I eat sugar free Popsicles, despite the fact that they aren’t as good as the real deal. A lot of people would rather have something similar than nothing at all, and that’s why this thread exists.
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### Author:  [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2012, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-recommend-a-good-non-alcoholic-beer-for-me/612060/20 "2012-02-07T16:17:39Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#):
>
> When I was pregnant, Kaliber was the best widely available NA beer I found.
Agreed. Kaliber is the best one I’ve tried, and it sucked.
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