Alcohol is a risk factor in seven different cancers, including commons cancers like breast and bowel cancer. If we are serious about cancer prevention, we need to consider how we can change our relationship with alcohol. In this spirit, Andy, a member of the CancerWatch team, has written this blog on his exploration of no and low alcohol beers this summer.
There was a time when ordering a non-alcoholic beer felt like a drag or a necessary backstop: you still had some work to do, it was Dry January, maybe you were the designated driver.
And frankly, I’m sure like many other people’s, my early experiences of no or low alcohol beers were hardly inspiring. Peering over the bar to choose between two major brands – the alcoholic versions of which I’d never have touched – a choice as underwhelming as the experience of drinking them.
But I was also increasingly aware that era was over. And so, over the summer months during successive heatwaves – though they seem so long ago now! – I made a point of broadening my horizons and sampling a decent range of the new generation of No-Lo beers. I wanted to see which ones stand up on their own terms rather than merely standing in for the real thing. Here’s what I found.
Lucky Saint Unfiltered Lager 0.5% 3/5
I began with perhaps the most well-known of this new generation of low alcohol beers. It’s got a slightly malty flavour and it’s quite creamy and full-bodied for a lager. I can see why people like this, but after drinking quite a lot of it (my partner likes it!) for me it’s not quite what I want from a lager – not quite as crisp or as sharp as I would like.
Madrí Excepcional 0.0 0.0% 3.5/5
I wanted to try another lager to compare against the Lucky Saint. It’s sharper and crisper than the Lucky Saint, though it’s got some body as well, which I think is unusual for zero alcohol beers. A nice maltiness as well. I’d say it’s quite drinkable, if not with quite the fullness of flavour I’d like from a lager.
Lucky Saint Hazy IPA 0.5% 3.5/5
A much fuller taste than the Lucky Saint lager, as you would expect of an IPA. It’s got a nice touch of citrus about it, with a nice bitter aftertaste. It is quite thin, and not as hazy as I’d like an IPA to be. But I do like this a lot more than the lager – it’s a more interesting, more satisfying drink.
Sam Smith’s Alcohol Free Sam’s Brown Ale 0.5% 4/5
Trying this was a happy accident, when I happened to be in the John Snow in Soho, one of Sam Smith’s beautiful old historic London pubs. But a happy accident it was. This is a rich plummy drink that felt really well-balanced; a bit of caramel sweetness, a bit of tartness as well. Very enjoyable, very drinkable. Coming from one of the most stubbornly old-fashioned of breweries, it was a pleasant surprise.
St Austell Proper Job 0.5% – 4.5/5
Another IPA which didn’t disappoint. A really full flavour, both citrusy and floral, with plenty of body. As an interesting side note, I’ve learnt that, unlike most other No-Lo beers, it is brewed to 0.5% from the start, rather than brewed to normal strength and then stripped of the alcohol. I’m not geeky enough to know if the tastiness is the result of this, but if it is, then hopefully this is the future.
Guinness 0.0 0.0% – 5/5
I had heard Guinness 0.0 was good, but this was still a very pleasant surprise. It had everything that I would want from a pint of Guinness. The creaminess is there. The bitterness is there. The slight ‘coffeeness’ is there. And that lingering Guinness finish is most definitely there. Thoroughly enjoyable to the extent that I couldn’t really fault it. It’s certainly a drink I’ll come back to.
Conclusion
So, there you go. No and Low alcohol beers have improved beyond recognition from what they were only 5 or so years ago. What was a real revelation for me was the new generation of low alcohol pale ales, and of course the masterful Guiness 0.0. Some of these will definitely be going on my regular rotation list. But I enjoyed trying all of them and will continue to experiment.
Plus, I discovered some new pleasures along the way. Like the pleasure of sitting in a pub garden having a midday pint of Guinness (0.0), before spending the afternoon thinking just as clearly and working just as productively as I had been before. Cheers!