Non Alcoholic Beers

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Chief Longwind Of The North

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I'll start with root beer and try to describe what I can remember of differing brands.

1. A&W Root Beer. It was agreed on by everyone in the family that the gallon glass jug from A&W restaurants had the best root beer, and that it was best served in an ice-cold, frost covered A&W mug. The soda pop was sweet with a combination of flavors that included primarily wintergreen, and brown sugar. Not a lot of people understand that carbonated water has a flavor, almost a salty/sour flavor. That flavor combined with the wintergreen and brown sugar gave A&W a very sweet, almost syrupy flavor. What comes in the bottles and cans isn't quite the same as what you got in the gallon jug, but is very close.

2. Dad's Root Beer. Very similar in flavor to A&W, but toned down just a bit, as if not as much flavor concentrate was used in the recipe, or maybe less root beer syrup.

3. Frosty Root Beer - As good tasting as A&W, but with more of the brown sugar flavor and less of the wintergreen. Tasted great when ice cold and it's hot outside. Great in a float.

4. Mug Root Beer - Pretty much the same as Dad's Root Beer.

5. Barque's Root Beer - My eldest daughter, and her hubby love this stuff. I find it has a bit less flavor that Frosty's, or A&W. It is a quality root beer.

6. Shasta Root Beer - not as good as is their cream soda, but good on a hot day, and cheap. Again, it's not as full bodied as my two favorites.

7. Hire's Root Beer - It seems a Mr. Hires happened upon a flavorful tea while on his honeymoon. He figured out a recipe for this tasty tea and added carbonation. It was made of a host of berries, roots, barks, and tree buds. Hire's Root Beer, strangely enough, is the brand I like least.

Sassafras, a wintergreen flavored ingredient, was the main flavor of root beer, but was banned in the U.S. in 1960 as a carcinogen. It was discovered how to remove the oil from the sassafras root, with was the problem child, and the recipe was saved.

If you've never tried it, next spring, when the birch trees are budding, collect some and steep them in hot water to make a tea. Add a little sugar and see if it doesn't have a wintergreen flavor.

Next time you crack a bottle of A&W, pour just a little into a glass and agitate until it's flat. Take a sip and let it roll around in your mouth for a minute and you will find that it tastes like wintergreen breath fresheners.

Ginger ales, and ginger beers can be either alcoholic, or not, and are very potent drinks that have medicinal qualities that aid in calming the stomach. Someone else can talk about those. My youngest daughter loves ginger beer, teh non-alcohlic version. 'Tis a strong flavored beverage indeed.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
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In terms of NA beer I prefer Clausthaler, a German import, which I would describe as crisp and somewhat dry. A good thirst quencher on a hot day. . It must be classed the same as beer here because it’s sold in liquor stores, not the grocer’s drinks aisle.

Not sure what is the difference between ciders either. We buy a seasonally available local apple cider, but it’s not carbonated and tastes like a really good apple juice. I don’t recall seeing a carbonated NA apple cider. Never tasted an alcohol based cider.

For awhile I was buying/ trying various root beers from the grocers that did not contain HFCS and made with real sugar. Not sure sugary anything is an improvement, but it's got to be sweetened with something since its a sugary sweet drink. The nice part is most came in 4 packs rather than the old 6 or 8 packs of soda. “Trial Size”, I thought. Kind of fell off the grocery list after while before I could formulate a list of faves or ones that I would at least try again.

I prefer A&W and Hire’s Root Beer. Never mind reading labels. They both taste like Root Beer is supposed to taste. Then, of course, you have to choose carefully for a good ice cream to go with the root beer.

Now I see my grocer’s soft drink shelf has expanded to cover Both sides of the aisle with soft drinks. A lot of bottled/ canned coffee drinks, flavored vitamin waters and Yes, ginger beers. I think I need to start paying attention to the ginger beer. Ginger is one of my favorite flavors and hopefully less sweet. I make a ginger sugar syrup sometimes and use it to flavor lemonade or cranberry juice plus sparkling water. A cool drink on a hot day.
 
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Non alcoholic beer

As non alcoholic rood beers go, my preferences are Barqs or Mug. Neither are as good as most any soda fountain root beer. The best I ever had was at a brewery that made root beer as a very profitable side line. Poured from a tap in a standard stainless beer vat. To die for.

As for non alcoholic beers, it seems like an oxymoron to me. I've tried a couple, and they tasted like I expected them to.

Deviating a little from the thread, Not Your Fathers is the root beer I keep in my beer box. Makes the best RB floats ever.
 
My favorite root beer was Western Family. Cheap store brand, but it tastes like a root beer barrel candy. Haven't seen it for years.
 
Never tasted an alcohol based cider.

Very popular in the UK. Wonderful stuff, and as varied in flavor as beers.

Reviving this thread, now that alcohol is no longer allowed in my diet dietary variety (unless I want to die much earlier than planned, I am on a quest for a reasonably good non =-alcohol beer (technically that is less that 0.5 ABV.

No/low ABV beers tend to be low on hoppy taste, which works for me. I'm not a big fan of a hoppy beer.

I just want a no-alcohol beer that will pass for beer after mowing the lawn, or enjoying a slice of pizza.

Any suggestions? I have tried a few pricey rands, and was not impressed. One repected beer reviewer actually rated Premium O'Doul's the top of his list.

CD
 
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I've had a few suggestions for O'Doul's. That's on my trial list.

I like Kirin beer on a hot day, or with hot foods. They have a 3.2 ABV Light beer. I may have to give that a try.


CD
 
My favourite would have to be old fashioned ginger beer yum! As for the non alcoholic proper beer. One word.... WHY??????

For health reasons, some can't have alcohol, anymore. Looking for the best taste without the alcohol.
 
My favourite would have to be old fashioned ginger beer yum! As for the non alcoholic proper beer. One word.... WHY??????

I am not allowed alcohol anymore. Bad things happen -- as in five days in the ICU kind of bad things. My mom's family has a genetic glitch with their liver circulation. Five deaths in two generations -- and three of them didn't drink, for religious reasons.

When I eat pizza, I want to drink beer with it. When I finish my yard work on a hot day, I want an ice cold beer. I don't get the buzz, but I get the experience.

CD
 
I really love Störtebecker bier, their alcohol free is just amazing. I use it in cooking a lot, when I am not drinking it.
 
I have to confess I've been somewhat confused by this entire thread. The title says "Non Alcoholic Beers," but then goes on to discuss root beer, which, despite having the word "beer" in the name, is not beer. The same goes for ginger beer. Again, it ain't beer. But I'll play along. :)

As far as soft drinks go, I only drink the sugar free variety, and then only on rare occasions. One of my favorites in the root/ginger beer category is Gosling's Diet Ginger Beer. Love that stuff.

I used to like Sprecher Root Beer, too, which is made in Wisconsin by a company that also makes real beer.
 
I prefer Ginger Ale over Ginger beer, not as strong and pungent flavour as Ginger beer has.
 
Originally, root bear was mildly alcoholic. It was made by combining various ingredients, and water to mae a flavorful tea. This was then placed into a crock jug, and yeast was added. Everythng was allowed to ferment, or brew, until the liquid became effervescent, like champaign. It wasn't quite as sweet as modern root beer as the yeast consumes much of the sugar. So yes, root beer, at least used to be a type of beer. Birch beer is a beer as well, made from the sap of birch trees.

Seeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
I got some "Premium" O'Doul's at Kroger. They did not have the Amber, which is apparently in a different colored bottle. It meets my basic needs. I'd like to try the Amber, but will have to go to Total Wine, Beer and Spirits in the next town (Texas beer laws are bizarre).

I had to wander around Kroger for ten minutes till the clock struck noon. No alcohol sales on Sunday mornin's in the buckle of the bible belt.

CD
 
Originally, root bear was mildly alcoholic. It was made by combining various ingredients, and water to mae a flavorful tea. This was then placed into a crock jug, and yeast was added. Everythng was allowed to ferment, or brew, until the liquid became effervescent, like champaign. It wasn't quite as sweet as modern root beer as the yeast consumes much of the sugar. So yes, root beer, at least used to be a type of beer. Birch beer is a beer as well, made from the sap of birch trees.

Seeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
Beer: an alcoholic drink made from yeast-fermented malt flavored with hops.

I've brewed my own alcoholic root beer, but technically it's still not beer. It's not the alcohol that makes a drink beer; it's the malt and hops.
 
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Real beer or not. I made okd fashioned ginger beer last week for my children. Accidently let it ferment a little too long. Only noticed after kids each had two glasses that it is more than a little alcoholic. Big oops and now the rest will be consumed by me. Will try it first next time!
 
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