Living With A Reduced Alcohol Intake
It’s been a while since I last posted a low alcohol beer review. That’s not because I’ve leaped back on the beverage bus, but there really are only so many zero alcohol beers widely available in pubs and supermarkets. I have continued to drink the best of the zero alc stuff I’ve found though. I’m very disappointed to find that a better balance of drinking and medication is better for me. So I’m mostly not drinking Sunday-Wednesday night, but might have a drink or two Thursday – Saturday nights (but frequently don’t drink then either). I know, it’s like something awful has swallowed my soul!
The Final Findings?
I’d heard rumours of another zero alcohol beer that I might find in a supermarket, tales across the zero alcohol void from other travellers in uninebriated despair. I’ve been slightly suspicious of the alarmingly cheap beers in the supermarket aisles, in exactly the same way I’m sceptical of the quality of the cheapest Basics lager. Generally this has proven wise, but I swallowed my fears and picked up the following marvels.
Bavaria 0.0%
I rather like the standard Bavaria lager. It’s a clean easy-drinking Dutch lager (I’ve no idea why it’s called Bavaria), so I was prepared to give it a whirl. At first I was deterred by the £3.99 for 6 330ml bottles in Sainsburys. It just doesn’t seem enough to pay for a drink. Then I found 6 330ml cans in Tesco for £1.50: an insane price, but one I could cheerfully toss away without weeping. It’s delicious. It doesn’t really taste like beer I admit, but I’m finding it eminently drinkable, to the point where it’s now my default drink at home.
Rating: Starnosed mole
Bavaria 0.0% Wit Beer
I like a good wheat beer. In a pub something like Hoegaarden leads the way in well branded, drinkable but not exciting white beers; I hadn’t really expected to find anything that tasted so similar in zero-alc land. But this cheery can by Bavaria is the leader of the zero alcohol wheat beer pack. It’s also the only one I’ve seen, apart from the superb Erdinger. Again, this was in Tesco for £1.50 for 6 cans. It is truly delightful. To properly appreciate these beers you have to give up on the concept of beer I think – consider them the discerning drinker’s Coke. This is like an ice cream soda, and I can drink it perfectly happily. It doesn’t have the lighter notes of the Erdinger, but I love it just the same.
Rating: Jerboa
Cheaper Than Any Other Liquid
I can’t honestly say that these Bavaria beers have a great deal of beery flavour. They have none of the richness of a porter, or delicacy of an IPA. But they both have the clean and refreshing taste of the best European lagers (note that I’m excluding the vile domestic abuse piss of Stella and Kronenbourg 1664). And the price? Well, outrageously they’ve now put the price of both up to an insane £2 for 6 330ml cans. That’s less than 50p a can. Less than any soft drink, less than water. I’d be a fool not to drink them! They have become firm favourites of mine – I drink tea and coffee in the morning and Bavaria 0.0% in the evening. I have no choice but to commend them to you. I have saved both money, and very likely years of my life by switching to Bavaria 0.0% beers.
Related articles
- Beer Review: Four Zero Alcohol Beers (captainpigheart.com)
- Beer Review: Three Zero Alcohol Beers (captainpigheart.com)