Ugh. This beer was just plain off. Undrinkable. And on such a hot night last night too!
Pale Ale tends to be the most common craft beer style and so tends to be the yardstick you measure against. This was always going to be a tough one for alcohol free beer. Upflow have got damn close here with a good fruity hop aroma and balanced bitterness. There's always going to be missing body but it's pretty damn good. I like it.
Not a bad attempt at a lager. Still ends up with that unique thin flavour you get with many of these brews but this one has more body than most. The hoppiness is strong and in your face, which helps. Refreshing and satisfying enough that Holly was disappointed when it had disappeared.
I think this one may be my favourite yet. You could easily drink this and not realise it's got no booze, which is probably only something you could get away with in a dark beer. Fortunately I love dark beer! Amazing. Really impressive work here.
Upflow: how about a nut brown ale as another dark brew in the set?
Catching up from last night's brews that Holly and I shared. These were both excellent.
The Sobah one had a bit of an odd smell from the pepperberry but that's a feature of their brews, Australian native ingredients. The taste was quite different though, strong malt and fruit. A really interesting brew, I'd drink this again.
Holly scored the Pine Trail Pale Ale but I got a sip. Delicious, a solid entrant with enough body to satisfy. Definitely worthwhile this one.
Dry and refreshing but not much going on. I can't taste the finger lime at all. It's acceptable but nothing special.
Nice and crisp this one. A bit lacking in body but good flavour and certainly refreshing.
Wow this IPA is the business! Fruity hop aroma. Deep bitterness. Body and malt. This is the benchmark now! There's a few other UpFlow brews in the cupboard so I'm looking forward to those now.
Also nibbling on some Ukrainian snacks. Sukareki are toasted black bread with flavourings and they're totally delicious! Perfect with beer. These ones are spicy tomato flavour and they definitely carry a kick. Nom.
This describes itself as a "Non-Alc Pale Ale". I'm not sure it hits the notes I'd expect from a pale ale. Not enough body. However it's quite refreshing, light flavoured without being incipid. Perfect when the temperature is 33 degrees like right now. A good Summer brew.
This Austrian number gets the take on lager right. Heavy, metallic bittering hops and a rich maltiness.
Lager is hard to get right with alcohol but without its super tough. This one nails it. I'd drink this happily.
