The best AF beers
I’ve dabbled in alcohol free beverages quite a bit over the past two or three years. I think they’re great — there are times when you don’t want to be drinking, but you used to have to choose a coke or lemonade and stand out like a sore thumb. With these, nobody knows (well apart from the blue label on the bottle). And you feel like you’re having a drink too. And some are actually pretty good.
Here’s my expert analysis on the various brands:
Heineken 0.0: The classic one that you’ll find stocked in the fridge of most pubs. And it’s not bad you know. But it’s not amazing either. If you have anymore than 2 or 3 over the course of the evening then you’ll get a bit bored of the taste.
Beck’s Blue: If there isn’t a Heineken 0.0 behind the bar then there will be a Beck’s Blue. And like Heineken 0.0, it does the job. I see it as the little brother to H, not quite as popular and also not quite as good.
Brooklyn Special Effects: Honestly great. Out of the ones that are commonly sold in pubs this is definitely the best. It tastes more like a beer than the two above, it doesn’t have that bland taste. It’s also 0.4% so if you drink enough of these then you might start to feel a buzz.
Lucky Saint: It needs a mention because of its popularity, but I don’t get the hype. I think it’s great that alcohol free beers are starting to be sold on tap, particularly during Dry January, but its a shame that this is the one they’ve chosen. The Carling of the AF world.
Bavaria: I’ve seen a few reviews of this, and they’re not good at all. But I completely disagree. I think everyone must be getting this confused with Lucky Saint. This is fantastic, has a real creamy taste which I think is why it gets the online hate but why I think it makes the perfect dessert.
Nirvana: This beer was on draught a few years ago at a pub where we used to do the quiz on Sundays. I can’t really remember how it tasted, but it must have been good because we used to go to this quiz every week.
Zed: I’ve only ever seen this one, but it’s the only alcohol free pale ale that I can recall. It actually has that hoppy taste, which makes it different to your usual AFs which are often really smooth and missing that beery aftertaste.
Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc: Found this in Paris, probably my favourite one from any of the big boy brands. I genuinely prefer this than actual Kronenbourg, which can’t be said for any of the others. Quite smooth, comes in a fancy blue bottle.
Guinness 0.0: This tastes like Guinness. Unfortunately the Guinness that it tastes like is the Guinness from the can, not from the bottle. According to The Guinness Guru, there is something called a “nitrosurge” that makes canned Guinness more like draught Guinness. I’d be very interested to see the effect it has on this.
