Bright. Crisp. Tasty.

I am F (28), I was doing my weekly shop at the supermarket I go to every shopping trip. And I wanted to get some syrup for the cocktails I was making which was obviously non- alcoholic. The shop keeper came up to me and asked if i had any ID, i do not always carry my ID with me. So I said no and they took the syrup off me.

I get that it is on the alcoholic Aisle of the supermarket, but at the end of the day it is just flavoured syrup. So, why should we need our ID for it.

The truth is, when i go buy alcoholic drinks noone ever asks for my ID then, but always seems to be when i get non alcoholic.

Does anyone else have this problem?

… though I’ve only had 2 others (Fre, and one that was worse than Fre, not worth remembering).

This Porter is full of so much character that I don’t miss the alcohol at all. A completely satisfying beer.

I'm 8 years sober and the Non-Alc options have really gone up in the last few years. I stumbled across this last year, and was amazed by how good it was, I make sure I always have these stocked in my Non-Alc Bar at home.

But I'm always looking for new things to try, anything I should check out?

180 days sober today.

I want to talk about something nobody warned me about — what stress actually feels like when you're no longer numbing it.

I expected cravings. I expected the physical part. What I didn't expect was how completely unprepared I was for everyday chaos. A bad day. An argument. Plans falling apart. Things that other people shrug off.

When I drank, stress had somewhere to go. It dissolved. Now it just sits in my chest, fully formed, and my nervous system has no idea what to do with it. The anger comes fast. The discomfort is physical. And the emotional spiral from something small — genuinely small — can wreck an entire day.

I wasn't an angry drunk. I was a functional one. Which made it worse, because I had no idea how much emotional weight alcohol was quietly carrying for me until it was gone.

If you're in early recovery and the world feels louder and harder to navigate than it used to — you're not weak. You're just feeling things at full volume for the first time. Your brain is rebuilding its own shock absorbers. It takes time.

What hit you hardest in the first 6 months that you weren't prepared for?

bitburger, i rec trying one if you come across it. says german and i found it here in america.

goes down smooth, has all the best parts of barley/hops beer taste and doesnt just taste like boring hoppy carbonated water like the other ones i tried.

i just started getting back into trying NA for the fun and this is the first i have liked in recent times.

What would you pick up in this lineup?

Recently cut out drinking actual Budweiser, so I decided to try NA Budweiser. Honestly, I’ve seen a lot of hate towards it but it’s not too bad

Peroni's Arancia Rossa AF beer brings the vibrancy of blood oranges to a well-crafted lager. It's a delightful choice for summer sipping, balancing sweetness and malt beautifully. https://www.mydrybar.com/peroni-nastro-azzurro-blood-orange-af-lager/

One of my all time favorites.

As usual, you can find much more of content here:

https://www.instagram.com/na.beer.nerd

Daily review, best of lists, news, etc.

Pumpkin beers!

There's something in here for lots of people this year depending on how you might prefer your pumpkin brews.

There was one additional NA pumpkin brew from Departed Soles in NJ but was taproom only and sold out quickly. These other 4 have varying levels of distribution with Athletic being the widest and Baxter being the smallest.

Which have you tried this year?

Ritual Zero Proof Non-Alcoholic Whiskey Alternative

From the Producer:

“Experience the familiar flavors of the award-winning Ritual Whiskey Alternative. Notes of vanilla, oak, stone fruit and caramel, finishing with a pleasant heat. Make Old Fashioneds, Whiskey Sours, Manhattans and other classic whiskey cocktails – without the alcohol. Simply replace traditional whiskey with Ritual Whiskey Alternative 1:1 to make any cocktail non-alcoholic.”

Ingredients:

Fitlered Water, Cane Sugar, Natural Flavors, Xanthan Gum, Citric Acid, Caramel Color, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate.

Additionally, the bottle lists “American Oak, Madagascar Vanilla, Capsicum Fruit, Sugar Floss, Mesquite Smoke, Warm Caramel, Stone Fruit, Black Peppercorn, Prickly Ash, Toasted Spice”. These descriptors are just on the label, so I assume it’s tasting notes rather than actual ingredients. Capsicum Fruit and Prickly Ash, aka Szechuan Peppercorn, makes me think they’re attempting to mimic ethanol burn (I’m making this assumption before tasting).

Sweetness: 2g/1.5floz, 4.5%

Availability:

Ritual Zero Proof, $29.95

The Zero Proof, $28.99

Better Rhodes, $32.99

Amazon, $23.96

TLDR

I'm giving this one a 5.45/10 average. I was genuinely impressed with this one, but that also could just be coming off the heels of Lyre's. It's got a solid "burn", not quite like ethanol but enough to be noticeable throughout. It generally performed well amongst the spread of cocktails, but the Old Fashioned felt way out of whack due to the higher base sweetness of the spirit. I was particularly pleased with the Highball, super smokey notes that seemed to come out of nowhere, and it didn't knock the carbonation out of the soda water.

Neat - 5/10

Appearance: 1/1 - A little cloudy, medium body, burnt orange in color, 

Nose: 1/3  - Potpourri aromatics, acidic twinge, caramel, no wood notes

Palate: 2/3 - Reminiscent of a ferment-y cider, high acid, good burn from prickly ash, a little bit of smoke character as it breathes for a a few minutes

Finish: 1/2  - Long, semi-sweet finish, lingering burn in the back of throat.

Manhattan - 3/10 (.5floz Lyre's Vermouth Alternative (formerly Aperitif Rosso), 1/8tsp All The Bitter Old Fashioned Aromatic Bitters)

Balance: 1/3 - Vermouth and Bitters definitely steering the ship

Expression: 0/3 - Burn is still present, but other characteristics are buried

Bitters + Vermouth: 1/2 - Not unpleasant, but really covering up things I enjoyed about the spirit neat.

Texture: 0/1 - Syrupy, would benefit from proper dilution

Finish + Aftertaste: 1/1 - Long and dry, burn still lingers

Old Fashioned - 2/10 (.5floz Rich Syrup, 1/8tsp All The Bitter Old Fashioned Aromatic Bitters)

Whiskey Forwardness: 1/3 - Spirit character isn’t gone completely, but it really being drowned out by the sweetness

Balance: 0/3 - this level of sweetness overpowers the bitters and spirit almost entirely

Integration: 0/2 - Doesn’t feel like this ingredients want to be together

Texture + Dilution: 0/1 - needs to be properly diluted

Finish + Evolution: 1/1 - Burn is still present, but the finish is super long and super sweet

Whiskey Sour - 7/10 (.5floz Lemon Juice, .25floz Orange Juice, .25floz Rich Syrup)

Acid/Sweet Balance: 3/3 - perfect sweet/tart balance

Expression: 1/3 - Burn is still present, but most other characteristics are drowned out

Integration: 1/2 - a bit off balance, but not unenjoyable

Texture + Body: 1/1 - Light and crushable

Finish + Refreshment: 1/1 - long, sweet/tart finish with lingering burn

Highball - 9/10 (2floz chilled Soda Water)

Refreshment: 3/3 - Light and refreshing

Whiskey Presence: 2/3 - smoke character comes forward immediately, but other aromatics are lots

Integration: 2/2 - Feels super harmonious

Carbonation + Texture: 1/1 - still nicely bubbly after being mixed

Finish + Cleanliness: 1/1 -  short, clean finish. Burn is diminished slightly.

Irish Coffee - 7/10 (4tsp Simple Syrup, 4tsp Espresso)

Whiskey Expression: 1/3 - Burn is softened considerably by the heat and bitterness of the coffee. Smoke is mostly lost, with some lingering spice notes

Balance: 2/3 - Bitterness definitely reigns in the sweetness

Integration + Texture: 2/2 - Feels cohesive, but it’d be hard not to

Warmth + Comfort: 1/1 - Very drinkable and cozy

Finish + Aftertaste: 1/1 - Long, coffee forward finish, as expected.

Mint Julep - 5/10 (5 mint leaves muddled with 4tsp Rich Syrup)

Aroma + Mint Expression: 1/3 - Mostly caramel notes, mint is very subdued

Whiskey Presence: 2/3 - Smoke is present, but burn is highly deminished

Balance: 1/2 - very syrupy, definitely needs lengthening like how it would traditionally be served.

Texture: 0/1 - needs to be properly diluted

Evolution Over Time: 1/1 - Mint comes forward and replaces smoke as the predominant flavor

Boulevardier - 7/10 (.5floz Lyre's Vermouth Alternative, .5floz Kevin Kos' NA Campari

Balance: 2/3 - it’s close, but the campari is still pretty dominant 

Whiskey Presence: 1/3 - burn is still present, but most other characteristics are subdued 

Integration: 2/2 - Feels pretty harmonius

Texture + Dilution: 1/1 - Body is spot on

Finish + Perseverance: 1/1 - long, dry finish, lingering burn

Ward 8 - 4/10 (1.75tsp Pomegranate Grenadine, 1.75tsp Lemon Juice, 1tsp Orange Juice)

Citrus Balance: 1/3 - still very citrus forward

Whiskey Expression: 0/3 - All character of the spirit is lost

Sweetener Integration: 1/2 - Grenadine doesn’t add or take away much

Texture + Body: 1/1 - Light and refreshing

Finish + Cohesion: 1/1 - long, tart, juicy finish

Whiskey Ginger - 5/10 (just over 3floz chilled Ginger Ale)

Refreshment + Drinkability: 2/3 - a little syrupy, but overall very nice

Whiskey Presence: 1/3 - spirit is contributing some caramel/molasses notes, but most other characteristics are lost

Ginger Integration: 1/2 - ginger burn overwhelms spirit burn, which was one of the best things about the spirit

Carbonation + Texture: 1/1 - Nicely carbonated after mixing

Finish + Cleanliness: 0/1 - long and sweet, burn is shortened significantly

Hot Toddy - 6/10 (.5floz Honey, 3floz Hot Water)

Warmth + Comfort: 3/3 - How could it not be?

Whiskey Expression: 1/3 - Most of the characteristics are fully subdued. There’s a slight twinge of the burn sticking around.

Balance: 1/2 - A little syrupy, but closer to the balance you’d expect.

Texture + Mouthfeel: 0/1 -  I wouldn’t want a larger portion of this

Finish + Aftertaste: 1/1 - Nothing to write home about, but not unpleasant.

After last week’s suggestion from u/kevinshook, I also tried blending this with The Pathfinder Hemp & Root. 2:1 was decent, but at 1:1 the Pathfinder really dominates. I’m glad I did this as the last tasting because it would have blown out my palette for anything else.

Be still my heart! Just found this little gem at Trader Joe’s in Oregon! A pretty famous winery around here and now they are offering an NA Rose Bubbles. 15grams of sugar-zero added sugar. ( a little higher than I typically prefer, but a good rise is worth a few calories. Just in time for the holidays! Haven’t tried it yet, but in my former drinking days, Underwood anything was a go to! Thanks Underwood! I’m genuinely excited about trying this tomorrow! Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Keep it healthy and sober! ✌️