You've heard the saying that pregnant ladies are eating for two when they are carrying a little one; but now that Mrs. Bier von Westfall is pregnant, I've been joking with people that I'm drinking for three. Thankfully we're in a country where there's a rich beer culture and that extends to the beer's lesser thought of cousin, what's referred to in German as alkoholfrei bier. |
| The line up of beers |
While the vast majority of these beers taste like something is missing (because it is!) there's a whole range and so Mrs. Bier von Westfall and I wanted to find the best. We decided to have a taste test of four pilsner style alcohol free beers to help determine best "beer-like" pregnancy beverage.
When evaluating the beers, we each took notes on: appearance, aroma, flavor and any other comments about the beer and also whether it would be mistaken for a regular beer.
This is a brew from the large German brewery group Radeberger made in our current town of Frankfurt. It's described as on the website as (some good translation here): A balanced alcohol-free lager. Fresh and easy to drink. It is brewed with the finest malted barley and hops in the choicest, globally unique and patented brewing process in which only no alcohol is formed, which would subsequently be again removed. Pleasantly intense hops. Creamy on the palate, the sweetness of taste is balanced by a mild bitterness.
Annie's Comments
Appearance: looks like beer to me!
Aroma: smells kind of roasted.
Flavor: "extra herb" is a fitting description.
Notes: it's on the lighter side. very one dimensional. good, but one is enough. sort of in the middle, all around. Not bad.
Real beer? no.
Michael's Comments
When evaluating the beers, we each took notes on: appearance, aroma, flavor and any other comments about the beer and also whether it would be mistaken for a regular beer.
Clausthaler's Extra Herb
Annie's Comments
Appearance: looks like beer to me!
Aroma: smells kind of roasted.
Flavor: "extra herb" is a fitting description.
Notes: it's on the lighter side. very one dimensional. good, but one is enough. sort of in the middle, all around. Not bad.
Real beer? no.
Michael's Comments
Appearance: straw colored, crystal clear with a slightly off white head. 5-7 SRM.
Aroma: very grainy with a slight sulphur end.
Flavor: a strong initial grain flavor that immediately thins to an almost water finish.
Notes: decent beer, very easy drinker with a decent amount of flavor at the beginning that has a slight hint of herbal hop character. Just alright.
Real beer? Not a chance.
This pilsner is the alcohol free version of Rothaus Brewery's beer named after the little pine cones that adorn the bottle's label and inspire the shape of the bottle. It's said that these pine cones grow upwards, so because it's depicted downwards on the label, one must turn it upside down and drink!
On their website Rothaus goes into the process they use for producing this beer: To escape our beer alcohol while preserving its well-balanced taste, we were looking for a completely new way and found it. Based on an innovative, newly developed system, we can obtain almost all the flavors in the beer. First, the finished beer is gently heated in a vacuum, so the alcohol evaporates at 35 degrees.
The great pitch from the Jever website:
The alcohol-free Jever Fun is the perfect thirst quencher for those who like to have fun
and are active - in short, the perfect companion for any business enterprise
beyond the everyday. Whether you're with your friends on the go BMX
or balancing on a tightrope, Jever FUN always provides the right refreshment. Have fun out there!
Aroma: very grainy with a slight sulphur end.
Flavor: a strong initial grain flavor that immediately thins to an almost water finish.
Notes: decent beer, very easy drinker with a decent amount of flavor at the beginning that has a slight hint of herbal hop character. Just alright.
Real beer? Not a chance.
Bitburger Pils 0.0%
This alcohol free pils is marketed by Bitburger as a healthy post-workout drink. The description from their website says: It convinces with vitamins and isotonic effect - and is the perfect refreshment. Naturally brewed according to the German purity law. The only alcohol-free isotonic beer with 0.0% alcohol.
Annie's Comments
Appearance: same as the other, very light yellow
Aroma: slight smell of cat litter... maybe I'm pregnant.
Flavor: smooth, pretty flat, overall unoffensive.
Notes: I like the first one better. Hard to get past the smell, but ultimately fairly drinkable. I'd probably just stick to water if this was my only option though. It does smell better once it's warmed a bit. No depth of flavor, what you smell is basically what you taste.
Real Beer? NO
Michael's Comments
Appearance: very light yellow-straw colored. thin, short lasting head. 4-6 SRM.
Aroma: smells like a mash before it's fermented. very grainy.
Flavor: grassy, grainy sweet malt flavor with a very slight hint of herbal hops (like they might have been in the room when it was brewed but never made it into the kettle).
Notes: a good breakfast drink. a malt dominated flavor without a very little amount of noble hop presence.
Real Beer? Not exactly.
Alcohol-free Tannenzäpfle
This pilsner is the alcohol free version of Rothaus Brewery's beer named after the little pine cones that adorn the bottle's label and inspire the shape of the bottle. It's said that these pine cones grow upwards, so because it's depicted downwards on the label, one must turn it upside down and drink! On their website Rothaus goes into the process they use for producing this beer: To escape our beer alcohol while preserving its well-balanced taste, we were looking for a completely new way and found it. Based on an innovative, newly developed system, we can obtain almost all the flavors in the beer. First, the finished beer is gently heated in a vacuum, so the alcohol evaporates at 35 degrees.
Annie's Comments
Appearance: slightly lighter than the others.
Aroma: mild, very pleasant.
Flavor: YUM! now this tastes like beer!
Notes: I may be biased because of the nostalgia factor--we drank regular Tannenzapfle on our first trip to Germany together--but I love this!! Smooth, drinkable, doesn't scream alcohol free.
Real Beer? YES!
Michael's Comments
Appearance: similar color to others, slightly whiter head. 4-6 SRM.
Aroma: sweet malt initial nose, with a slight sulphur finish
Flavor: very much like the regular TZ, a malty sweetness that has the good balance of faint grass/herbal hop flavor coupled with a quenching dryness that makes it highly drinkable.
Notes: Would drink again, the best so far.
Real Beer? Yeah.
Jever Fun
This is the alcohol free version of my favorite German Pils. The mineral content of the water used in the brewing process gives it a unique flavor and aroma, a delicate mix of sweet herbal hop character coupled with a faint sulfuric whiff. Once you've had it, you'll not soon forget it.
The great pitch from the Jever website:
The alcohol-free Jever Fun is the perfect thirst quencher for those who like to have fun
and are active - in short, the perfect companion for any business enterprise
beyond the everyday. Whether you're with your friends on the go BMX
or balancing on a tightrope, Jever FUN always provides the right refreshment. Have fun out there!
Annie's Comments
Appearance: very light, lots of carbonation.
Aroma: sweet, with a hint of that acrid smell (that was present in the Bitburger, but not as pronounced here).
Flavor: moves over your tongue, starting in middle and branching out to the sides. tastes a lot like beer from college.
Notes: This is the only one of these beers that has a dynamic flavor; all the rest are very one dimensional. This has that roasted finish that isn't my favorite. Decent, but very much reminds me of college (before I knew beer could taste good).
Real Beer? kinda
Michael's Comments
Appearance: looks like it might be the lightest of the four, 2.5-5 SRM
Aroma: signature Jever nose: slightly skunky but also sweet malty hints
Flavor: this has the most herbal hop bitterness of the four, good wave of flavors.
Notes: makes me thirsty, a good overall take on regular Jever, and a very thirst quenching beer.
Real Beer? Borderline.
The clear winner of the four was the Rothaus Tannenzäpfle, it was the most like a regular beer. It had a good, lasting body that didn't just jump off your tongue after the first sip like some of the others. But ultimately, we poured the majority of the alkoholfrei beers (Annie did drink the remainder of the Rothaus) and I got a real beer.
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| 29 weeks and counting... |
