A ripe banana can have between 0.2% and 0.5% alcohol by volume. But don’t go pounding banana smoothies to get you through Dry January.
We’ve found a way to keep you crushing some of the best tasting beers while staying sober.
NA used to be an acronym for ‘not available’, but unavailability will need to make room as it now shares the moniker with one of the fastest-growing industries globally: non-alcoholic beer.
These days, it’s increasingly common to find beers that look ordinary but contain little or no alcohol.
If it weren’t for the “NA” on the packaging, you wouldn’t be able to tell it apart. With the same taste that delights the senses and the same sedative compounds that help you relax, these non-alcoholic beers are able to bring the satisfaction of cracking a cold one without some of its baggage.
In Germany, where NA beer is available at almost any supermarket or restaurant, NAs represents 9% of beer consumption.
But American NA beers are a much newer industry and they tend to focus on more modern craft styles like IPAs or ales. With American NA, you’ll find more experimentation and big wild swings that seem to be resonating with the growing market.
Recent Beer Institute data shows non‑alcoholic beer up more than 20% year‑to‑date, lifting its share of the U.S. beer market to a small but fast‑growing niche.
How it’s made: 0.5% ABV vs 0.0% ABV
When browsing non-alcoholic beers, you’ll find two numbers designating ABV: 0.0% and 0.5%.
Those categorized as 0.5% beers are created through a process of controlled fermentation, while 0.0% beers are created through a process of dealcoholization that evaporates alcohol.
Your average 0.5% NA typically will have a sweeter profile due to their incomplete fermentation process that keeps more leftover sugars from converting to alcohol. Meanwhile 0.0% alcohol has a taste closer in resemblance to your everyday beer.
It’s ironic that 0.0% beer tastes more like “normal beer.”
So if you’re looking for something that might taste or feel like a classic beer, 0.0% ABV might be your best choice.
But also keep in mind, there isn’t any intoxicating effect from a 0.5% alcoholic beer.
Many fermented foods, like overripe bananas, have more ABV than that. So if you have a sip of a 0.5% beer and feel tipsy, but don’t feel the same way after eating a banana, that’s a psychological placebo effect.
Where to Find A Decent NA Beer
Despite experiencing meteoric growth, finding the right NA beers in Los Angeles can be more challenging than you might expect, as everyday grocery stores might not have an adequate selection.
You can go to BevMo! or Total Wine to pick up some nice options, but if you want to find a wider variety, you’ll want to head over to Burden of Proof in South Pasadena. This mom-and-pop shop is leading the way in LA’s non-alcoholic drink boom with a large variety of alcohol free wines and liquors.
But their non-alcoholic beer selection is unmatched in greater Los Angeles and these six NAs are the best.
The best alcoholic beer rankings
No. 6: The Story Double IPA
Go Brewing’s The Story Double IPA comes from Chicago: a town that knows drinking. This is a malt beverage with simcoe, mosaic and citra hops and you can feel it from the thick taste it leaves with you. You can really taste that malt flavor from beginning to end with this one. If you want something sweeter, don’t go for this one.
No. 5: Free Wave Hazy IPA
Athletic Brewing Co. is one of the big dog NA brewers out of the good ole’ US of A. With their IPA’s, they can bounce drastically from flavor to flavor. Their Free Wave Hazy IPA has tastes of citrus and pine, but leaves the mouth a little bitter. This is a savory one. There is some foam to it though, so if that’s not your forté, maybe skip this one. You can find this beer behind a lot of bars.
No. 4: Easy Does It
Here is a lite beer that is best served cold. With touches of honey, this beer is smooth, simple and refreshing. If you want to shotgun an NA beer, and smash the can on your head in a display of showmanship: do it with Easy Does It. This brewery is the pet project of American skateboarder, Erik Ellington. This is a beer that’s definitely best served cold.
No. 3: Peroni 0.0
Peroni’s NA beer has the same exact taste and feel as any alcoholic Peroni beverage. I was pretty surprised that this was alcohol-free. Unlike the other alcoholic beers, I didn’t taste any stray sweetness. Instead, it was just like the real deal. It’s crisp, clean and simple. It’s nothing fancy but entirely reliable; an agreeable beer through and through.
No. 2: Kölsch
This tasty beverage is from a Best Day Brewing, a brewery based out of Northern California’s Sausalito. Their Kölsch is a .5 beer that has a great taste and is really refreshing. With malt that doesn’t overpower the taste and leaves you off with a clean finish.This is the type of beer that would pair real nicely with a summer afternoon on the beach. It’s a shame Mr. Buffett passed away before he could sip on this one.
No. 1: Guinness 0
This is the gold standard of NA beers despite only being five years old. It may be imprudent to coronate this the king of NAs so early, but it’s being crowned for good reason. It has the smooth, creamy dark taste of a Guinness but none of the heaviness. For anyone who’s enjoyed alcoholic Guinness, this drink will feel familiar with tones of coffee and dark chocolate, all finished with a subtle dry sweetness. You could pound half-a-dozen of these and still drive home without making a mess at your nephew’s birthday party.
