They say that beer is an acquired taste, and based on my observations, it’s one that many mountain bikers have developed through countless post-ride celebrations. Non-alcoholic (NA) craft beer promises the same great taste without the effects of alcohol, but is it a worthy substitute? I decided to investigate if NA beer might be a better choice for mountain biking, how it’s brewed, and most importantly, how it tastes.
Risks associated with consuming alcohol
Anyone who has taken a middle school health class can likely rattle off a list of the potential risks associated with consuming alcohol. To recap, the CDC says one of the main, negative short term risks to alcohol consumption is injuries, and considering that mountain biking is already a dangerous sport, adding alcohol to the mix only increases the risk. Looking long term, the CDC also notes that excessive alcohol use can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver damage, a weakened immune system, mental health problems, and multiple types of cancer.
That last part about cancer risk was particularly surprising to me, and apparently others too. A recent study found that 50% of Americans didn’t know about the link between alcohol and cancer risk. Back in dry January of this year, Gloria Liu wrote an excellent article for Bicycling that got me thinking about modifying my own post-ride rituals, especially given the compelling health arguments against it.
For mountain bikers in particular, alcohol presents additional challenges given that it doesn’t support hydration and is known to disrupt the sleep patterns that help with recovery after a big ride. Don’t get me wrong, craft beer is delicious and it’s relaxing to drink after mountain biking. But as with everything in biking (and in life) there are pros and cons, and tradeoffs to be considered. For some, NA craft beer strikes the right balance.
What is NA beer?
Non-alcoholic beer, which is also referred to as near beer, is beer that contains less than 0.5% alcohol by volume (ABV). Compare that to traditional, alcoholic beer which is generally 4-7% ABV, though it should be noted that it’s not unusual for a craft beer to contain more than 7% ABV.
There are a few different methods used to make NA beer; the two most common are controlled fermentation and de-alcoholizaition. Controlled fermentation involves tweaking the brewing process so that alcohol is not produced, or is produced in very limited amounts, during fermentation. Dealcoholizaition takes beer that’s been brewed in the normal manner and removes the alcohol through steam distillation, reverse osmosis, or gas stripping. With either method, NA beer can be crafted in a wide variety of beer styles from IPA to lagers and everything in between.
Removing the alcohol, or preventing it from forming in the first place, does affect both the taste and the mouthfeel. NA beer tends to cost just as much as traditional craft beer, and you even need to be 21 years old to purchase it in almost every US state. (According to this chart, Colorado is the only U.S. state that allows 18-year-olds to purchase 0.5% ABV beer.) And since most NA beers still contain some alcohol, it’s not an option for those who must abstain for religious or other reasons.
For me, and an increasing number of my mountain bike friends, NA beer is an appealing choice for the reasons outlined above. Let’s dive into the tasting notes!
My favorite NA beers (so far)
I’ve been meticulously rating and tracking the beers I’ve tried over the years using the Untapped app, and that includes NA beers. My highest rated NA beer so far is Free Wave Hazy IPA (4.5⭐️) from Athletic Brewing Company. Calling any beer ‘Athletic’ is a bit like naming a drink with 27g of added sugar ‘Vitamin Water,’ but this is the world we live in. Athletic says their beer “undergoes a full fermentation, but by closely monitoring and adjusting variables along the way, such as temperature, we maintain very low levels of alcohol.” Free Wave Hazy IPA contains 70 calories which is a good bit lower than a regular craft beer, but still obviously higher than water.
I found that Free Wave Hazy IPA tastes hoppy and familiar, albeit not as smooth or as sweet as a full alcohol hazy IPA. The carbonation levels are bitey, like a seltzer water. I also like Athletic Run Wild IPA (4.0⭐️), though I’m not really a fan of Athletic Upside Dawn Golden.
My next favorite NA beer is Brewdog Hazy AF (4.0⭐️) . Brewdog Hazy Jane is a top choice among our regular Tuesday night ride group, and the NA version tastes surprisingly similar. It’s hoppy with a little extra dankness that almost fools the taste buds into thinking it’s the real deal. To stay sharp I never drink beer before a ride, but for me a cold Hazy AF is a tasty way to pre-hydrate.
At Sea Otter this year I tried three NA beers from Best Day Brewing, a brewery that like Athletic, is focused on producing NA beers only. Unlike Athletic, Best Day uses a dealcoholization process to produce their beers, which include a Kolsch-style beer, a West Coast IPA, and a hazy IPA.
“The method used to make Best Day beer is a membrane separation dealcoholization technology that is pretty new to the scene,” Ron Lindenusch, head of product innovation tells me. “In this process, the beer never rises above fermentation temperature, and is much gentler on the beer as the alcohol is removed.”
Of the three Best Day NA beers I tried, the Kolsch-style beer was my favorite. It has a bit of sweetness to it balanced with the right amount of carbonation for a smooth overall flavor. I’m not normally a fan of Kolsch-style beers, and I thought I would like Best Day’s hoppy, West Coast IPA best, but that one ended up being my least favorite.
My eyes were first opened to NA beer in February of this year while bikepacking the Huracan 300. My friend Chris Kelly met us in the morning, about 20 miles into our first day of riding, with cans of Budweiser Zero. I don’t remember the last time I drank a Budweiser beer so I can’t say how the taste of Bud Zero compares to the original, but on that day it was a great choice. Cold, wet, and not sugary-sweet like the Powerade and Arizona Green Teas I would guzzle over the next three days, I found Budweiser Zero to be a refreshing, mid-ride beverage alternative.
Brooklyn Brewery Special Effects IPA is another NA beer I tried recently, and though it doesn’t taste much like IPA to me, it has a semi-sweet, yeasty flavor that’s unmistakably beer-y.
Lagunitas Brewing Co is known for their piney, West Coast style IPA and in addition to their non-alcoholic IPNA, they also make the sparkling hop water pictured above. Lagunitas Hoppy Refresher isn’t beer at all; it’s zero calorie and zero alcohol, essentially a hop-flavored LaCroix. It tastes fruity and almost sweet to me, not like beer — or hops for that matter. It does have a hoppy smell though, and is very refreshing.
At the moment my fridge has more NA beer than regular beer, and I don’t feel like I’m missing out. If anything, I feel better about riding this summer than ever before. And my search continues for the best-tasting NA brews.
Your turn: Do you love it or hate it? Tell us what you think about NA beer in the comments below, and share your favorites.
I too read that article by Bicycling mag back in early January and it changed my mind. Also read a great book ‘This Naked Mind, Control Alcohol’ by Annie Grace which helped me realize the damage I had been doing by binge drinking. Have struggled with alcohol addiction for 20 years and finally quit, sober for almost 6months now and wow, sobreity has changed my outlook on life, greatly improved my recovery times and made me ever stronger for it. Drink don’t drink that’s up to you but I gotta say the positives of quitting far outweigh the negatives. I lost 17lbs in 4 months of exercise and abstaining from alcohol. Athletic changed my mind that na-beer could taste great. I would also take a look at Hoplark Hopped Teas~ John Watson at the Radavist turned me onto Hoplark teas, which are 0% alcohol and taste damn near close to an IPA. Favorite NA-beers have been Athletic, Wellbeing, Surreal, Sober Carpenter, Bravius, Guinness 0%, Heineken 0.0, Clausthaler to name a few. RN, there are more options for na-beer than ever before it has made the transition to sobriety that much easier for everybody. One day at a time. Surround yourselves with love and support from fam and friends and get ready to feeling better mentally, physically and spiritually.
Congratulations on quitting. Each year you keep feeling better and sharper. I just turned 50 and 5+ years sober and have been crushing some of my older race times from back when I was attempting to drink all the alcohol in the states I resided in since my teenage days.
Great article and good coverage of the brands out there. Best quote from my brother in law beer brewing snob when I gave him an Athletic IPA: “Holy $h!% I didn’t expect that”. Just a few good ones I personally like not covered are Bravus Oatmeal Stout and their IPA but other Bravus beers have a weird metallic aftertaste to me. Most any Well Being beer is good esp their IPA which is smoother and not as kick you in the mouth bitter, their Hellraiser is a good mouthful of flavor amber, and their Match Day is a nice pub draw. Partake’s Pale and IPAs are the better of their line and I really like the Hazy IPA. Untitled Art’s stouts are slap ya mamma delicious (but expensive). and I like Surreal though the carbonation seems weird and I love their Red though, seems people either love it or hate it. For cheap NA beers: Penn’s Best, Coors Edge, and Busch NA are good summer after lawn work beers but just like their alcohol version parents, don’t let them get room temp and turn to swill.
I went (mostly) dry for 2023, so I’ve been digging on a lot of the beers from Athletic Brewing this year. In addition to their staple beers that you can usually find on the shelves, they have a pretty deep roster of beers available for order on their website and they ship free if you order $50 or more.
Personally, I found Brew Dog’s selection of NA beers pretty thin tasting. I don’t know what process they use to remove the alcohol, but it says right on their cans “beer FLAVORED near beer”.
I did a selection of beers from Best Day Brewing and enjoyed them all.
If you haven’t come across them already, check out the selection from Drink Self Care, The Freak Flag Hazy IPA and Near & Far Modern IPA taste like beer, full stop. And good beer, too.
My local bottle shop almost always has the IPA from San Diego-based Alesmith Brewing in stock as well. Solid beer.
Great article! I’ve been dabbling in NA beer recently myself. My favorite so far is out of Portland, ME – kit NA BREWING, their American Blonde. Great taste. Cheers!
I too have recently switched to NA beers primarily. Health reasons specifically. Of the ones I’ve tried, here are some of my favorites.
Go Brewing, BrewDog, RationAle Brewing, Bravus, and Sam Adams has a hazy IPA that is really, really good and it’s usually available locally which is nice. Other than Bravus and Sam Adams, I have to order mine and get them shipped although the local Target is starting to carry a wider selection.
It’s nice being able to enjoy a good tasting beer pretty much anytime you like and have zero effects from it. It’s also nice to know that it’s healthier overall for my body.
I hope local breweries jump on the trend and start offering some NA beers at their locations. That would be icing on the cake!!
This article inspired me to finally try out Athletic Brewing, and dang… not bad.
I love bikes and beer. Post ride beer has been a part of the whole scene for me since I got my first mountainbike in 1989…but in March 2022 I was involved in a bad crash in which I had 6 spinal fractures and a moderate traumatic brain injury. I was determined to ride again but saw alcohol as a habit I just couldn’t afford anymore.
luckily I already knew about sports beers and NA beers. I had always felt beer had some good health promoting properties as summarized in this article
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/02/24/588417922/olympians-are-using-non-alcoholic-beer-as-recovery-drinks-heres-the-science
so for me it’s the Athletic IPAs as I haven’t had any alcohol since the crash. I think Athletic’s IPA’s are very good – at least 80% as good as the very best IPA I’ve ever had. Upside Dawn was their breakthrough product but is a different style- more like a Pilsner but has won all kinds of awards including best overall in a U.S. beer competition. Their light beer is the best light beer I’ve ever tasted and is about 20 cal per 12 oz.
I like it that Athletic has supported almost $ 3 million for trail building and is a fixture at local gravel races here locally. I also like that it has committed to being a B corporation, with the highest standards for quality and environmental stewardship.
BTW, I read an article on the Outside magazine website which quantified the alcohol in Atheletic’s IPAs and it was way less than the “less than 0.5%” that is labeled – something like 0.00005% ABV.
I haven’t been able to try the other NAs referenced here due to distribution issues.
john m
greenville SC
I’ve been really enjoying the Athletic Brewing dark beer. It tastes very close to new Belgium’s 1554. I plan to join their subscription plan. They had a great Ironman branded special IPA as well at a recent race I attended.
Jeff, mountain biking would be less dangerous for you if you would stop pissin off your bike…
Good article, Jeff. I find that the day after drinking (2-4 beers), I am unmotivated and tired. I do enjoy the taste of beer as well as the ritual. I am going to add these to the mix. That way, I don’t wait until 6:30PM on Sunday to start my ride (after completely blowing off Saturday).
I was a bit of a beer snob, but I accepted an offer of a Punk A.F. after some cat skiing this winter. I was shocked at the taste and more shocked that it was 20 calories!
A lot of my drinking is more of a ritual… i.e., have a beer after work, or after a ride, etc. These N.A. beers fit the bill perfectly.
To answer Jerry Bob’s question as to “why”, I’d say it fills the void and allows me to sleep well at night. At my age (53), it doesn’t take much alcohol to disrupt my sleep.
I quit drinking back in 2014 after some mistakes were made and a profound realization. That said most of my friends drink and after a group ride or a long day of “insert activity here”, it’s nice to hang out with a cold beer. I’m all in on a good IPA, and the Athletic Run Wild is my preference. Not so into the lagers, wheats, or traditional styles, so I don’t have any input on those. In addition to the Lagunitas Hoppy Refresher, I’d also recommend Hoplark 0.0 if your into hops.
If you’re going to drink a beer, drink a beer. SMH
Funny how some folks cannot control the flood gates once they are opened.
The difference between “a” and the keg is ginormous!!
Good point. Took me exactly two episodes in high school to instill a lifelong sense of self-control. I guess some folks just enjoy barfing… I do not.
Also, if you’re going to drink a non-alcoholic beer, drink a non-alcoholic beer. 🤷♂️
But why bother? If you’re not going to drink a real beer, why pretend? Then again, some folks swear they actually enjoy the taste of IPAs, so…