9 of the Best No- and Low-Alcohol Beers, According to an Expert

I would declare the Brooklyn Pils my favorite of the bunch if I didn’t like the others too much to pick a fav. During tasting, I exclaimed, “Gosh, I really like this,” out loud several times and didn’t want to put the can down to try competing samples. Meeting expectations for an expertly brewed Brooklyn beer, the Special Effects Pils tantalized from the beginning by pouring a rich off-white foam atop a brilliantly clear blonde liquid. An enticing aroma of fresh citrus hops and sunflowers made me want to dive in, and the right balance of malt and lightly earthy hops keeps the flavor feeling perky. Excellent job on the mouthfeel, thanks to a very light body and a warming, tingly sensation that sticks around for about twenty-five seconds then cools off with a hint of spearmint. Brooklyn’s website calls this “the perfect palate cleanser” but with my tasting notes full of comments like, “This was fantastic,” thinking of it as a palate cleanser would be to overlook and waste the excellence of one of the best NA’s I’ve ever sampled.

Bravus gets the nod for most improved NA brewery of 2023. Four of the NA-only brewery’s beers either did or could have made the list this year – up from none last year. While West Coast IPA and Golden Light ranked among my top could-have-been-contenders, the Peanut Butter Dark stood out as Bravus’ highest-quality year-round offering. (Pro tip: don’t sleep on the sublime Pumpkin Dark when it comes out in the fall.) The heavy dose of peanut in the aroma and flavor smells and tastes real because it is. With natural peanut butter, hazelnut and chocolate extracts, this medium-bodied stout might drink better in cold weather but it evokes memories of cracking open hot peanut shells at the ballgame.

Not only did I write “YES!” in my initial notes about this entry, I couldn’t wait to try it again the following day. My friend Yvonne called the medium-bodied Mexican lager “fun,” and I agreed that they nailed it with zippy lime and salt content that completely covers up any absence of alcohol. It could cheerfully replace a margarita or form the base for an outstanding one – with or without added tequila … your call.

One sip of the Stella and I knew this was a shoo-in. It’s mellow, easy, a touch floral and carries a subtle yet bright citrus – lime – tartness that serves to perk up the flavor rather than overtake it like too many of the inferior NA beers I tried. Flavored with cane syrup, Stella smells a touch sweet, almost like cookie dough, and drinks like a smooth ale that’s been conditioning in the cellar.

According to the brewery, Heineken 0.0 was built from the ground up rather than as an attempt to recreate the original, so it’s not clear why they say they then added flavors to make it taste more like the Heineken we all know and some people love. The 0.0 makes my list regardless – either as an adept facsimile or a unique newcomer. To my friend Michael it tastes familiar – getting his vote for being “spot-on for re-creation.” To me it tastes far fruitier – more appley – and less characteristically skunky than the OG lager. I get heavy green apple on the nose and apple/pear to taste; while this often appears as a flaw in beer, here I find it pleasant and probably derived from the yeast instead of by accident. If you buy it and don’t like it, the apple essence makes it excellent in a cocktail or “mocktail.”

If we were categorizing these entries, the highly refreshing wheated Erdinger weissbier would win for Best to Drink on a Summer Day. Brewed according to the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516, it’s so light that its aroma evokes white fluffy clouds and vapor. Though it goes down easy, its delicate floral taste and nice round mouthfeel give it merit and make it deserving of being taken seriously.

Can we talk for real for a sec? I like to drink orange-colored Clausthaler NA grapefruit when I have a rare hangover. The only repeat from last year’s list, the Clausthaler sips like a spritzy grapefruit soda that’s not too sweet and not too tart. It also boasts a nose of a grapefruit sliced open immediately after getting plucked from the tree. What doesn’t it look, taste or smell like? Beer. But that’s ok with me. As long as you know what you’re getting – or not, in this case – enjoy this grapefruit juice-infused malt beverage like an infinitely quaffable soda and maybe even a vitamin C-charged hangover helper.

To quote my friend Michael again, “I could see drinking this at a nice bar. It’s almost a little bit elegant.” I don’t disagree. Not only do I compare the low-carbonation mouthfeel to a Cognac, I can see occasionally drinking this very delicate, medium-brown elixir in place of wine. I designate it the Best NA Beer to Drink with Food because I suspect it would enhance but not compete against myriad different types of dishes; I also recommend replacing it for sherry in a cream soup.

A few Athletic offerings danced the line between “maybe” and “yes,” so I selected the Lite to represent this popular NA-only brewery because I can imagine slamming one after a hard run – not that I would know about anything remotely resembling running. An unfussy lemon aroma and taste saturate the otherwise beer-flavored beer that goes down quick and fades even quicker. The light body and pithy hop bitterness make for a clean quaff that my friend Joann says she’d pair with crabs and has the added bonus of tasting like a lemon cookie.