1y ago

What's the Best Non-Alcoholic Alternative to an Ice Cold Beer at the End of the Day?

The flavor of beer is rich and complex and I can't think of anything to replace the experience of beer.

If it helps, I actually like fruity beer, something sweet but with still some bitterness and that complex flavor I can't describe that most good beers have.

Why not a softdrink or a root beer? It's just not the same, it's like a different branch from beer.

121 comments

A fat fucken glass of cold water.
- Chilled water is definitely the way

Ice cold non-alcoholic beer, perhaps?
- NA beers can be great. Lagunitas sells a Hop Water that’s pretty good too - very light though. And most high-quality ginger beers pack a lot of flavor.
  
  Athletic makes some great NA beers too. Everything from a light lager like you’d expect from something like a bud light all the way up to NA stouts.
  
  For a long time I was in the "Non alcoholic beer can never replace real beer" camp. But in the last few years they've come a long way .. and now you can buy low or no alcohol craft beers that are actually quite good.
  
  Ginger Beer with lime is fantastic.
  
  Hop Water is insanely good. Like a citrusy, slightly bitter seltzer and usually cheaper than any NA beer that's worth drinking. It's quite a bit more money than any store brand seltzer though (which I would've recommended otherwise in either grapefruit or mango flavors for basically the same reason).
- At least here in Europa NA beers have improved wo much in the last few years. I literally don't know when I last drank one with alcohol when I just felt like drinking a beer (as opposed to when I wanted to drink alcohol).
  And since OP likes it fruity, (NA) Radler/Shandy is just great. It's 50:50 (NA) beer and lemon soda mixed. This was one of the original ways to get a fruity beer with a lower alcohol content (since the soda doesn't have any) when NA beers weren't good yet, great for a hot summer day.
- As someone who used to have a pretty bad drinking problem, NA beers have gotten so good in the past few years. Heineken zeros are almost indistinguishable from normal ones and craft NAs have also gotten pretty good. Even though I'm not "fully sober" I mix in some non alcoholic beers if it's going to be a long night to help pace myself.
- Yup. There should be a couple where you normally buy alcohol. Check out middle eastern grocery stores too. Mine has a wide range of NA beers.
- Non alcoholic beats have gotten so good with the proliferation of reverse osmosis distilling! The previous methods ruined it.
  I'd like to try getting a small reverse osmosis pump such as for survival desalination, and try doing small batch dealcoholising for more variety of wine. I'm sober now and I'm grateful for my options, but I was really into exploring before.

Try a good quality kombucha. Ice cold and carbonated they have a very similar bite/finish to a lot of beers. Most have sweet notes but are low sugar.
- Doesn't kombucha have a bit of alcohol as well?
  
  Technically yes but it’s around .5% or less which is the same as most non alcoholic beers
  
  They sell both kinds.
- I've never made it myself but home made kombucha is beautiful! Not as sweet as the store bought stuff, bit of a process though
- My first thought. Has to be the most complex least alcoholic drink.

It might be worth a try to get into tea!
(Loose leaf tea, not tea bags, the quality is usually better and you get a greater selection and much more diversity.)
There are so many different flavours and types, find out which ones you like.
If it helps, I actually like fruity beer, something sweet but with still some bitterness and that complex flavor I can't describe that most good beers have.
Talk to the tea seller, they should be able to help you find something. It might also be a good idea to start with a small quantity of different tea types, just to see which suits you best (but keep in mind that there might still be a lot of variety for each type): black/white/green/fruit/herbal/...
Personally on a hot day, I like cold brewed black tea with some fruity additions (orange/peach/bergamot/roses or whatever mix I find that I haven't tried yet). I don't add sugar (sometimes a bit of honey, but that only works when hot brewing) because that way I smell the light bitterness of the black tea better, which I like. It sounds like that could also be your thing. Another combination I frequently do is Rooibos + Hibiscus (mixing it myself, about 1/3 or less, by weight, of Hibiscus).
Experiment with cold brewing, or just regular brewing then icing. And in winter you might drink it hot.
Keep in mind, the taste is not at all like beer, but as written above it can have the same properties.
Don't stop when you don't like your first one, try another one, or try to prepare it differently.
- Your comment made me crave for a cuppa. I'll make something green.
- I find tea to be a great solution to this as well! I have a gong fu set, and learning about the complexities and trying different types is really great. I'm a huge coffee nerd and I've also always loved beer but have been cutting back significantly on the latter. Coffee would fit the bill perfectly except that it's too high in caffeine content - and a good decaf that fits what i'm looking for is hard to come by.
  enter tea! It's perfect. Much lighter caffeine content so it's perfect to enjoy in the early evening. And there's so much complexity and rich history to learn about in the process which feeds the beverages nerd in me lol.

when i quit drinking, i had a hard time finding something that scratched that itch. the thing i found, that a few other recovering alcoholics ive met like, is Topo Chico. they have a hard seltzer or something, but the mineral water is fantastic. when its nice and cold, it has the same bite as a fresh beer. the beauty is, you can drink as much as you want, its just water.

A nice joint, or two.
- I have my own fun little twist on this: three joints.
  
  can we get four, anyone? anyone?
  
  Wait till you hear mine: three joints and a pipe
- One or two bowls on a dry herb vape.

Water
- I still miss the waterniggas sub from "that site"
- Sparkling Water with Limo Slice and some Ice Cubes Slaps wuth Glas Straw

Theres a whole world of NA beer and mocktails.
Sparkling water is the base ingredient. Throw in a little bit of juice, tea, and/or kombucha. And if you aren't completely avoiding alcohol, a dash of bitters or amaro will give the drink that final complexity.
Hop tea and hop water are now a thing too.

Iced tea.
both me and my wife has quit drinking and just have tea all day.
so much better.

I like to mix some fruit juice into seltzer. It’s nice to have something bubbly and it’s more refreshing than just drinking straight juice. Juice is too strong! I can’t do full strength!
- A tiny bit of sugar free cordial is my go to, mainly as it gives it a hint of flavour without diluting the bubbles too much!
- I’m drinking cranberry juice and seltzer rn

Ice cold lemon water and some pot ingestion

My family made homemade lemonade today while I was outside working all morning and it was delicious. It's not a common occurrence, but it just hit the spot today.

Arnold Palmer
- Agreed. For anyone unfamiliar - that's a mix of lemonade and iced tea.

I switched from from beer to flavored carbonated water. This was 18 years ago though and the options were pretty limited back then. Mostly it was just artificially sweetened garbage. I'd rather just have a club soda and add my own fruit or juice to taste. But these days it's just easier to buy Polar or whatever.
- Highly recommend a soda stream, or soda stream alternative. My go to is 4 or 5 drops of lime juice in a glass, then the carbonated water. Tastes identical to the canned stuff, but way cheaper (and maybe less preservatives? Idk if the canned water has anything besides fruit juice and water)
  I also occasionally like root beer if I'm eating something junky like a pizza slice or burger. I bought a bag in a box of syrup from the small root beer brand I enjoy, and can make my own for a few cents instead of a few bucks per bottle. Plus, I can control the concentration depending on how sweet my sweet tooth is feeling that day
- Same for me. Lots of great options for sparkling water these days. I prefer it to soda.
  
  A Sodastream with a bulk tank and adapter is righteous. I love my set-up and it’s about as basic as It gets. Then flavoring and sweetness are totally customizable according to the user. Full disclosure: I’m diabetic so the sweetener/lack of is key for me.
  
  It’s aggravating because soda water costs more than cola but has less ingredients and all comes from the same bottling plant.

A massive joint

For me it is seltzer. When it’s really cold and you’re thirsty, taking a gulp is like the same as drinking a really cold beer for the first few seconds.

To add to any any all of these answers.
High quality Grape and apple juices - but like pressed/cider/fresh. There is so much incredible depth to the flavor profile and tons of variants and profiles to work through.
A favorite runner up would be a crisp cold can of la croix

Ginger beer, the spicier the better. Blenheim is the best I've found so far
- Homemade ginger beer, fermented, is immeasurably much better than any commercially produced ginger beer. Is not quite non alcoholic but is not intoxicating. Easy to make too

I had some really good nonalcoholic beers.
I went to a BBQ where the host had a new liver, so they stocked some solid nonalcoholic beers like Clausthaler and Athletic Brewing Run.
I now alternate between nonalcoholic and regular beer depending on how I feel.

Kombucha, flavored sparkling water
- Kombucha contains alcohol..
  
  It's such a minimal amount there are no restrictions on it
- I came here to post something similar, but yours is probably a better suggestion. I'm now fond of beet flavoured water kefir.
- It's not really flavored water. Google "tea mushroom". Sugars fermented by shrooms, that's how it's made.
  But indeed it's a healthy alternative.
  
  I meant them as two separate suggestions, sorry if unclear!

Water

Bundaberg
- It's way too sweet! I like it as a mixer, but alone it just tastes like a diabetic coma. Homemade is so easy and can be made dryer and still minimal alcohol.

I had a really cold can of hop water and it was so so good! Lagunitas makes some, but there are other brands that probably taste similar. It was so good and so refreshing!
- I like Sierra Nevada over Lagunitas hop water. And Hoplark is great but expensive.

Honestly ginger beer is amazing for this.

I like a cold glass of homemade pineapple kombucha - family love it too.
- I was gonna say kombucha as well, the experience of drinking it is kinda similar?

Cold soda water with a dash of angostura bitters. And lime if you're fancy.
- Dash of tea, juice or kombucha will amp up a seltzer and bitters.

Strongly agree about iced tea and kombucha. Both can be bought or made at home, and are naturally complex, fruity, and diverse in flavor.
I think people suggesting very sugary drinks like coke are missing the point somewhat

Hot sloppy oral.
- Turns out, sloppily putting hot beer down your throught isn't a great way to end the day.
  Bad advice.

Sparkling water and shrub over ice

Homemade almond milk with toasted ciconut, cinnamon and tumeric and lime juice and idk pineapple

A perfectly made Ocean Water from Sonic does it for me

fruit smoothie

Ice-cold Coke?
Virgin mixed drink? (e.g., mai tai, daiquiri)

I like lime sparkling water. You get the bubbles and it has a nice taste

Caffeine free iced herbal tea.

Big fan of a virgin mojito.
Just sparkling water, mint, lime, and a little bit of syrup to taste, as cool as it is refreshing.

How about a fancy coffee or tea? Not the same stuff you drink at work, you add a flavored creamer or something and just sip it on the couch.

Glass bottle coke, cane sugar variety

Have you tried any non alcoholic beers? Some aren’t terrible but not sure if there are any that are fruity though.
- This is just going to make you want a real beer even more, I'd wager. It's like feeling really horny and playing "Just the Tip."
  
  not in my experience
  
  Ngl I’ve had non-alcoholic beers that I could not distinguish from real ones.
  (The same is not true for wine. Non-alcoholic wine is ass)

I nice cold seltzer with a lime wedge.
- Dang. It somehow did not occur to me to add a lime wedge. You've probably improved my weekend evening drink forever. Thanks.
  (No sarcasm, I've just been enjoying a nice seltzer habitually for several months and never once thought to add fruit. I feel kinda silly. But thanks.)

A virgin bloody mary.
Many mixed drinks can be made without the alcohol.

Fucking fudgee-o bars. Or, the haaagen-dasz or magnum or whatever -- Ice cream bars dipped in chocolate.
It's second ONLY to a cold-as-hades low-booze beer like a corona.

Ice-cold spiced coconut water. I like the kind with ginger, lime, and turmeric in.

Water

Vita Malt or Malta Goya might be worth a try. They are malted soft drinks flavored with barley and hops. A South American or African grocery should have them or similar brands if you can't find them at your regular grocery. They will probably be in the international section.

Orange Vanilla Mio mixed with Key Lime LaCroix is a great drink. I feel like I almost got to where I was spending as much on that as I used to spend on beer and had to cut back on it too, but I don't mind it when I do!