0% Beer

smidsy

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Smidsy, what's your issue with alcohol free beer?

I think I have stated my issue very clearly - it is pointless.

ugo.santalucia wrote:

it somehow diminishes British masculinity or what?

I would have thought my argument is exactly opposed to this statement. I am saying that there is no need for beer. If the effect of beer is not desired or appropriate I drink something that is.

ugo.santalucia wrote:

is not up to you to question

Sorry I though this was a forum for discussion. I am not requiring anyone to agree, simply putting across my view.

Alcohol free beer is pointless to me, just as caffeine free coffee is or sugar free coke.

I drink beer (very occaisionally) when I want the effect of beer. I drink coffee because I like the caffeine effect. I drink Coke because it is sweet.

I have stated my point sufficiently and will leave it at that.

ugo.santalucia

But that's you... others drink beer because they like the taste of beer... maybe they don't want the effects of beer... pointless for you, not for others... the market is growing, it's pointless for you to piss against the wind

Anonymous

Better to wee wee in little green bottles and sell it as 0% beer going by some of the ones I have tasted

bianchimoon

Lets face it the only point to beer is that it has alcohol, no one would have ever started it as a drink of choice if it wasn't for the effect, the taste is bleedin awful, I know this cos i still retain some memory from early drinking days. takes time and daft drinks (cider and black etc) usually to graduate to beers, who didn't have add lime to lager, lemonade to beer and many other things to make it more palatable. Therefore I conclude that all non-alcoholic beer must (and alcoholic) tastes cr@p

Anonymous

What beer tastes like is subjective, but yes, I guess it does taste bad at first ;-)

Once you have got to like the taste though that would mean that 0% has a purpose.
They say that if you have a tiny bit of something that you do not like (say marmite) every day for 3 weeks (could be 3 months) then you will actually like it.

I just like the Bavaria 0.0% so thought it worth a mention in case it was of use to anyone.

ugo.santalucia

The taste is very similar... essentially it is beer that has been distilled under vacuum to remove the alcohol. It lack one dimension, that kind of sweet taste of alcohol, but overall decent alcohol free beer does the job pretty well and I have no hesitation to order it when it's available. I do like the taste of beer and if I can drive to the countryside, drink 10 of them in the garden whilst having a BBQ and drive home I am a happy bunny... frankly I have passed the age when being drunk is cool or desirable, so if I can avoid the embarrassment of talking codshix and the following hangover it's a bonus...

Flâneur

Poor old Kaliber, don't think it has a mention. though its taste does leave a lot to be desired.

capt_slog

bianchimoon wrote:

Lets face it the only point to beer is that it has alcohol, no one would have ever started it as a drink of choice if it wasn't for the effect, the taste is bleedin awful, I know this cos i still retain some memory from early drinking days. takes time and daft drinks (cider and black etc) usually to graduate to beers, who didn't have add lime to lager, lemonade to beer and many other things to make it more palatable. Therefore I conclude that all non-alcoholic beer must (and alcoholic) tastes cr@p

This is partially a change in the way your sense of taste operates. When we are younger we tend to like sweeter tastes and the bitterness of beer doesn't go down too well. The same with wines, all the sweet whites stay ignored on the super market shelf in favour of reds.

Also, I would never have eaten Stilton cheese as a kid, I love it now, I can even tolerate broccoli. (brussels remain an abomination though)

bianchimoon

Capt Slog wrote:

bianchimoon wrote:

Lets face it the only point to beer is that it has alcohol, no one would have ever started it as a drink of choice if it wasn't for the effect, the taste is bleedin awful, I know this cos i still retain some memory from early drinking days. takes time and daft drinks (cider and black etc) usually to graduate to beers, who didn't have add lime to lager, lemonade to beer and many other things to make it more palatable. Therefore I conclude that all non-alcoholic beer must (and alcoholic) tastes cr@p

This is partially a change in the way your sense of taste operates. When we are younger we tend to like sweeter tastes and the bitterness of beer doesn't go down too well. The same with wines, all the sweet whites stay ignored on the super market shelf in favour of reds.

Also, I would never have eaten Stilton cheese as a kid, I love it now, I can even tolerate broccoli. (brussels remain an abomination though)

interesting re the stilton cheese, I love cheese and tried stinking bishop at xmas in fact a couple of times as it cost a fortune but in the end had to admit defeat and bin it

crescent

I believe the CO2 in carbonated drinks is one of the main reasons for hangover symptoms so not entirely beyond the realms of possibility to have a mild hangover from drinking fizzy drinks.

You could argue this to the nth degree and deem any drink other than water as pointless. Just because you don't like it or don't have a use for it doesn't mean others can't enjoy it under certain circumstances. I actually enjoy the taste of beer, I find it a pleasant drink albeit an acquired taste. I can't understand anyone drinking something they find unpleasant on a regular basis, unless they have a dependency on it. I don't imagine anyone is using it to wean themselves off alcohol. I believe this approach has been tried with heroin, although I understand methadone doesn't quite hit the spot in the same way.

t4tomo

Carbonator wrote:

Cobra is the worse I have tried. I had to check I had not picked up a bottle of Mr Muscle by mistake.
Not sure why I opened the second bottle, but the last two sat in the fridge a while then went down the sink....... bit like Mr Mucle

You've ruined your whole argument here. Cobra is a great beer to have with Curry, less gassy and nicer than kingfisher and definitely better than your Stella, Heineken and such like.

Anonymous

t4tomo wrote:

Carbonator wrote:

Cobra is the worse I have tried. I had to check I had not picked up a bottle of Mr Muscle by mistake.
Not sure why I opened the second bottle, but the last two sat in the fridge a while then went down the sink....... bit like Mr Mucle

You've ruined your whole argument here. Cobra is a great beer to have with Curry, less gassy and nicer than kingfisher and definitely better than your Stella, Heineken and such like.

Sorry, that should have read Cobra 0%.
Normal Cobra is nice.

capt_slog

Crescent wrote:

I believe the CO2 in carbonated drinks is one of the main reasons for hangover symptoms so not entirely beyond the realms of possibility to have a mild hangover from drinking fizzy drinks.

.

No, it's not. It's the alcohol and what the body metabolises it to that's the problem.

overlord2

ugo.santalucia wrote:

soft drinks simply don't go with food

Not sure on that one.

imo beer doesnt go with curry its just all wrong spicy food needs something sweet to take away the burn. Which is the whole point of lassi.

And if your not having anything more powerful than vindaloo - go home.

Anonymous

Overlord2 wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

soft drinks simply don't go with food

Not sure on that one.

imo beer doesnt go with curry its just all wrong spicy food needs something sweet to take away the burn. Which is the whole point of lassi.

And if your not having anything more powerful than vindaloo - go home.

I would guess your opinion would be in the minority of people (that drink larger).

Not quite sure what strength has to do both it?
Having it so hot you have to drink something sweet to stop it hurting sounds stupid and pointless to me.

Have the strength you want and drink what you want with it..................for a lot I would have thought that was larger.

overlord2

Chillis have loads of flavour if you can't taste the chilli its a lousy curry.

30 years living in Bradford, its a dump. But probably the best city in the UK for Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi food.

Theres no way on earth you would get an asian drinking beer with a curry for a good reason - it doesnt work.

Anonymous

Take your point and agree with chilli's and heat but do not understand what you mean by 'doesn't work'.

Surely if you go and have a jalfrezi with a few pints of larger and enjoy it more than anything else you eat then it 'works' for you.

Frank the tank

I recently had a lovely afternoon drinking Belvoir elderflower presse. Far better than juices in the respect you can "con yourself" into believing your having wine and don't feel quite such a party pooper.

As for alcohol free beer, I would never drink any.

Ben6899

ugo.santalucia wrote:

But that's you... others drink beer because they like the taste of beer... maybe they don't want the effects of beer... pointless for you, not for others... the market is growing, it's pointless for you to wee-wee against the wind

This. A Westmalle Dubbel would be a thing of beauty, whatever the alcohol content.

neeb

bianchimoon wrote:

Lets face it the only point to beer is that it has alcohol, no one would have ever started it as a drink of choice if it wasn't for the effect, the taste is bleedin awful, I know this cos i still retain some memory from early drinking days. takes time and daft drinks (cider and black etc) usually to graduate to beers, who didn't have add lime to lager, lemonade to beer and many other things to make it more palatable. Therefore I conclude that all non-alcoholic beer must (and alcoholic) tastes cr@p

I despair....

I love beer. Almost all kinds of beer, from massively-hopped west coast American IPAs to Belgian Trappist ales, Imperial stouts to cask conditioned English bitters. I can even appreciate the occasional wheat beer or dry Czech pilsner. And yes, beer does go with all food, you just need to find the right beer. About the only type of beer I don't drink unless I have to however is bog-standard mass produced lager. Foul stuff, shouldn't really be called beer. Unfortunately nearly all of the non-alcoholic beers I have seen seem to be based on this style but taste even worse. If someone can point me towards a decent non-alcoholic ale, I'll gladly give it a go.

The best substitute for beer if you want to avoid the alcohol is one of the traditional weakly fermented table beverages, e.g. Russian kvass or Finnish kotikalja. So little alcohol you can effectively drink as much as you want without being compromised. Unfortunately almost unknown in most places and increasingly unpopular where they are. Our medieval ancestors in northern Europe would have drunk gallons of this sort of thing. Now we have carbonated sugary drinks instead... So much for progress!

joelsim

smidsy wrote:

Carbonator wrote:

if anyone needs a decent 0% beer

Why would anyone want this?

If you want a beer have one, if that is not appropriate drink soft drinks.

If you can not do the above you need help

Couldn't agree more. I can think of 100 drinks I'd rather have than beer (if it didn't get you hammered that is).

In fact I can't remember the last time I chose beer when I had a choice. At home it's pretty much always red or cider in summer. If watching sport at the pub it will be either cider or Guinness. If not drinking, then 0% lager would be the very last thing on the list.

neeb

Joelsim wrote:

Couldn't agree more. I can think of 100 drinks I'd rather have than beer (if it didn't get you hammered that is).

In fact I can't remember the last time I chose beer when I had a choice. At home it's pretty much always red or cider in summer. If watching sport at the pub it will be either cider or Guinness. If not drinking, then 0% lager would be the very last thing on the list.

Guinness is beer. Quite a nice beer actually, so you are not beyond redemption.

Beer is better than Jesus, after all.

BelgianBeerGeek

neeb wrote:

bianchimoon wrote:

Lets face it the only point to beer is that it has alcohol, no one would have ever started it as a drink of choice if it wasn't for the effect, the taste is bleedin awful, I know this cos i still retain some memory from early drinking days. takes time and daft drinks (cider and black etc) usually to graduate to beers, who didn't have add lime to lager, lemonade to beer and many other things to make it more palatable. Therefore I conclude that all non-alcoholic beer must (and alcoholic) tastes cr@p

I despair....

I love beer. Almost all kinds of beer, from massively-hopped west coast American IPAs to Belgian Trappist ales, Imperial stouts to cask conditioned English bitters. I can even appreciate the occasional wheat beer or dry Czech pilsner. And yes, beer does go with all food, you just need to find the right beer. About the only type of beer I don't drink unless I have to however is bog-standard mass produced lager. Foul stuff, shouldn't really be called beer. Unfortunately nearly all of the non-alcoholic beers I have seen seem to be based on this style but taste even worse. If someone can point me towards a decent non-alcoholic ale, I'll gladly give it a go.
The best substitute for beer if you want to avoid the alcohol is one of the traditional weakly fermented table beverages, e.g. Russian kvass or Finnish kotikalja. So little alcohol you can effectively drink as much as you want without being compromised. Unfortunately almost unknown in most places and increasingly unpopular where they are. Our medieval ancestors in northern Europe would have drunk gallons of this sort of thing. Now we have carbonated sugary drinks instead... So much for progress!

Well said, neeb. Belgium and Holland also do weak table beers, some of which are pretty good and perfect for a lunchtime pint. We used to have a similar traidition in Britain, but they disappeared some time ago.