Back in 2013 I was excited to get a chance to interview the founders of today’s featured brewery. Little did I know that the interview would be as wild a ride as it ended up being; and even 7-years later, I’d never have guessed what style of beer that brewery would feature when their box arrived at mybeerbuzz headquarters.
The brewery is BrewDog and my guests that day were James Watt and Martin Dickie. I’ll admit that the interview was really fun but that the experience walked a very fine line between greatness and disaster. To this day my fondest memory is the process of getting James & Martin to both say their names and repeat our show tagline. In the end it was like herding cats…but really fun, slightly drunk and really funny cats.
So you can imagine my shock when the BrewDog care package arrived and it contained NA (non-alcoholic) beers. If that wasn’t enough fun, BrewDog sent six different NA beers and a four-pack of each. With dry January upon us, highlighting NA beers is a natural, I guess I just didn’t think it would be coming from BrewDog.
Of course we all know that the market for low alcohol and non-alcoholic beers is rapidly growing and the overall healthy-beer category is growing even faster. With that in mind, I’m really curious to try these beers out. I’ve not had a lot of NA beers and I can’t wait to see what the confluence of NA beer and BrewDog madness tastes like…so off we go…
BrewDog Elvis AF
ABV: >0.5%
Style: NA IPA
Packaging: 12oz cans
Appearance: Bright golden
Aroma: Grapefruit and citrus
Mouthfeel: Medium
Taste: Fresh grapefruit and mild resinous pine
Overall: Elvis AF has a really nice punch of grapefruit up front with a really drinkable mildly resinous balance at the end. I’m a huge grapefruit IPA fan and I really like Elvis Juice so this one is right up my alley. Overall this beer has a lot to offer even without the alcohol on-board.
BrewDog Punk AF
ABV: >0.5%
Style: NA IPA
Packaging: 12oz cans
Appearance: Slightly cloudy amber golden
Aroma: Mango, citrus & grassy
Mouthfeel: Light
Taste: Vegetal, grassy, citrusy with tropical fruit
Overall: Punk AF has a lot going on and definitely has a family resemblance to it’s cousin Punk IPA. The mix of citrus flavors and prominent hops make for an interesting balance that definitely leans toward hoppy. The resinous hops linger late in your first few sips and overall Punk AF has a nice blend of citrus and tropical fruit flavors.
BrewDog Hazy AF
ABV: >0.5%
Style: NA Hazy IPA
Packaging: 12oz cans
Appearance: Hazy golden orange
Aroma: Lime, grapefruit and tangerine
Mouthfeel: Light with high carbonation
Taste: Fruit forward with citrus and stone fruit leading the way
Overall: Hazy AF is a really nice fruit-forward hazy almost NE-style IPA. The presence of orange, peach, tangerine and lime make for a really drinkable beer and I’d have to say this is perhaps the one NA beer that tastes the most like a regular full-octane beer.
BrewDog Nanny State
ABV: >0.5%
Style: NA Hazy IPA
Packaging: 12oz cans
Appearance: Clear amber
Aroma: Grassy and mild resinous pine
Mouthfeel: Light
Taste: Prominent resinous pine and dank earthy hops
Overall: Nanny State is a really hoppy beer. At 45 IBU you won’t wonder if BrewDog used any hops in this beer and of course they did (Ahtanum, Amarillo, Cascade, Centennial, Columbus and Simcoe). It should also be noted that this beer has only 21-calories per 12oz serving. Overall this is a really hop-forward beer without a lot of sweet malt presence but with a heavy-hop leaning balance that I think you will enjoy.
BrewDog Wake Up Call (aka Stout AF)
ABV: >0.5%
Style: NA Coffee Stout
Packaging: 12oz cans
Appearance: Deep dark brown
Aroma: Coffee, cocoa and roasty
Mouthfeel: Medium with low carbonation
Taste: Roasted coffee, sweet cocoa & roasted malts
Overall: Wake Up Call starts out with milk chocolate and cocoa flavors followed by a bitter roasted coffee finish. These flavors work well together and serve to balance out the overall beer nicely. The coffee is prominent but the stout flavors really shine and overall I think this has to be one of the best NA stouts I’ve tasted.
BrewDog Lamb Of God Ghost Walker
ABV: >0.5%
Style: NA Ale
Packaging: 12oz cans
Appearance: Light and clear amber
Aroma: Citrus, oranges, stone fruit & vegetal
Mouthfeel: Light
Taste: Fruit forward with lingering bitter aftertaste
Overall: Lamb Of God Ghost Walker has a really interesting blend of flavors, and while I would call this Lamb Of God musical collaboration fruit-forward, there’s a lot more going on. I’d love to see an ingredient list because there are definitely some flavors I can’t put my finger on and overall I’d say the tropical fruit flavors and earthy grassy dank finish make for a really interesting mix of flavors.
After sampling all six NA beers I was struck by several things. First off, the fact that BrewDog makes six+ NA offerings is a real wake-up call for other breweries who haven’t dipped their toes into the NA world. The fact that one of these beer is only 21-calories per serving is pretty amazing, and finally just how good an NA beer can be compared to it’s full-alcohol counterpart is incredible….and BrewDog should be thanked for that.
BrewDog Elvis AF, Hazy AF, Punk AF, Nanny State, Wake Up Call & Lamb of God Ghost Walker are all available now in the U.S. in 12oz cans so be sure to get out there and try them for yourself. And when you do try them, be sure to let us know what YOU think.
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