Bavaria releases non-alcoholic IPA in South Africa

I am not a fan of Dry January. Or Dryanuary, or whatever it’s called. If it works for you, then of course go for it but I don’t observe it for a variety of reasons: it’s already a tough month for restaurants, bars and breweries, so I’m kind of against basically boycotting booze for a month. And moreso, I prefer to at least attempt moderation throughout the year rather than just cutting out alcohol for a whole month then letting rip for the other 12. I enjoy drinking beer and frankly it’s unrealistic for me to not have a beer for a whole month, but I do acknowledge that I could probably stand to drink a little less. 

So I’m not posting about the two new non-alc beers from Bavaria because it’s January and I think you should swap your usual beer for a non-alc version. I’m posting about them because they’re brand new and I thought you might be interested. 

Bavaria are well known for their non-alcoholic beers. Most are flavoured with various fruit essences rendering them not particularly beery. The two latest additions however, offer up flavours that are much more familiar to the beer drinker.

First up is Bavaria 0.0% Beer. The name doesn’t give much away, other than the fact that is doesn’t contain any alcohol. The “beer” in question is brewed in the pilsner style. It’s a little too sweet to be a pilsner, both on aroma and flavour, but there is a pleasant floral hop character. It also has decent body for a non-alc and while it’s not going to fool you into thinking you’re drinking a “real beer”, it is more convincing than a lot of alcohol-free beers.

Better though is Bavaria 0.0% IPA. Until recently, non-alcoholic beers in South Africa have largely been limited to booze-free plays on a pale lager, one notable exception being Devil’s Peak’s Hero range. Elsewhere in the world, breweries have been exploring non-alcoholic versions of other styles and I’m pleased to see Bavaria’s 0.0% IPA, which won a bronze in the alcohol-free category at the 2021 Dutch Beer Challenge, arrive in SA.

Bavaria’s IPA has that telltale worty nose that most non-alcoholic beers possess. Wort is basically unfermented beer, although from what I can gather, the Bavaria non-alcs are fermented normally with the alcohol extracted post-fermentation.  There’s a somewhat sweet wort-like character when you sip, but there is also a background bitterness. In fact, you can tell the brewers weren’t shy with hops, which for me makes this a much more enjoyable non-alcoholic beer than most. It actually smells like the inside of a bag of hop pellets – super fresh, slightly grassy and with a hint of citrus fruit.

I love sipping on wort on a brewday – it’s such a great expression of the raw ingredients – and I have always wanted to chill and carbonate a few litres to see what it would taste like. Now I feel like it’s been done for me. Am I going to ditch my favourite beers and convert to drinking Bavaria’s non-alcoholic IPA? No, not even for a month. But I could very easily see myself bringing two or three to a braai in order to pace myself, or swapping out my usual beers for a six-pack of these when I’m on DD duty.

When you drink non-alcoholic beers, you have to get out of the mindset of “this doesn’t taste like real beer”. It isn’t real beer and will never fool you. But instead of comparing it to beer, compare it to cool drinks, juice or a boring old bottle of water and ask yourself which is going to be a better and more realistic alternative if you’re laying off the booze for whatever reason.

Bavaria’s 0.0% Beer and 0.0% IPA will be available at all major outlets, with recommended selling prices of R84.99 for a six-pack of the Beer and R94.99 for the IPA.

 

2 Comments

  1. Nick Grenfell

    Agreed that it is best not to compare unfermented malt beverages with their alcoholic counterparts – just decide whether or not it you enjoy the taste. I have sampled a few on my frequent trips to Saudi and can report that most of the unfermented pale ale styles have been very thin-bodied with an unpleasant metallic taste. Good to see some style variation and hops being added. On a pedantic note, if you abstain from alcohol in January, you can only let rip for the other 11 months (as opposed to 12). Unless of course you double up in December, and then it’s like a 13th cheque. 😉 Cheers!

    Reply
    • Lucy Corne

      BWahahaha, whoops! Maths is apparently not my strong point. Although I am a staunch supporter of Decembruary which makes the last month of the year seem to last for at least two… 😉

      Reply

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Beer of the Month: Entrepid Brewing Pacer - The Brewmistress - […] I believe I mentioned earlier this month, I am not a disciple of Dry January. I have nothing at…

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may also like:

css.php