r/NABEER

Shockingly brewed in Italy by Peroni.

NA scene in Spain is amazing - tons of widely available tasty lagers and ales, from fancy restaurants to tiny beach bars (chiringuitos). Delicious, everywhere and cheap - trifecta!

Note of Interest: the 0.0s are popular but NA is defined as <1% (not <0.5%) in Spain. I was hesitant after some 2 years no alcohol, but had two (Mahou, Alhambra) that were <1% and felt nada. And Alhambra was a favorite!

Just sharing a few pics and notes from a recent trip (Barcelona region). Supermarket pics from Al Campo in Mataró. Cheers 🍻

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Moritz 0.0 Torrada (Barcelona)
Nice flavor, deeper caramel notes, light body with a clean finish (if a bit watery), very refreshing, reminded me of Shiner Bock for some reason
Poured in a glass has a nice dark brown color and very fluffy cream colored head

FreeDamm 0.0 Tostada (Barcelona)
Rich flavor and full body (for NA), classic tostada notes of caramel/honey, smooth finish no watery feel, loved the first half though the second half of the glass the sweetness/stickiness built a little

FreeDamm 0.0 Lager (Barcelona)
Similar full feel as the tostada with a bit less flavor but also less sweetness, more floral fruity notes to complement the malt character, nice!

Mica Intensa IPA (Burgos)
Wow, amazing aroma and flavor, hoppy pine citrus tropical fruit, very pale color, guessing unfiltered (noticeable particulates), lingering bitter finish, amazing beer!
Apparently Cerveza Mica is Spain’s first brewery to specialize in NA. They crushed it with this one!

Gastro IPA (Castile-La Mancha)
Crystal clear golden color, little head that runs away fast, low carbonation so a bit syrupy, citrus (orange) flavor, muted bitterness, not bad but a little lackluster (Mica way better!)

Mahou Sin (Madrid)
Nice body, full flavor, a floral/honey sweetness, solid (non watery) finish, does lean a bit sweet/syrupy
“Thanks to a controlled fermentation process, we manage to obtain a product with a minimum alcohol content, while still guaranteeing the taste of an authentic Mahou beer.”

Augustinerbräu München Alkoholfrei Hell made a nice companion to some football yesterday.

First thing I noticed was the body. A solid medium, which immediately makes it feel more substantial than a lot of NA lagers. The nose is excellent too. It genuinely has that fermented, almost slightly alcoholic beer aroma rather than smelling like wort.

Flavor-wise, I get cereal grain and a bit of that soft malt character, but there’s also a surprisingly noticeable citrus element. To me it comes across as pithy grapefruit — slightly bitter, slightly zesty — and it gives the beer a character I wasn’t expecting. While not really citrusy, it reminds me of Sierra Nevada’s Golden NA in some aspects.

Carbonation is right where I want it, the finish is pretty clean, and most importantly, it tastes fully fermented. No obvious “carbonated wort” character here. Medium-bodied, grainy, citrusy, clean, and actually tastes like finished beer.

I would buy again. Would I place a special order from Germany? Probably not.

Has anyone else tried this and if so, any thoughts? I read somewhere that Augustinerbrau is a favorite among Bavarian locals.

Another one from my German order.
Franziskaner really nailed this one.
It pours extremely hazy and has a genuinely full body, with plenty of classic wheat beer character. Banana, spice, grainy wheat—it’s all there.

The interesting part is that I’m struggling to identify the “main” flavor. And I mean that as a compliment.
The banana doesn’t dominate. The spice doesn’t dominate. The wheat doesn’t dominate. It’s not overly sweet. It’s not worty. There’s no single flavor I can dramatically point to and write three paragraphs about.
Very inconsiderate beer for a review.

Instead, everything just works together. Full-flavored, satisfying, and pleasingly drinkable. It tastes like the goal was simply to make a really good wheat beer rather than to make an NA beer with some clever trick to cover up what’s missing. Probably the most balanced NA wheat beer I’ve tried. It’s also the most full bodied and satisfyingly weighty of any NA I’ve had.

I kept looking for something to complain about and eventually ran out of beer.

That said, Weihenstephaner will scratch this itch and no special orders from Germany required.