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.
A fat fucken glass of cold water.
Chilled water is definitely the way
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
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
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.
Try it over ice with a quarter lime and a dash of salt, you’ll wonder why you hadn’t been doing it all along.
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.
A nice joint, or two.
I have my own fun little twist on this: three joints.
can we get four, anyone? anyone?
gillette be like… “the heck with that, we’re doing five joints!”
Five joints, a moisturising strip on the rizla, and a rotating sphere to match the roach to the contours of your face
Wait till you hear mine: three joints and a pipe
I some two joints before I smoke two joints, and then I smoke two more.
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.
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!
I’m drinking cranberry juice and seltzer rn
30 minutes of high intensity cardio and a cold shower.
The idea to drink something to wind down comes from the effect of alcohol, trying to recreate the effect with non-alcoholic drinks won’t work.
Alcohol does have an effect, as everyone will attest, but there is also an effect to arriving home, cracking open a cold drink, and relaxing for a while. It may not work for all, of course.
I have a NA beer that tastes almost identical to its alcoholic brother, and there are definitely similar results from a single beer…
The good thing with the NA version is that I sleep better and can snap myself out of the relaxed state if needed. It also makes it possible to mix & match at social events, so that I don’t over-do it.
It’s the whole ritual that makes it so special. How about a tea ceremony?
Tea would be healthier but alas, I want something cold in hot weather!
Yep. I reserve specific sodas for those occasions, for exactly this reason. I’ve trained my lizard brain i relax as soon as that exact cola opening sound hits my ears. It’s silly, but it works.
300-500ml of beer will rehydrate you faster than 300-500ml of water.
Iced tea.
both me and my wife has quit drinking and just have tea all day.
so much better.
Kombucha, flavored sparkling water
I came here to post something similar, but yours is probably a better suggestion. I’m now fond of beet flavoured water kefir.
Kombucha contains alcohol…
It’s such a minimal amount there are no restrictions on it
It’s usually around 0.5%. I mean, OP asked for non-alcoholic beverages… I believe we should be honest about that.
Most commercial kombuchas are specifically filtered to remove as much as possible of it, but good point
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!
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.
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.
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.
Honestly ginger beer is amazing for this.