Alcohol-free wines, beers and ciders: are they any good?

[LlygodenFach]

I work for a charity that does research into alcohol issues. I'm also a father of two, so I've seen a couple of times what it's like to try and cut back or abstain from alcohol for 9 months. Back when my boys were "in utero", it was Eisberg and Kaliber or nothing when it came to alcohol-free drinks for grown-ups.

These days, there's a lot more choice, and in an act of selfless heroism , a colleague and I have tried and reviewed 17 alcohol-free wines to see if they're any good:

www.drinkwisewales.org.uk/alcohol/alcohol-free/wines/

We've also been trying a shed-load of alcohol-free beers and ciders:

www.drinkwisewales.org.uk/alcohol/alcohol-free/beer-reviews/

www.drinkwisewales.org.uk/alcohol/alcohol-free/ciders/

I'd love to hear everyone's views about whether alcohol-free versions of normally alcoholic drinks do the trick for you; and what attracts you to them/what puts you off?

Cheers
Andrew (aka LlygodenFach)

@DappledThings I know!!!
Becks blue was my pregnancy beer of choice as well.

Bavaria 0% Weissbier is absolutely delicious. If it wasn't for the calories I'd drink it by the gallon.

I liked The Bees Knees from Ocado. No idea why it says it's an age restricted product!

www.ocado.com/webshop/product/The-Bees-Knees-Sparkling-0-Alcohol/354789011?dnr=y

Becks Blue

Bavaria Wit 0% is worth looking for I think - it's a wheat beer.

There's also a Crabbie's Light Ginger beer which is not alcohol-free but is low alcohol - 2.8% I think.

I was a big beer drinker and have also tried a fair few alcohol free lagers but I was so surprised about Becks blue, definitely the best of the ones I've tried IMO.

Will steal a few I've not tried from this thread though so thanks to those who've suggested others!

Koppaberg and most alcohol free products are ABV

I really don't like Becks blue, it has a really weird chemical aftertaste.

I think becks blue just has a strong yeasty taste.

I don't like becks blue as it leaves me with a funny aftertaste which I don't get with the cobra.
Troys the cobra is a true 0% abv which is another reason I like it.

Seedlip is an interesting one, it's marketed as an "alcohol-free spirit", which sounds quite daring. Here's our review: www.drinkwisewales.org.uk/alcohol/alcohol-free/spirits-reviews/

As you'll see, we've also reviewed Teetotal GnT, which is much closer to a gin flavour than Seedlip. Like most people, we could really tell it was alcohol free.

Troysmammy just so you can make a more informed choice next time - Alcohol free can contain up to 0.05% alcohol. Non-alcohol however should contain 0%.

Erdinger alcoholfrei was the only one I drank

Alcohol free wine (red) is vile sweet yuck.
Alcohol free beer is ok, I had that a lot woth dS1.

I LOVE alcohol free cocktails when I go out for supper, plus they're about a fiver a go cheaper!

I'm very partial to these:
www.alcoholfree.co.uk/shatlers-virgin-mojito-200ml-p-708.html?cPath=2_66_10&osCsid=cb437b1fde87897071b641168af9cfed

The Sagres 0 and Jever Fun are pretty good for alcohol free lager. They're not exact but are close-ish.

Yes to Nanny state. I hate lager and love real ale so this was perfect. Off license told me he had lots of new mums drinking it as they found the hops helped their milk supply.

Alcohol free Cobra is the most revolting thing I have ever drunk!
Agree that Waitrose non alcoholic cider is really nice as is Ocado's sparkling 'wine'

Tesco subbed my Nanny State for Heineken 0% I'll give it a go.

On the alcohol free wine, I found Rawsons Retreat sparkling pretty good. You can get non alcoholic Italian bitters called crodino. Rawsons Retreat, crodino and sparkling water mixed make a quite nice fake aperol spritz. It's nice if you want a non alcoholic drink that has flavour but is not sweet.

The sains sparkling white is pretty decent. Will probably still drink it after I drop to be honest. I like the taste of a glass of something nice but alcohol isn't the main driver. It's 1/3 of the price of a cheapish regular wine. Why not? Though the rose is bloody awful.

I am not saying I am never gonna drink again because I can, and decent alcohol free stuff is hard to find. I found 1 restaurant with a decent beer that actually tasted like beer but wasn't becks blue and 1 pub.

Pubs especially have an extremely limited range of alcohol free stuff. 1 refused to even stock any! "I couldn't give that stuff away" I felt like saying " well the fact both me and my colleague are asking for it suggests you bloody could doesn't it" (I wasn't pregnant at the time but am not a huge fan of lunch time drinking and had to drive home)

Most people drive to my place of work. We would probably be a lot more social if we could go out and have a nice booze free drink and catch up. Lemonade is just not that enticing but something like a bottle of the sainsbury sparking wine available in a pub would be a huge draw. I would be more than happy to pay over double what I do in the shop so profit is there.

Thanks this has been helpful.
I've really missed having a drink this pregnancy. I think the first time I was so excited about being pregnant that I just wasn't bothered by anything. This time I really want a bloody drink

Good point, againsttheodds. There are loads of pubs around here which are deep in the countryside, meaning that at least one person in each group is likely to be driving, so surely they would do well to stock some interesting alcohol free options.