What’s the best non-alcoholic beer in North Vancouver?

Whether you like your Januarys dry, or with continuous precipitation in the forecast, in a moment of desperation – or sober curiosity – you’ve likely tried a non-alcoholic beer.

Driven by winds of consumer preference, the wave of non-alcoholic beverages has reached a Tsunami pitch, sweeping shelves at liquor and grocery stores alike.

Each passing week seems to bring more options. There are de-alcoholized wines and even un-boozed mezcal. But beer dominates the category, accounting for around three-quarters of beverages below 0.5-per-cent ABV.

Statistics show that alcohol sales are down – in B.C., by more than six per cent over the most recent fiscal year. That’s left producers both big and small – from Heineken to Superflux – scrambling to pick up sales sans alcohol.

Today’s deluge of offerings have their origins in medieval Britain, when drinking water was hardly drinkable and milk was too expensive for the masses. Enter “small beer.”

Not just adorable in name but kinder to the digestive tract, it was consumed for its nutritional and hydrating properties.

Brewed at around 2.8-per-cent ABV, it’s referenced in the works of William Shakespeare and other literary peers. Small beer also found its way to America. A recipe was found in a 1757 notebook of president George Washington, who was a hobbyist brewer.

But true non-alcoholic beer emerged in the prohibition era, when makers boiled their brews to remove the alcohol. However, that gave rise to “needle beer,” where imbibers would inject their ales with booze on the sly.

Fast forward to present day, and there are several techniques to make beer with little to no alcohol. Those include sophisticated, expensive machinery that exorcise the spirits, as well as specialized yeasts that ferment less sugar into alcohol.

That beer backgrounder brings us to the guts of this edition of Food Fight, where two non-alcoholic brews made in North Vancouver (and a wildcard drink from Deutschland) face off for the flavour crown.

No Point

First up is No Point from North Point Brewing Company.

While the witty title is attention grabbing, it might be a little more on the nose than we’d like.

North Point says it created No Point to help people with their New Year’s resolutions to drink less alcohol. But we found that this particular brew didn’t scratch that itch.

Instead of the “aromatics of citrus, pine and tropical fruits” advertised on the can, it gives off more of an olfactory aura of diet fruit punch.

No Point has some malty flavours, but those are muddled by a metallic taste and something evoking unripe banana.

If you’ve yet to try something from the award-winning brewery, we’d point you in the direction of one of their higher-alcohol offerings instead.

Easy Pale

Staring down North Point from across the non-alcoholic bar is Wildeye, with its Easy Pale.

When you crack the can, the inviting hoppy smell tells you you’re about to drink, well … beer.

That magic trick continues on the tastebuds with a pleasant bite reminiscent of alcohol, accompanied by a balance of malt and hops.

What you get is an easy-drinking, faux pale ale, exactly as promised.

Weissbier 0,0%

The last contender hails from Germany, the Weissbier 0,0% produced by Paulander.

While not brewed in North Van, it’s been on the menu and recommended by the folks at Black Kettle.

This drink is marketed as a balance of “fine malt aromas, refreshingly fruity Weissbier flavours and a pleasing hint of sweetness,” and has its alcohol removed via a “thorough maturing process.”

We found this beverage to be generally pleasant, with some nice malt flavours. The micro carbonation also makes for a smooth mouthfeel. However, there was a bit too much residual sugar in the mix to keep us coming back for more.

Winner: Easy Pale

Among our panel of distinguished drinkers, there was no debate in choosing best in brew.

Easy Pale was the instant favourite in our newsroom.

It’s refreshing, and lives up to the dry January assignment so well that it almost fools you into believing you’re drinking a regular-degular beer.

This should be stocked in the fridge of anyone looking to cut back on alcohol but not the experience of having a cold one.

Curious about how they came out with such a refreshing low-alc product, I spoke to Ian Ennis, operations manager at Wildeye.

With the way the market is right now, it’s an interesting time in craft beer, he said.

“A lot of people’s palates have changed, a lot of people have decided to stop drinking,” Ennis said. “A lot of Gen Z are not drinking or drinking very little.”

Meanwhile, non-alcoholic sales are skyrocketing for the big breweries.

It was those factors that led Wildeye to make a low-alc option of its own, albeit a very tasty one.

Facing the potential high-cost of de-alcoholization technology, the North Van brewery opted to use a low-attenuating yeast instead, which produced a final product in the range of 0.42-per-cent ABV.

Months of careful research led them to a recipe that used 70- to 80-per-cent less malt than regular beer, and generous use of specialized spectrum hops to increase those flavours.

“It was challenging. We had to think completely differently,” Ennis said. “We used an unusual malt to give mouth feel and flavour.”

To ensure safety as the brew sits in the can, Wildeye pasteurized its product. Because it’s considered a food product and not alcohol, they also had to go through an unfamiliar process of having it lab tested for nutritional facts, while getting a different tax rate attached to it to put it on shelves.

With all its unique ingredients, Easy Pale is quite expensive to make, Ennis said, but the folks at Wildeye don’t like brewing anything they don’t like drinking.

“We’re super, super happy with it,” he said.

Ennis added that he himself doesn’t drink on weeknights.

“It’s great when I don’t have beers in my fridge,” he said.