[erockrph]

Lately I've been seeing ads from Athletic show up in my Youtube videos all the time, and I got curious about their IPA's in particular. I work weekends, and have friends that like to drink (a lot) on the weekends. I got over the whole "drink myself sloppy every Saturday" thing about 20 years ago, and waking up hungover at 5:30 on Sunday to go into work kinda sucks. I figured that if I brought a sixer of Athletic, I would be able to avoid having a martini (i.e., a glassful of Sapphire) thrust in my hand every time my buddy saw it empty.

So the specs on this beer is 70 calories per 12oz can (less than a can of hard seltzer), but all of it is carbs (16g). The website states that it is 35 IBU. The ingredients are Water, Organic Vienna Malt, Malted Barley, Oats, Hops, Wheat, Yeast. I don't know if I would have picked out Vienna malt specifically - the malt flavor isn't quite like a "real" beer. But it wasn't watery, either. There was what felt like the right amount of bitterness - just noticeable, but not overpowering. I got some hop character, but it didn't taste like it is dry-hopped at all - no hop burps. Overall, I wouldn't call it life changing, but it certainly served its purpose for me. I drank a six pack last night and woke up for work this morning with no ill effects.

Overall, I would certainly drink this again, but I am more interested in tracking down their Hazy IPA and their stout. I think some dry hops would have taken this from "good enough" to just plain "good".

[denny]

I find all of their beers good, but I can always detect the acid they add to keep them safe.

[erockrph]

I find all of their beers good, but I can always detect the acid they add to keep them safe.

Interesting. I'll have to look out for that specifically the next time I have some of their beer. Even if I can taste it, I don't know if that's necessarily going to be a bad thing. I just ordered 4 six packs of varying styles off their website, so I'll be coming back around to these real soon.

[denny]

I find all of their beers good, but I can always detect the acid they add to keep them safe.

Interesting. I'll have to look out for that specifically the next time I have some of their beer. Even if I can taste it, I don't know if that's necessarily going to be a bad thing. I just ordered 4 six packs of varying styles off their website, so I'll be coming back around to these real soon.

Yeah, I enjoy the beer in spite of it.  Just a bit of a twang in the aftertaste.

[narcout]

Yeah, the Run Wild is pretty tasty.  There are a lot of surprisingly good N/A beers available now.

If you are on the east coast, keep an eye out for Brooklyn Brewery's Special Effects.  I really liked that one.

[Wilbur]

Has anyone had the NA Brooklyn brewing or Lagunitas offering? Kind of wondering how they compare. I got bitterness from that one but no real hop character. I'd be interested in an NA beer that had some nice hop character, but I'd rather just drink hop water based on my current experience.

[MDixon]

I happened to be in a large beer store and saw the "Craft NA" section had quite a few offerings. I was a bit shocked to see so much choice in NA. Anyway, might have to pick up a few to see if they are worth further investigation.

[erockrph]

I got my online order in a few days ago and tried their "Two Trellises" pilot batch. This was certainly much more like what I was looking for than the Run Wild. It has a firm bitterness, but quite a bit of late hop flavor to go with it. I think they do a good job at using hop bitterness to counter the residual sugar in their IPAs, and when paired with some late hop flavor it's a real winner in my book. It's a shame that this is a limited release, because if it was readily available I'd be putting it in regular rotation. This is the first time I've felt a serious pull to brew very low alcohol homebrew.

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[ravenwater]

Has anyone had the NA Brooklyn brewing or Lagunitas offering? Kind of wondering how they compare. I got bitterness from that one but no real hop character. I'd be interested in an NA beer that had some nice hop character, but I'd rather just drink hop water based on my current experience.

I've been on a quest for some NA beer I can enjoy. Not a ton of options available locally. I tried the Lagunitas "IPNA" and personally found it to be too much about bitterness without balancing hop flavor, lacking much of the malt flavor I know can be achieved in an NA beer, and fairly watery, so not a fan of that one. A friend recently brought me a can of Mikkeller IPA (Danish brewer) he'd gotten in another state. It was very tasty to me - much more of a real IPA type beer with full hop flavor/aroma and good mouthfeel. The best lager style NA to me is Clausthaler.

[Malthopper]

I picked up a can of Partake NA IPA from Total Wine and was quite impressed. Every other NA I've had has tasted sweet like malt extract and I can't say I enjoy them. Think its the lack of alcohol causing the taste imbalance. This beer only has 10 calories in a 12oz can! Only had it once so not trying to write a review but can say it seemed very drinkable and balanced. With the moderate hop levels, negligable calories, and absence of alcohol I imagine your mind and body could rest well after 1 or 2 or 6 of these. And I think it might actually be enjoyable to do so, which is huge! Cheers!

[erockrph]

I'm drinking a Cerveza Atletica right now. Obviously a riff on the Vienna theme. This one is pretty good, but it definitely has a bit of an LME/worty kind of flavor in there. It's not bitter like their IPAs, but it's not as sweet as I was expecting given the lower IBUs. I could certainly put down a few of these on the porch or while mowing the lawn.


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[fredthecat]

last time i was on a NA beer kick the best tasting ones i thought were some german weisse beers made by the big brewers that tased pretty good. maisels for one.