There is a beer on the market that many purists would consider a “non-beer.” Non-alcoholic beer has been available for years, though it lacks one of the key components that many believe makes it a beer – the alcohol. It has therefore been given the nickname “near beer.” It’s been given a bad rap over the years because there are some non-alcoholic (NA) beers that simply taste really bad.

If you’ve had a bad experience with a near beer and you don’t like the beer, you owe it to yourself to try another kind. There are many on the market and not all of them leave a horrible after taste in your mouth.

Common Non-Alcoholic Beer

There are quite a few non-alcoholic beers on the market and you can usually find them in a liquor store or specialty shop that sells beer (World Market is one). It is harder to find a good non-alcoholic beer in a restaurant because it’s a tough market. If you’re lucky, they’ll have one beer available. The most common beers you can find around are:

• O’Douls (they also have an Amber)
• Bucker (Heineken’s brand)
• Kaliber (Guinness’ brand)
• Sharp’s

Alcohol or Not?

Non-alcoholic beer still contains a little alcohol. If you are a recovering alcoholic, it’s got enough alcohol in it that you should avoid it at all costs. It is talked about at AA meetings as a tease and can be just enough to set an addict over the edge. When you’re pregnant, it’s enough alcohol to make a doctor advise against drinking it.

A standard beer has about 5% ABV or alcohol by volume. The non-alcoholic content typically is about 0.5% ABV. Light beers which are also lower in calories have about 4.2% ABV. So while it is a significant decrease in alcohol, there is still alcohol present. Since there is still alcohol present, the US requires that a person be 21 years of age or more, with the exception of a few states.

Why Drink It?

So if non-alcoholic beer doesn’t have a lot of alcohol but still has enough to count, why drink it? There are a few reasons. If you find a good tasting non-alcoholic beer, it will take the place of regular beer when you’ve had enough to drink but your friends want to keep partying. If you are in the military, it’s the closest to beer that you’ll most likely get. Being on high blood pressure medication, it cannot mix with alcohol; however the non-alcoholic version is approved.

Non-alcoholic beer can be your savior at a party when you need to be “good” and not drink but still want to have the taste. It’s all a matter of what beer you select and why it is that you’re choosing a non-alcoholic beer. There are many kinds of beer in general and not everyone likes them all. So if you didn’t like the first kind you had, go in search of another one and you may find that you like the non-alcoholic version just as much as the real thing.