In a sea of nonalcoholic IPAs, we sampled 19 of them
OF THE EVER-GROWING OPTIONS, HERE’S WHAT WE LOVED, LIKED AND ... NOT SO MUCH
IF YOU’VE spent time in major metropolitan areas that are not Los Angeles, you know, at least anecdotally, one thing to be true: We’re not much of a drinking town. Maybe it’s for health reasons; maybe it’s because states like California have embraced other ways of, uh, taking the edge off. Or possibly because in L.A., unlike in cities where you can tie one on and then stumble your way home on foot or by public transportation, we’re typically getting behind the wheel of a car at the end of the night. All of these factors help make L.A. fertile ground for an unprecedented boom in nonalcoholic drinking. For a long time, there weren’t many nonalcoholic beer options in this country. There was O’Doul’s, which launched in 1990 and was a bit of a punchline for many years. “Why would anyone want to drink a nonalcoholic beer?” was a common refrain. Today, there are so many nonalcoholic beers, it’s hard to even know where to start. Sales of these beers have grown steadily since the pandemic and are expected to surpass $40 billion by 2032. In fact, there are so many options today that, for this piece, I’m going to only review nonalcoholic IPAs, or India pale ales. Why? Well, for one, it’s an incredibly popular type of beer. Two, I needed some way to narrow down the ever-growing list of NA beer choices. But moreover, the IPA, known for its hoppy flavor and relatively high alcohol content, is a great litmus test for the quality of nonalcoholic beer-making. It’s such a distinct and powerful brew, it’s difficult to fake. Or is it? I’ve grouped the following 19 (!) nonalcoholic IPAs into three categories: ones I loved, ones I liked and ones that, frankly, were not my favorite.