Desperately Seeking Better (NA) Beer

  I often wonder how to rate or judge non-alcoholic beers and then communicate in a way that people who are looking for NA options can understand.  Realistically, the depth of the field isn't the best and there is a wild chasm between great and good, even more so between mid and bad. I guess it's a young(ish) industry that will need some time to really find its legs, if it can be profitable enough to force quality to the forefront and not just an add on to entice the DD to stick around so everyone can have a few more Pints before heading home with a six pack or two. Even some of the breweries that are entirely focused on making NA beers can have terrible products side by side with some really fine offerings. The lack of quality control, coupled with an uneducated and/or desperate consumer base has made for a rush to market for a lot of things and an acceptance of that's just how things are...but I think there is a real opportunity as we move forward in the Sober and Sober adjacent community if we call out poorly conceived, off style and badly executed pints and raise awareness and help promote good, on point stuff.

  There has always been an element to talking about craft beer on social media that doesn't want to rock the boat. They don't want to criticize a bad beer, they don't want to be seen as not part of helping to grow the community and promote local businesses. While all taste is truly subjective, off flavours and just plain bad beer is pretty evident when you find it. I'm not talking about a style you don't personally like, I'm talking about things that don't come as advertised on the can or that are riddled with off flavours and imperfections. Brewing beer is art plus science and a dedication to consistency and a commitment to only releasing a quality product. Accepting any less is not helping to grow anything, it only allows bad actors and bad faith to become ingrained in the industry and makes anyone who's dipping their toe in the water to see what all the fuss has been about feel like it's not worth the time or money spent to switch over from macros. I've seen great and innovative breweries fall by the wayside and loose their mojo, all the while being praised for making beer that should never have left the bright tanks. It can be disheartening at the best of times, but at least there are so many options available that avoiding shitty beer can be done with a little research and wise spending.

  The problem that has arisen as I've now crossed over to the other side of the ABV is that the options are severely limited at a local level and a lot of folks are not going to order beer online for delivery without being able to be assured that what they're getting is good and well, drinkable. What we find in most stores and the local LCBO's is limited by a ridiculous amount of macro sameness. It seems to be similar no matter which part of our monopoly riddled, oligarch driven grocery sector you shop at, familiar, big brand names pop up again and again. There are some good ones to be found in the Non-alcoholic section of the drinks aisle, but the rotation and selection remains very static, without fail the same things and usually only in 4 or 6 packs, from place to place. 

  The largest deterrent to growth in this industry, however, remains the issue of taste, perhaps the biggest roadblock for so many people who may be open to jumping on the sober(ish) bandwagon as we find the years adding up and the beers piling on. There is little control or accountability for poor quality, bad tasting beers and for far too many brewers, the public's low expectations have allowed a lot of them to release sub par products because that is what they can get away with. As with everything I've encountered in my decade of talking about craft beer, education and worthy products are the key to growing any segment of the community. We've seen the rise of the Hazy IPA side by side with barrel focused, funk beers and Lager only breweries delivering amazing things. Despite some consternation, the truth is there has never been a better selection of styles in the LCBO and while the IPA tends to still be the focus of a lot of people, there truly is something for everyone if you look around. This is partially true for non-alcoholic brews as well, although on a far smaller and less available scale. Breweries like Harmon's, Perth, Bellwoods, Big Spruce, Nickel Brook, One for the Road and Left Field (just to name a few) have delivered some truly amazing things, lagers, sours and stouts to yes, even IPAs. They bring things that still taste and feel like real beer for those of us who have chosen or have had chosen for us a sober lifestyle (or a semi-sober one, who am I to judge). I know a lot of folks think that if you can't or won't drink beer then you should just drink something else, but when I find really well made NA offerings, it warms my (slightly broken but recovering) heart that I don't have to give up on the things I enjoy entirely. I know without the alcohol, many people wouldn't drink, but what I've found over the last 5 months and 120 plus non-alcoholic beers and ciders is that I don't need it as much as I thought I did and I've found some incredible, go-to pints that leave me feeling whole again. 

  But what we cannot and should not accept is less than good products. We need to be more vigilant and demanding when it comes to NA beers. Do not accept that they can't be as full and flavourful as their regular strength counterparts or that it is inherent that off or weird flavours are just acceptable. I've tasted so many good things, I know it is possible to do. But there is a huge gap in our knowledge, a chasm of culture that we are trying to bridge with experimentation and learning. The only way we can see the kind of growth necessary to sustain and inspire breweries to deliver quality non-alcoholic options is to reward the ones doing it and spread the word about inadequate or poor tasting releases that shouldn't see the light of day. Just because someone okayed a beer to be sent out does not mean we have to accept it. Your dollars speak volumes about what you are wiling to accept. At any time that is true, and even more so in the current economic and political climate.

  I'll continue my crusade and exploration. I'll continue to advocate for better options and better quality in non-alcoholic beers, spirits and mixed drinks. I'll promise to always be honest, as I have always been, about what's in my glass every day.  I'll seek out everything I can get my hands on and share it with you, the good, the bad and the ugly. I know for a lot of people, switching to NA products isn't always an easy choice, but we should hope that it can be made easier by showcasing and spreading the word about what to buy and what to avoid.  

  It's been a wild ride and it's just getting started.

  See y'all out there.

Sober (mostly),

Polk

April 7th, 2025

Looking for a Place to Happen - Seeking Sober Spaces

 

 I've been on a lot of beer runs in the last 35 years, maybe just to the Beer Store in the beginning, but after 2015 we stepped it up in a big way, culminating in cross province, week long jaunts that left my fridge bulging and my glass overflowing with the new and interesting things Ontario had to offer. We've done multi day road trips, driving hundreds of kilometers in search of pints to explore and met countless people like ourselves along the way. Sometimes it was just popping into one of the nearby breweries for a bite and a beer, the simple pleasure of belonging to a community that supports the hopes and dreams of local small businesses and hoping to do our small part to help spread the good word. I love a solid beer run and this last weekend was perhaps the worst, most depressing one I've ever taken and it illustrates a real problem the sober or non-alcoholic beer world has when it comes to helping folks crossover or drink a little less if that's what they're after.

  For the last couple of months, I've been getting deliveries of non-alcoholic beer from a fantastic service, Designated Drinks (Check them out here) has really shown the wide range of what's available across Canada when it comes to this category and they will continue to be my go to when it comes to seeking new and interesting things to talk about.

But...

  Getting a beer delivery does not replace a beer run, visiting a taproom or wandering the fridge at the local LCBO. It brings, with ease, many selections to your door and while this is a boon to all of us seeking sober pours, I must admit to longing for that jump in the car and head off down the road moment we used to have when it came to grabbing some new beers. There aren't many options for a sober third space and while some breweries have NA offerings, good ones that aren't more than a cheap knock-off of something they toss on the menu for the DD are not as easy to find. The culture of raising a glass with your friends is missing, the fluid conversation and excitement of new and returning beers, old favourites and solid stand-bys doesn't exist and this past Sunday illustrated that writ large for me as we travelled across town in search of something new.

  I had yet to put in my monthly order for Designated Drinks and by Sunday morning, I figured we could augment the beer fridge until it arrived with a stop at a couple grocery stores and maybe the best LCBO in the province (located on Osler Road in Dundas). Surely they would have enough of an offering to satisfy my cravings and while I found a few things, for the most point it reminded me of the vast and empty wasteland we have when it comes to the non-alcoholic beer line-up around us. The same drab macro 6 packs, lots of NA Euro lagers and store brand knock-offs that often resemble bad homebrew beers crammed into a tiny section of the drinks wall, unrefrigerated of course and inspiring no one. The LCBO was almost worse, a reminder that we are indeed not like we used to be and with nowhere else to go, I headed home with a couple of shabby Joe's to add to the fridge, an embarrassment of emptiness not worth the gas money or effort to acquire. There was no joy in seeking them out, only a resigned indifference of a cold world, quietly slipping from any hint of community or camaraderie and into the night without a smile. 

  Now maybe I'm being a tad melodramatic, I have been known to be given to theatrics from time to time, but the truth is, I could not find inspiration or illumination at any of these corporately controlled stops, there is no excitement or anticipation in an experience that cannot be shared and is often one made only out of necessity, not out of inspiration. Giving people options is a good way to grow your business, there are some really fine non-alcoholic beers being made here in Ontario, but for most people, as is true with craft beer, access is the key to that growth. As I have already said, we do not have third spaces for the NA crowd, there exists no taproom to seek out or exciting new thing to explore. We do not get the anticipation at a returning favourite beer, nor do we feel joined in a communal raising of the glass at events we used to love to attend. Whether you're sober by choice, by necessity or just because, it means you have to adjust your expectations of not only what's in your glass, but also of what your experiences and memories will be...although, to be fair, at least we can remember them all now...

  All of this isn't to mean that all is lost. Delivery services like DD and Sober Sips (which has a storefront in Barrie), among other start-ups, have truly expanded access to a wide variety of alternatives to the boozy booze and I am eternally grateful for their existence and work at trying to help grow with the sober community. I will continue to use their services and steer other people to them when they are seeking the stuff I talk about on social media. What all of this boils down to is a need for more actual places for us to gather and feel that sense of community craft beer had brought us. A feeling that we belonged to something special and that we were all connected in the very best way, seeking a good time and a break from an increasingly chaotic world. While I can no longer imbibe with impunity, many can't take a drink at all, we still want to find a place to be part of that larger world. It can be lonely, for even the best of us, as we revisit fond memories of days gone by and nights full of friends and amazing beers. You wonder if you'll ever feel that type of connection and joy again and until we figure a way to do it, or some inspired individual gathers enough courage to create it, we will have to keep making our own, wherever we can. 

Stay sober, my friends.

\

Polk

Match 31, 2025

What would you miss? Sober in Craft Beer...

  What do you think you'd miss?

  If they told you that you could never drink again or if you choose to give it up, for whatever reasons you have. What would you miss the most about craft beer in particular? Besides the warm and fuzzy feeling the alcohol gives you, what things do you think would disappear from your life that would leave a gap where your happy place used to be.

  I have given this a lot of thought since September, obviously my own circumstance and subsequent sober(ish) life caused me to make some radical lifestyle changes that remain ongoing and with various degrees of success. I haven't really been an active participant in a lot of beer events or even going out for a beer with someone in a couple of years, but I did begin to wonder what it would be like for someone who was more involved, more socially connected to the community and all it entails.

  When I first came back to social media in December, I was overwhelmed with comments and messages, much like when I talked about my experience as my heart went haywire in the late fall, so many folks reached out and I felt good knowing I still had a place to feel part of. Because I have been a solo drinker for the last couple of years, I didn't feel I was missing out on Beer fests, taprooms or sharing pints with friends. My situation was what it was and as I've got my legs under me, I've mostly been back to where I was before, albeit with 80% non-alcoholic beers and only a sprinkling of real pints every week. 

  What hit me this week was how would this affect a newly sober person who was an active member of the craft beer community, someone who did events, went to festivals and met up with other folks for beers. How would it affect someone who had a weekly meet up with pals to share beers or did road trips to breweries for fun and to meet online friends in real life. There would be a loss of community no matter the kind words and well wishes of their friends, in real life or online. The very real truth is that life does go on without us, even for the best of reasons, when you step back from something that was such a large part of who you are, it hits you a little different when everyone else moves on without you.

  I was not sure I wanted to write this whole thing, lest it be taken in the wrong way. There is no fault here, only the truth that whether we have to step back voluntarily or by a healthy choice, part of that means not being part of what was any more. I am incredibly lucky that I still can maintain an online community, despite my switch to mostly non alcoholic options, people in craft beer can be very kind when the road gets bumpy for one of our own and this helps a whole lot. But if I was one who went out and was deeply involved, I wonder how I'd be feeling every weekend when my new normal didn't include those aforementioned activities. It would be a little overwhelming and would only add to an already stressful time I would imagine. It's part of why it's so difficult to go sober, to separate yourself from the good times that feel warm and boozy because you can't be that person anymore. Change isn't easy, but letting go of alcohol seems particularly difficult, addiction or not. We've formed friendships with a basis of craft beer that have developed into something greater than the pint glass. We've built a spirit of being part of something bigger than ourselves and that is difficult to find in this world that is increasingly isolating and inward looking. 

  Part of what I try to do with getting after all these non alcoholic beers and spirits is to help normalize and spread the word that there are more options than most people know about, even if that trip is filled with more duds than I was used to in my regular beer drinking days. While it isn't always something available at every taproom or event, I hope we can make it easier to access and be seen as part of the community rather than a weird or special thing hidden on the bottom shelf of the fridge. Making good non alcoholic beer isn't easy, but from my experience and the sheer amount of people sending me messages about their own life changes and the difficulties contained therein, I know the market is growing and where the money goes, so goes the beer. 

  As a (somewhat) reformed drunk, I hope to help other folks on their own sober trips, whatever that may entail for them, to find a way to stay in touch and involved. I do also understand that there are some who cannot be around any kind of alcohol at all and stepping away entirely for their own mental or physical health is their only choice. Can there be sober beer events? An NA beer fest, more places that give space to such ideas and options, places where your choice of beverage isn't the odd one, but a way to find a new community to share experiences and friendships with? Does this exist and if not, do we have the collective will and more importantly, the buying power, to make it happen? I know there are folks out there more motivated and smarter than me working on finding such solutions. There is a lot of money to be made as a certain age of beer drinker begins to feel the years and needs something a little healthier while still wanting to feel like they belong.

  It's right there, just waiting to become reality...

  Take care of yourselves, you're the only you we got.

Polk

02/10/2025