Zero-proof beer has made incredible strides in the last few years. Gone are the days of non-alcoholic beer that has had all its flavor cooked off along with the alcohol! While beer itself is one of the most popular libations around the world, beer cocktails have their own history of popularity, especially throughout Europe and Australia.
In the U.S. a non-alcoholic beer is defined as any beer falling between 0-0.5% ABV. These beers often begin as fully fermented beers that have been heated to a boil (alcohol has a lower boiling point than water) to burn off the ethyl alcohol that comes with fermentation. This presents two problems: 1) heating the beer too high results in a bland, cardboard-esque flavor 2) the alternative to this is to skip the fermentation step which produces sweet, malty drinks that don’t taste like beer. They’re both awful. The good news is that beer producers are some savvy folx and huge strides have come in non-alcoholic beer production. many non-alcoholic beers are made with reverse-osmosis where extreme pressure is used to force beer through an extremely fine sieve and carbon dioxide is added to re carbonate the beer.
A shandy is often defined as a citrusy been lemonade, but it can get a little more involved than that! When I think of shandy cocktails, I tend to operate in two traditional mindsets: Beer + Lemonade and Beer + Ginger. Enjoy these two zero-proof shandies with your favorite non-alcoholic brew!
Rosemary’s Uncle
1 1/2 oz water
1 1/4 oz ginger-chili-honey
1 oz grapefruit juice
1/4 oz lemon
3 oz beer
Rosemary sprig
- Combine water, grapefruit juice, honey, and lemon in a shaker tine with ice. Shake well, about 40 seconds.
- Double strain over one large rock. Add beer as desired.
- Using a bar spoon, swizzle the beer and lemonade together. Garnish with rosemary sprig and enjoy!
0.1% Spaghett
1 tbsp pickled ginger, muddled
1 oz grapefruit
1/2 oz pickled ginger juice
1/2 oz ginger-chili-honey
1/4 oz lemon
3 dash angostura (optional)
Pinch salt/ground pepper
1 bottle NA beer
- Chug the neck of the beer.
- In a cocktail mixing glass, muddle together ginger, pickled ginger juice, and honey. Add lemon, grapefruit, angostura, and spices with ice.
- Stir well, about 40 seconds.
- Strain directly into the neck of the bottle, and enjoy!
Best Shot Co. 