We put alcohol-free beers to the taste test as a substitute for all those who over-indulged this Bank Holiday
Boozy Brits have sunk a record 32million pints in the past year, with sales hitting £34.7million - but how does the soft stuff compare?
DRINKERS are getting a taste for the soft stuff as low and no-alcohol beers fly off the shelves.
Brits have sunk a record 32million pints in the past year, with sales hitting £34.7million.
Meanwhile, high percentage alcoholic brews have dropped by nearly 15.5million.
Non-alcoholic beer — drinks with a volume of 0.05 per cent or below — and low-alcohol brews usually appeal to health-conscious drinkers.
And they are perfect if you have over-indulged over the Bank Holiday and want a detox.
Drinks expert Joe Wadsack, above, says: “People now see alcohol-free beer as a viable option because some of them taste convincingly of beer.”
But Joe warns drinking the soft stuff is not necessarily always healthier.
He says: “Some use sugar instead of alcohol so the calorie content may still be the same.”
Here, Joe rates leading non-alcoholic and low- alcohol beers out of ten.
Beck's Blue - 3 out of 10
STRENGTH: 0.05%.
PRICE: £3.50 per six pack, Tesco.
SUGAR: 0.55g per 275ml bottle.
CALORIES: 38.5 per 275ml.
Joe says: “This one tastes like someone has left their beer dregs and then mixed it with water.
“The flavour is also a little bit salty and doesn’t seem to have the sugar to fill the void of real alcohol.
“Overall, this beer is a complete let-down.”