I'm a lifelong teetotaller, but I can attest that the innovation in alcohol free stuff has really been impressive. Obviously I can't compare it to "the real thing", but it's funny to try e.g. the many new alcohol free liquor products and observe that yes, this in fact tastes quite unlike anything else I've tasted.

The only alcohol-free beer I've found in the UK that tastes very similar is Adnams Ghost Ship. Others I've tried have tasted too malty or with an entire missing section in the flavour profile.

That one is OK, yep.

You might want to add stuff by "Big Drop" to the 'to try' list. They do a good (if highly calorific) milk stout and some of their pales are pretty decent. If you like weissbier then Franziskaner Weiss alcohol-free is available in the UK and to me tastes as good or better than their version with alcohol.

When brewdog have their Hazy AF available, which is not all that often, that one's really worth a go. I like "Nanny State" too, but I see why not everyone does, and I'm not a huge fan of Punk AF. Hazy AF is damn good though.

I'll have to look for that. I haven't found a single one that's not missing the alcohol bite, but I think the closest NA beers are Guinness, Deschutes Black Butte Porter (US), and Corona, of all things.

There are a couple other US breweries I like, both of which I doubt distribute internationally: Ration Ale and Best Day Brewing.

I think the citrus hops give enough of a bitter aftertaste to mask the absence of alcohol. I can't imagine a red or golden ale doing the same, the malt would make it taste like Horlicks.

> an entire missing section in the flavour profile

I think you sort of get that simply by excluding alcohol, but you can’t really expect that to still be there in my opinion.

But almost all the alcohol free beers in the Netherlands now are very good (heineken in the UK too, but heineken doesn’t really have a very unique taste to begin with).

If you come stateside, search out Athletic. It's what I and most people I know swear by nowadays.

Well well - looks like they have a UK supplier too. Thanks for the recommendation!

You might find Brewdog beers in the UK, they are good. (In France they are hard to find and unreasonably expensive.)

Around Paris, Monoprix tends to carry some of their lineup. The Punk IPA is fairly easy to find in most supermarkets, though it is indeed quite expensive.

Thanks. Here in the Yvelines it's hit or miss at Monoprix. Instead I found a German store in Paris that stocks about 20 AF beers, so I'm set for a while.

Big Drop is my go to for NA beer in the UK. Their whole range is quite good (and I usually drink alcoholic beer)