Dry (or Damp) January??

Perhaps you've heard of the seemingly growing movement called "Dry January". I recently saw some coverage on my local news discussing the idea of people giving up all alcohol for 1 month to improve their health and keep things in check in regards to alcohol consumption. Even the Apartment Brewer (see video clip below) mentioned it in his year end video. Seems like a really good idea! Seeing that I haven't tried this, I'm guessing it would be really difficult, particularly while grilling a burger or brat outside. Is it possible to man the grill without a beer in hand??

But then I thankfully discovered something called "Damp January" whereby folks don't give up all alcohol but put restrictions and limits on their consumption for 1 month. Now this seems more reasonable to me! ;)

So as part of my damp January I decided to read some reviews of NA beers to see if there were any decent ones. Food 52 did a nice review article of several different beer styles in the NA category. One standout I noticed was the IPA by Brooklyn Brewing from the article:

1. Brooklyn Brewery Special Effects

Bolder and crisper than everything we tasted, Brooklyn Brewery’s Special Effects floored us. Our tasting notes included: “good bite,” “HELL YEAH,” and “deep fake—I wouldn’t know it was NA.” Average Score: 3.8/5

I decided to give this one a try, not really expecting much! Here are my notes:

I would say first off that it is recognizable as an IPA. Upon opening the can I got a nice whiff of fresh hop aroma. The taste was "almost" like beer. The hops were dialed in with a Pine and grapefruit zest note. Not bad. The malts character was thankfully less cereal-grainy wort flavored like most NA beers I have tried. However I would say it lacked depth and was more honey-like but not too sweet. Didn't really have the malt backbone I was hoping for. Kinda tasted like honey cough drops with hops. On a positive note, there was a decent mouthfeel and body for an NA beer. Only 98 calories, wow.

Overall, I grew tired of it around half way thru, but still I finished it as it was refreshing. I wouldn't really call it beer but still not too bad. Sadly however, there is NO way that I would mistake this for a beer with alcohol. So if you like slightly bitter honey cough drops, you will really like this!

3/5 STARS

I also tasted the so-called "Grapefruit IPA" from Brooklyn Brewing as well. This one, compared to the first IPA, was just horrible if you are expecting a Hazy IPA-like flavor. The beer poured slightly hazy with no head retention and truly smelled and tasted like orange Gatorade.... It was watery and had a fake fruit taste. It was nice and refreshing but had zero resemblance to a beer. Not recommended....

0/5 STARS

So in the end, I think I will stick with lower alcohol / calorie German or Czech beers as a substitute for more heavy, high alcohol/ calorie beers like Double IPA, Imperial Stouts or other seasonal winter styles. I intend to research calorie counts for these lower ABV styles and see what I can find. More coming soon....