Author: Justin Lamb

WellBeing Brewing is one of my favorites and the makers of such classically reviewed beers as Intentional IPA, and Hellraiser Dark Amber. And Wandering Islands comes to join us again with a collaboration beer that is sure to knock your socks off and make you wonder what else they may be hiding down in St. Louis, where they are brewed and born. This week, we are drinking Liquid Rain by WellBeing Brewing. This is a collaboration brew with 4Hands Brewing and it’s a deliciously fruity IPA. This limited-edition brew promises to capture most hopheads’ attention with El Dorado hops and…

Can we just talk about how great BrewDog is? They are only one of two places I know of that I can get NA on tap. I loved draft beer and I love to drink draft beer and that is a big loss as a non-drinker, but then BrewDog comes in and offers their NAs on tap at all of their locations and suddenly there is a reason to go to Columbus, Ohio other than Schmidt’s Sausage Haus in Germantown. This week we are drinking Hazy AF by BrewDog. As you may have guessed from the name, this is a…

We are joined again by the ever-impressive Untitled Art. All the way from Waunakee, Wisconsin, this brewery deals in high octane beers as well as non-alcoholic beers, and let me tell you, they have this down to a science. We have previously reviewed their Juicy IPA, Chocolate Milk Stout, and Italian Pilsner, to name a few, and they have yet to disappoint, always going hard with flavor and deliciousness. This week, we are drinking Lychee Sherbet from Untitled Art. This beer captures all of the flavors of the Lychee…fruit? Berry? What is lychee? We may never know, but we will…

We are joined again by a leader in the non-alcoholic beer industry, Athletic Brewing. Athletic is known for its wide variety, limited batches, and huge distribution. This week, though, we focus on a beer style that has been missing from many NA craft breweries, and one that has been around in the macro-brew world for ages: Light Beer. This week, we are drinking Athletic Lite from Athletic Brewing. This is one of the first light beers available from a craft brewery in the non-alcoholic space. Based on Athletic Brewing’s track record, I would anticipate that this would be on par…

Chip chip cheerio, mate! This beer joins us from the land of all amazing non-alcoholic beers, the creators of the colonizing original India Pale Ale: Jolly old England. Big Drop Brewing has brought us beers in the past and their selection continues to grow, offering us all sorts of styles and fun names. IPAs, stouts, wheats, and now, something to add to your summer selection. This week, we are drinking Coba Maya from Big Drop Brewing. This is a Mexican-style lager that is looking for its mate in lime and a laid-back attitude. Perfect for mowing the lawn or having…

BrewDog is a brewery that helps set the bar for NA beers produced by standard breweries. They have a sober bar in London with a wall of NA taps and they serve NA draft beer at all of their U.S. tap rooms, including their Columbus, Ohio, and Indianapolis, Indiana locations. They are widely distributed and ship to most states, except Michigan, Idaho, and some other states. We’ve reviewed a number of their beers before and they know how to brew beer, boy! This week we are drinking Ghost Walker from BrewDog. This beer is an IPA collaboration with the band,…

Two Roads is a brewery out of Connecticut that does high octane beer and recently added a non-alcoholic option to their repertoire. This is an ongoing trend for alcoholic breweries as they see a place in the market for an NA option. With the market growing 30% year over year, this shouldn’t be surprising anyone, except for maybe Stone Brewing who has no desire to branch into that area right now, but that’s not why we’re talking today. This week, we’re drinking a Juicy IPA from Two Roads. Without popping the can, I am already conflicted that the NA option…

I feel like it’s been a while since I gave you guys the goods from Athletic Brewing. Perhaps it’s because Michigan’s stupid distribution laws make me jump through prohibition hoops to get anything outside of their flagship beers, but maybe it’s because the inner punk rock kid in me looks at them as the biggest NA craft brewer and I want to highlight the little guys more. Either way, Athletic Brewing is only the biggest because their beers are phenomenal, and this week is no exception. This week, we are drinking Sunset Stoke from Athletic Brewing, a delightfully hoppy red…

Gruvi has not graced us with their brews in quite some time, and I think my last review for one of their NA beers was back in the fall, but nonetheless, I’ve got two new ones to try and it looks like there has been a bit of rebranding, too. Gruvi makes NA beers and wine and comes to us from the Rocky Mountain state, Colorado. They are pretty widely distributed, so grab a brew and play along. This week, we’re drinking Mocha Nitro Stout from Gruvi. I saw this and was immediately excited. For one, they had a re-branding,…

I’ve reviewed many brews by Bravus Brewing, and they should be a familiar name by now. This NA brewery from southern California is joining us again for what may be my favorite beer by them. Over the many beers from this bombastic brewery I’ve tried, my reviews have been mixed, and I often tend to favor their dark selections like peanut butter stouts and barrel-aged stouts. However, my heart was possibly won over by this IPA. This week, we are drinking Double Dry-Hopped IPA from Bravus Brewing. We have had their standard IPA before and their Blood Orange IPA and…

WellBeing Brewing from St. Luis is coming up to the plate again and if their record says anything it means that disappointment has no home here. If this is your first WellBeing Brewing review, go check out the others! Their Intentional IPA and Hellraiser Dark Amber are phenomenal choices and today’s tasty treat is no exception to the rule. This time around, WellBeing Brewing partnered with 4 Hands Brewing, Giving Kitchen, and Sean Brock to bring you this delicious and impactful brew. Each can has a QR code on the side that will link you up with Giving Kitchen, who…

Two Roots, originating in California, but now being pumped out by the barrel right here in Michigan, is joining us again with what might be my all-time favorite NA beer. You guys. I’m serious. Call the priest and fire him because, with this beer, I have exercised the demons! This week, we are drinking Resin Riot by Two Roots. Two Roots has joined us with their delicious beers many times and there are still more to come, but this one is special. I first tried this last fall and I was in shock over how good it was. I am…

There’s a really great non-alcoholic beer group on Facebook simply called “Non-Alcoholic Beer” (NAB). With 52 reviews down and another 20+ beers sitting in my fridge waiting to be reviewed, I posed the question to the NAB group: which beer should I review next? So now, I am doing these in order of their responses, even though we were visited by Untitled Art last week. Either way, let’s travel back to Waunakee, Wisconsin, and dive into this week’s tasty treat! This week we are drinking a Juicy IPA from Untitled Art. This India Pale Ale is made in the style…

Untitled Art is a familiar name here in these parts. We’ve already reviewed four of their NA brews and here’s another delightful and decadent treat for your taste buds. Untitled Art comes to us from Waunakee, Wisconsin and everyone knows: if it’s an NA beer from Wisconsin, it’s probably good. Just like the Old Ranger used to say. This week, we’re drinking S’Mores Dark Brew by Untitled Art. I take an issue with the fact that suddenly all of the NA breweries are calling their stouts “dark beers” instead of stouts. I don’t know who tattled on who, but it’s…

NEW BREWERY ALERT! Well, new to us anyway. Woodland Farms Brewery opened in 2017, but they have only recently started brewing NA beers for the masses. They have had a slew of other high-octane beers, some of which I wish they would make a non-alcoholic version of, like their peanut butter marshmallow stout. Regardless, they do have about six different NA beers available ranging in styles from IPAs to stouts to sours. This week, we are drinking Pointer IPA from Woodland Farms Brewery. Woodland Farms Brewery describes this beer as “juicy and hazy with Amarillo, Cascade, Mosaic, and Galaxy hops.”…

On Facebook, there is a group called Non-Alcoholic Beer (shoutout to my NAB friends!). There is a beer that has a fun country club look and has made its presence in many user pictures in that group. The name of the brewery is Rescue Club and they have a nautical thematic can/logo design and I love it. I like the double meaning that I interpret from a life preserver, as it relates to sobriety. It’s just a fun look. I was excited to try it. After all, when I was drinking high-octane beers like normies, the label was half the…

It was half a decade ago that my friend called me up to tell me he was moving from Los Angeles to Santa Cruz to help manage a kava bar. Amongst the many questions I had, the most pressing was “…kava…? …bar…?” He explained to me that kava was a plant from the Pacific Islands and the root was used to make some sort of drink or tea or something like that. Chances are if you have heard of kava, it’s either been in drink form, droplet form, powder form, or some other ingested form. It is known for its…

If you order some brews from Best Day Brewing out of Northern California, you might get a hand-signed thank you from their founder, Tate Huffard. Regardless of your feelings about the name Tate, this guy knows how to make a beer. Best Day Brewing is a reasonably new brewery and their limited selection only includes their Kolsch, West Coast IPA, and Hazy IPA (which is currently sold out). They claim to have made their beer non-alcoholic because “life is chock-full of moments that deserve a great beer, but not the booze.” I’ll drink to that. This week, we are drinking…

We are joined again by one of my favorite non-alcoholic breweries: WellBeing Brewing! Joining us from the hot-lanta of the central U.S., St. Louis, WellBeing Brewing is delivering one of their three 16 oz cans to my hands and I need you to understand! I am excited and I know you will be, too. This week, we are drinking Victory Wheat by WellBeing Brewing. A tasty wheat treat served up in a 16 oz can and complete for your successful workout with its electrolytes! This beer fills the air with a hint of lemon and citrus and as you pour…

Joining us again from the sunny shores of California is Surreal Brewing. I like these guys. They feel like the underdogs, and they make great beers and I think they should be given more attention in the NA craft beer circuit. They are humble and awesome. We’ve previously drank their Kolsch and their Creatives IPA, but this week we have one of my favorites from Surreal Brewing. This week, we are drinking Milkshake IPA from Surreal Brewing. This trend began shortly before I ducked out of drinking. I believe I had my first Milkshake IPA back in 2017 and I…

When I first began to dabble in the non-alcoholic craft beer market in 2018, it was a desolate wasteland littered with two breweries and stacks upon stacks of O’Doul’s and German beers I could not pronounce. As the industry began to grow, a large social media community began to grow, as well. Within these Facebook groups and Instagram hashtags, it felt like NA beers were becoming the norm, but it was just a bubble of confirmation bias that always happens when you surround yourself with like-minded people with similar interests. Then the pandemic hit… While beer sales stayed relatively steady,…

Bravus Brewing joins us again from California. They pride themselves on a few key points about their brand. One is being early in the NA craft beer market, perhaps the first in the U.S. The second one is their slogan: Any time is a good time for a Bravus. Stay tuned after the review for my personal thoughts on that slogan and how it’s changed in the last few months. This week, we’re drinking Mango Habanero IPA from Bravus Brewing. I could not have been more excited when I saw the announcement for this one. Back when I was drinking,…

Sober Curators Justin Lamb and Alysse Bryson have never met in real life. They met on the Clubhouse app through a mutual sober friend, realized in addition to recovery, they had many shared interests, and they’ve been virtual besties ever since. Justin’s Story: After spending the entire first six months of our friendship watching Alysse Bryson give and give and rarely ever ask for anything in return, I knew that with Christmas approaching, I had to get the perfect gift to say thank you for all of her dedication and hard work. My relationship with Alysse had been purely virtual,…

We are joined again by the fun fresh freaks in Waunakee, Wisconsin: Untitled Art! If this is your introduction to Untitled Art, you should know that they do alcoholic and non-alcoholic beer, but their expansion of the latter category in the last couple of years has been explosive (and delicious)! Everything from milk stouts to sours to pilsners and more. They are a fun brewery to check out, as well, as they have local artists do each can design, creating an artistic uniqueness you can’t find anywhere else. This week we are drinking West Coast IPA from Untitled Art. This…

One thing I will never tire of is when regular alcoholic breweries release NA offerings. There’s a level of inclusion there that just warms my cold, dark heart. This week, with that narrative in mind, we try the NA offering of Flying Dog, a brewery that has many delicious alcoholic options that finally gave up some awesomeness to us NA drinkers! How Does It Pour? Deep Fake IPA from Flying Dog is what’s pouring into our glasses this week. It’s a beer that hints at warmer weather and tickles your fancy in an unexpected way. Flying Dog brings the color…

We are joined again by those sweet midwestern cuties over at WellBeing Brewing in Missouri. They have been featured before for their Hellraiser Amber, Intentional IPA, and delicious Pumpkin Ale, but this time we’re hitting up another one of their top-tier 16 oz. cans. How Does It Pour? This week we are drinking Going Places IPA by WellBeing Brewing. It’s the second 16oz IPA from WellBeing and if can size doesn’t sell it to you, maybe these notes of love will. The beer cracks open and a familiar roasted malt and yeast smell hit the air. It’s kind of like…

It’s not very often that we visit the wide world of macro breweries, but that’s partially because a lot of macro breweries make macro crap, i.e. O’Doul’s. This week is a wonderful and fruity exception to the norm when we go up to the northeast and try the offerings of Samuel Adams, a.k.a. Sam Adams, a.k.a. your cousin from Boston. This week, we are drinking Just the Haze by Samuel Adams. It’s Sam Adam’s take on a New England IPA, which is known for its haziness and fruity notes of deliciousness. Of course, you probably already know Sam Adams for…

From the fabled land of Ireland comes the traditional dark, dry Irish stout we’ve all come to know over the years. Guinness is finally available as a non-alcoholic beer and even more exciting, it’s available in the U.S.! It’s here! Guinness 0 (Zero) was first launched in Ireland in October of 2020, but had to be recalled due to ‘potential contamination’. Its relaunch was in June of 2021, with most people speculating that Guinness wouldn’t be in the U.S. until spring/summer of 2022. Imagine the thrill of the NA community when these 14.9 oz. cans started showing their faces in…

This week we are revisiting our delightful west coast friends, Two Roots Brewing. With a distribution facility on the other side of the country, in Auburn Hills, Michigan, Two Roots is becoming more widely available and is sure to be gracing the shelves of your local store if it’s not there already. From Two Roots Brewing, this week we are trying Enough Said, a traditional German-style Helles. If you’re already familiar with this style going into a tasting, you may have high expectations, as most German styles are very particular in flavor. They do beer well over there, hence Oktoberfest.…

If you’re here because you’re sober (or if you still drink), then at one point you have been in a group of friends and probably played something similar to Never Have I Ever….