Author: Justin Lamb

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…

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,…

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…

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…

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….

A favorite of the Sober Curator and Happy Every Hour, Bravus Brewing from California joins us again for a tasty treat that will tantalize your taste buds. So buckle up and lean in hard on those winter chills, because Bravus Brewing is bringing us a stout, no doubt! This week we are drinking a peanut butter stout from Bravus Brewing. Not only that, but we are also taking an older version of their same peanut butter stout (now called Peanut Butter Dark) and comparing the two. It’s everything you want in a beer review except for nudity, but if you…

This week we steer away from the normal reviews of small-time craft breweries to bring you the hipster beer that you know you missed: Pabst Blue Ribbon, more affectionately known as PBR. PBR is the hipster classic. A lager that’s been around for a very long time, but found its home in small concert venues in the mid-2000s. If you have drunk beer before, you have likely had a PRB at some point. If you’re looking for that concert beer, football beer, or just a beer that goes well with a trucker hat and a t-shirt no one else owns,…

We know Athletic Brewing pretty well by now. They have national ad campaigns and what is probably the most extensive footprint in the non-alcoholic craft beer arena. On top of all the money they spend on marketing, they spend a lot of time finding ways to make really fricking good NA beer. Until now… This week, we’re drinking First Ride Coffee Porter from Athletic Brewing. I had a lot of excitement around this beer since porters are not often found in the NA world, and even if they are, they are typically bland, similar to high octane porters in the…

We are joined once again by our beer friends from the west coast, Surreal Brewing. A brewery that prides itself on brewing the healthiest beers available. Challenge accepted! Sounds like Surreal Brewing is going to give Athletic Brewing a run for their money. This week, we are drinking Natural Bridges Kolsch from Surreal Brewing, and I am very excited about this because you don’t see this style in the craft NA world. You may get something similar from one of the German breweries who do countless NA beers, but having this from a craft NA brewery like Surreal Brewing is…

BrewDog has been in the beer game for longer than most of you have been sober. They have mastered alcoholic beer and with the growing need for options in the non-alcoholic world, they met a need before most of the non-alcoholic breweries we’ve come to love ever even existed! They have a solid foundational selection as well as seasonal and limited NA options all the time. This week, we’re drinking Nanny State, BrewDog’s first non-alcoholic option they offered. Nanny State is BrewDog’s take on a classic pale ale, and being a brewery that originated in the UK, you can imagine…

WellBeing Brewing joins us again from Missouri and they are bringing with them the tastiest treat you can find in a 16 oz. can! As a special treat, this review is coming out on New Years Eve because a.) it’s part of our 12 Days of NAs (12 NA Beers of Christmas) and b.) because it fits the theme of the evening. WellBeing Brewing is about raising well-being and living a more intentional and healthier lifestyle. They have named their IPA (my personal favorite) Intentional IPA with that in mind. On this New Year’s Eve, it’s essential that we are…

This year will be my third Christmas sober. When I quit drinking back in 2019, I was certain there were some versions of beer I would never see again. One of those is a bourbon barrel-aged stout. Certainly, there would be no way to barrel-age a non-alcoholic beer. After all, those barrel-aged beers were 10-16% alcohol, with legends of some even higher. Then, that first fateful sober Christmas in 2019, an announcement came to my email from Bravus Brewing. Introducing Gravitas, a barrel-aged maple stout. The promise of barrel-aged flavor from the leader in NA stouts? I had to have…

WellBeing joins us again because this is a fallback edition where I reach into my fridge and share with you some of the delicious beers that time has left behind. WellBeing Brewing is near St. Louis and has some of the best NA beers available out there today! Click any of the links below or use code FRIENDREQUEST at checkout to save 10% off your order of deliciousness. Happy Christmas, Harry! We are going back to when it wasn’t so cold, only a couple of months back, and opening up WellBeing Brewing’s wonderful collaboration beer: their Pumpkin Ale. This brew…

Surreal Brewing, a first-time feature on Happy Every Hour, comes to us from Campbell, California, and brings some of its West Coast styles this week. In addition to the brew we’ll be reviewing today, Surreal brewing has many other beers available both in stores and directs shipped from their website. They’ve been perfecting recipes for three years now and are the only brewery I know of to offer a non-alcoholic Milkshake IPA. Check them out and try their gold-medal-winning Chandelier Red IPA. This week we are diving into the sunshine and stars with Surreal Brewing and their Creatives IPA. It’s…

Our friends at Bravus Brewing join us again! This time with another dark delight. As you have heard me say time and time again, I love Bravus Brewing for their stouts. They do them very well and it’s a nice refreshing flavor feast from the norm. This week is their latest in a line of tasty dark beers. We’re drinking Breakfast Dark from Bravus Brewing this week, a stout that sports coffee, cinnamon, and chocolate right on the label. This label isn’t wrong either, for when you snap that aluminum lid open, you can smell the freshly brewed coffee and…

We are keeping this stout-y November rolling with another visit from our friends in Wisconsin: Untitled Art. You may remember their Watermelon Gose or their Italian Pilsner, but this week we will be drinking their most popular and most delicious dark and yummy treat. This week we are drinking Chocolate Milk Stout from Untitled Art. This delicious and hearty beer pours a nice dark brown color with a toasted creamy head. The aromas of chocolate and lactose emanate off the glass letting you know what you are getting yourself in for. How Does Untitled Art Chocolate Milk Stout Pour? When…

Athletic Brewing, out of Connecticut, is no stranger to Happy Every Hour, but this time, instead of an IPA or a Pale Ale, we’re going dark. Extra dark. Extra awesome and dark. Athletic Brewing never disappoints and it’s getting cold, so let’s get warmed up. How Does It Pour? This week is Athletic Brewings All Out Stout. This is one of the many stout options available to all of you beautiful people, with more and more coming to fruition each passing year! This stout pours a hearty dark brown color with a perfect caramel head. The aromas of coffee and…

We’ve had the pleasure of tasting one of my favorite NA beers already, Gruvi’s Pale Ale, but now that the colder weather is here, we are starting to see more dark beers, particularly stouts. The nice thing about stouts in the non-alcoholic world is that we went from having one available to us three years ago, to now having countless options and styles, all under the umbrella of “stout”. So with the spirit of the season, we are kicking off our series of NA stouts with Gruvi’s Stout. Now you guys know it’s a pet peeve of mine when breweries…

Much to my surprise, this is the first time we are featuring WellBeing Brewing on here. WellBeing comes to us from St. Louis and has a delicious line of non-alcoholic beers and CBD waters. My thought that we featured them before was because of my mention of their Intentional IPA, one of my favorites for sure. But this is the first official review of one of their tasty treats, and what a perfect one for the Halloween weekend. This week, we are drinking Hellraiser Dark Amber from WellBeing Brewing. There are not as many ambers in the craft NA world,…