We are meeting someone new today; a visitor, if you will. Visitor is from Potosi, Wisconsin, and brings with it high expectations, as we have been blown away a lot in the past by NA brews out of Wisconsin. We enter into this week with high hopes and a bit of confusion.
This week we are drinking Visitor beer. Is it a lager? Is it an IPA? Nobody knows. This nondescript can is plain old aluminum with a couple of stickers. There is no description except for the words “crisp and clean.” The puke green sticker on the front is a green circle that reads “Visitor,” in which the ‘o’ is a smiley face, and the other is a nutrition label and barcode sticker. Not knowing what to expect, I only bought one of these cans.
How Does It Pour?
When you crack the can, you get a familiar smell to anyone who has ever experimented with NA beer and thought that O’Doul’s might be their only option. The skunky, overheated tinge of a stale old beer will begin to fill your nostrils. The smell is compounded when you start to pour the crystal-clear brew into the glass and let the stark white head settle at the top. This beer is very clearly a lager by sight, and further research online confirms this.
How Does It Taste?
When you drink this mysterious visitor, the only flavor you can expect from the can is ‘crisp and clean, so the poor balance of ingredients is a bit of a surprise. As far as crispness goes, it is a crisp taste, though it leaves little to be desired. The clean taste is only because it has been so filtered and boiled down. The beer’s good flavors and balance were clearly lost in the de-alcoholization process.
Untappd gives Visitor a nothing rating. There have only been a few reviews, so no rating has been calculated, but I would not recommend it. It’s just not very good and with the wide variety of NA brews available, it should be a cautionary tale to anyone trying to crack into the business that you gotta come with you’re A-game. I would say that Visitor is an unwanted guest.
HAPPY EVERY HOUR NA BEERS & 90s: Sober Curator Justin Lamb is dedicated to tasting great (and sometimes not so great) NA beers and showcasing his amazing collection of memorabilia from the ’90s.
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2 Comments
I strongly disagree with this review. Visitor is one of the few n/a lagers out there that drinks more like a lightly-hopped lager than a bombed out, over-hopped mess. I enjoy a lower-octane beer and shot and opt for one of these post-shift.
Justin, if your puke is that color green, i suggest you see a doctor.
Headed here to the comments to strongly disagree and pretty much fully agree with the first commenter. I think this product feels a needed niche. I loved bold flavorful beers in my life but I have already been so burnt out on American over-hopped beers and also I’ve unfortunately started to become pretty intolerant to digesting beer in general. Finding this product made me very happy and hit the spot on a hot summer night without knocking me out with alcohol or by being filling.