Gloucester Brewery - Zero Gravity IPA

Zero Gravity is a 0.5% ABV beer that comes in a 500ml can and is vegan. The hops, typical of an IPA, are Citra and Galaxy, whilst wheat and oats are also in the mix. The very pale body creates a modest head upon pouring (although quickly subsiding) and the aroma is strongly citrussy and hoppy. Tastewise there is plenty of sharp, clean fruit - lemon, mandarin and grapefruit. The malt component is very restrained, which means it has a light but smooth body. The carbonation level is rather low. The finish is crisp and overall I would describe the beer as juicy and quite bitter. A very good first AF beer from the Gloucester Brewery; a rating of four out of five, not zero. 

4 / 5

Tartarus - Pixie Hazy IPA

The body of this IPA is just about as hazy as possible before you would have to call it opaque. The head soon disappears once you have poured it into a glass from the 440 ml can, dispensing amongst other things Ella, Enigma and Eclipse hops. Typical of the style the aroma is strongly of tropical fruits and the taste follows through on this. Think mandarin, mango, papaya and pineapple. There's a note of white wine in there too. The body is creamy and the finish is equally as soft. An easy to drink brew, but with perhaps too much sweetness in the fruits.

3 / 5

Force Majeure - Tripel Hop

Force Majeure is a Belgian brewery specialising in alcohol free beers. "100% Smaak, 0% Alcohol", as it says on the label. (Although the designation declared on the 33cl bottle is actually <0.5%). Also listed are the ingredients: barley, wheat, oats, hops, herbs and sucralose. In the glass the beer is a delightful rich tawny colour and sports a substantially frothy topping. Ripe banana and esters are the tempting aromas as one raises the beer to the lips. The taste is a delicious combination of raisin, fig, Seville orange and toffee. The mouthfeel is very creamy, soft and well-rounded. The carbonation level is low. It is a sweet beer (think demerara sugar) but this is balanced with a bitter edge at the finish. 100% excellent.

5 / 5

Mash Gang / Northern Monk - American Pale Ale

This 0.5% ABV collaboration arrives in a 440 ml can, a very shiny can in fact, making the verbiage quite difficult to read. The listed ingredients are New World hops, malted barley, wheat, oats and maltodextrin. The head is lost soon after pouring. Grapefruit is the main aroma from the APA and which continues on into the taste with an added zing of lemon. The body is slight and there is a little too much fizz going on. It has a bitter finish, but not excessively so. For me, it lacks the character that I would expect in an APA. 

2 / 5

Williams Bros - Joker AF IPA

This is the AF (0.5% ABV) version of the Scottish brewer's alcoholic Joker IPA. It arrives in a 440ml can and is both vegan and GF. As with the Alien Form IPA, the brewing process uses thiolised yeast which helps to "unlock" more flavour. There's four varieties of hops in the mix - Cascade, Citra, Chinook and Mosaic, together with barley, wheat, oats and rye. Stone fruit is the main aroma when the beer is poured into a glass. The head is plentiful and hangs around for a good while. Tastewise this Joker has a well balanced fruity profile, particularly orange, lemon and grapefruit. A touch of earthy spice adds to the punch, whilst the moderate carbonation means a light but firm body is created. The smooth finish has an excellent hoppy bite and it's just too easy to drink! A great beer all round, and that's no joke.

5 / 5

Mash Gang - The Hand That Feeds

This is a 440ml can of vanilla stout, utilising malted barley, maltodextrin, wheat, oats, vanilla and HBC 472 hops. The ABV is 0.5%. A thick and billowing head is formed when dispensed and it persists for some time. The aroma is of vanilla, as one would expect. Tastewise it is like a traditional stout but with a greater level of sweetness - chocolate, vanilla and coconut; in fact, rather like a well-known bar of confectionery. The mouthfeel is very smooth and creamy, whilst the finish is rich and sweet. It manages to avoid being sickly sweet though and the low carbonation level means it is very easy to sup. One of the better AF stouts. 

4 / 5

Mash Gang - Anxiety Saint

Anxiety Saint is a 0.5% ABV coffee stout that is dispensed from a 440ml can. Once poured, the tawny head is lost very quickly. HBC472 is the hop used, together with coffee beans, vanilla beans and chilli, finishing off with some ageing on bourbon cask oak staves. Coffee and vanilla supply the aroma and then the taste is one of mostly coffee, but also with some vanilla and sitting on a nice oakiness. Chilli isn't apparent in the taste. The body is smooth with a very low level of carbonation whilst the finish is sweet, almost too sweet. Overall, Anxiety Saint is a pleasant, creamy stout.

3 / 5

Williams Bros - Alien Form Fruity IPA

Williams Bros Brewing Co hails from Alloa in Scotland. Amongst all their alcoholic fare is this 0.5% ABV vegan IPA, served up in a half litre can. The ingredients listed on the can simply says water, barley, oats, wheat, hops and yeast. Closer investigation (the company website) specifies a full half dozen hop varieties: Cascade, Citra, Mosaic, Amarillo, Sabro and Galaxy. Yet further reading reveals that the yeast is thiolised. Thiols are flavour and aroma compounds often found in hops which typically do not get much of a say in the finished product because they are in low concentration and do not get "released." Thiolised yeasts however are able to "unlock" these compounds so that they may find greater expression in the final aroma and taste of the beer. The aroma of this IPA is certainly a powerful and fruity one. And the taste...orange, guava, mango, lemon and passionfruit just about covers the bases. It is almost as if there is some white wine in there (there isn't!). All the flavours are in a perfectly balanced harmony. The mouthfeel is equally as impressive - very smooth and a little bit creamy, whilst the finish has an understated bite. A top class beer. Let's hear it for thiolised yeasts!

5 / 5

Mash Gang - National Anthem

The 440ml can declares it to be a "cherry cola ice cream float pastry stout." It is 0.5% ABV, and is not vegan or GF. The listed ingredients are malted barley, oats, wheat, HBC472 and HBC630 hops, sweet and sour cherry juice concentrate, cacao nibs, Tahitian vanilla bean and kola nut. A quick internet search declares HBC630 to have a very distinctive cherry flavour. It's entirely expected then that the aroma is of cherry. And as the ingredients suggest, this follows through strongly into the flavour - cherry, cherry and cherry but with a topping of sweet vanilla. The head is soon lost and the carbonation level is very low. For all the natural ingredients there is a strangely synthetic character to the finish. Not a cherry cola I'd be wanting to buy again.

1 / 5

Big Smoke - Pure Shores Pale Ale

Surrey-based Big Smoke Brew Co launched in 2014 and this is their 0.5% ABV vegan pale ale, powered by Amarillo and Celeia hops and comes in a 330ml can. The ingredients also include malted barley, oats and wheat. There is a pleasant piney aroma to the beer and this follows through to the taste together with orange, malt and just a hint of lemon. The body is quite slight and the carbonation level is low; the head soon disappears. It is a smooth, well-balanced ale with a crisp, bitter finish.

3 / 5

Mash Gang - Help Wanted Nights

This is described on the 440ml can as being a coffee doughnut breakfast stout and the listed ingredients does include coffee beans, although there's no doughnuts mentioned. Others listed include vanilla, chilli, maltodextrin, malted barley, wheat, oats, fructose and the HBC 472 hop variety. The 0.5% ABV beer goes flat very quickly leaving one to appreciate the aroma which has both coffee notes and a sweetness that suggests the doughnut of the stout's name. The taste is a pleasing combination of (mostly) coffee, vanilla and with a considerable sweetness. Presumably this derives from the fact that fructose is the sweetest of all naturally occurring carbohydrates. I can't detect any chilli but there is a nice touch of bourbon in the background. There is a decent mouthfeel, although not as dense as the ingredients might suggest and the carbonation level is very low (possibly the reason the head disappeared so fast). The finish is mostly of the sweetness. It's not a run of the mill stout and is easy enough to drink, but personally I like to take my coffee without sugar. 

3 / 5

Wookey Brewing Co - Elixir American IPA

Based in Wells in Somerset, Wookey Brewing Co offer up this 0.5% ABV American IPA (an APA?) in a 440ml can. It is vegan and contains Citra, Cascade and Columbus hops - fairly typical of American Pale Ales. The slightly hazy beer creates a big foaming head upon pouring but it soon tempers itself. There is a keen tropical fruits aroma, as one might expect given that combination of hops. On the tongue the malty base gives a smooth and well-rounded mouthfeel with only slight carbonation.  As to the taste, there is an impressive mix of bitter citrus, sweet lychee and fresh herbs together with that signature APA piney character. The finish is quite bitter but not in an overbearing manner. Overall, Elixir is a punchy addition to the AF market. 

4 / 5