They go low

If low-to-no-alcohol beer is going to be the coming thing in beer -- and it seems to be -- that ought to be reflected in these pages. Here, then, are a smattering of that genre being given the usual once-over.

Vedett Extra Session IPA offers some alcohol, all of 2.7%, enough for a bit of a tax break in some European jurisdictions. The visuals aren't great: it pours like an American light lager, a watery yellow with the head crackling quickly away to nothing. "Powerful citrus" is promised on the label, and the aroma is certainly lemony. It tastes like lemonade at first, then introduces a plethora of Belgian herbs, adding more than a hint of bath salts or, more uncharitably, Lush shop. There's not much of a base to carry it, and it's up to you to read that as unacceptable wateriness or refreshing lightness. I can see both sides. On balance, I think I liked it. It doesn't do anything strange or clever within the spec, but it's also a boldly flavoured hop-forward session IPA, one I could drink more than one of.

At the bottom of the scale is Mikkeller's Drink'in the Sun, an "American style wheat ale" at just 0.3% ABV. I'd seen lots of mentions of it but hadn't previously taken the time to give it a spin. The appearance is promising: a bright and slightly hazy orange-gold. The texture is a little watery, and there's a worty sweetness of the sort I associate with the mainstream no-alcohol beers. However, the hopping is assertive and interesting. I get summery notes of mandarin, pineapple and coconut, finishing on an aspirin bitterness. I really wanted to like this but I feel it doesn't quite work. The wort and the aspirin undermine the good work of the hops, removing its ability to be properly refreshing, the way full-strength beer is.

A teensy bit stronger is Brooklyn's Special Effects at 0.4% ABV. It's a dark lager, pouring a handsome shade of auburn. They've badged it as "hoppy" and indeed there's a very pleasant lemony tang at the front of the flavour. This bitterness builds quickly, passing through grapefruit before turning to aspirin. It fades just as fast, though, so no harm done. The body is light and clean though there is a certain sweet wortiness hovering in the background. It's counteracted by a dry black-tea quality, which combines well with the hops to make it genuinely refreshing. I doubt anyone would mistake this for an alcoholic beer -- the tell-tale compromises are there -- but I actively enjoyed drinking it. It doesn't over-reach the way the Mikkeller one does.

Shout-out to my boy Quentin for recommending this next one: Perlenbacher IPA Non Alcoholic from Lidl. 0.5% ABV, it's amber coloured and smells worty, but in a good way, like a brewery at work. This is a major part of the flavour too, and there's a lemon hop flavour and a tang of aspirin, very similar in profile to the previous beer, but lighter and lesser. The texture is quite thin too. I think this needs a little more bitterness to make it taste closer to real beer and offset the busy malt. There's nothing unpleasant about it, however and it works well as a thirst-quencher.

This can of Flat Tire from Swedish brewer Brutal aka Pistonhead came as a freebie from Geoff in 57 The Headline. It's also 0.5% ABV and pours a wan cidery yellow with no head to speak of. Mosaic and Centennial are the signature hops, and sure enough there's a mix of the citrus and tropical notes they're known for. The wortiness is down to a minimum and there's a deliciously dry base for the hops to perform on. This one tastes closest to real beer of the set, just not a very good beer. Like the Vedett, the lack of malt substance to carry the flavour lets it down. I could still see myself drinking a few in succession, however, which can't be said for most of them.

And one of our own to finish: Main Sail from Dungarvan brewing, the only 0.5% ABV beer from an Irish micro that I'm aware of. So far, anyway. It's a bit thin and slightly worty but does a great job with the compensatory hops. There's a lovely crisp citrus bitterness with notes of lemon cookies and sherbet. This is every bit as good as the hoppy non-alcoholic offerings from many much bigger breweries.

Vedett wins this round: the benefit of having between five and nine times the alcohol content of the others. It seems you can't just strip the stuff out and expect things to taste as good. The Pistonhead one shows that adding loads of good hops really helps, however.