Earlier today I reviewed Sober Carpenter's non-alcoholic Blanche beer. When I was in Winnipeg last week visiting Manitoba's #1 beer store, the Quality Inn Beer Store, I saw Sober Carpenter's IPA and Blanche. I was planning on only picking up one of their beers because I was already spending $130 on beer.. but I just had to buy both of their beers to try for those looking for non-alcoholic alternatives to their favourite beer styles.
Sober Carpenter's IPA is described as: "Loaded with hops, this floral West Coast-style IPA offers notes of tropical fruit and citrus. Its sustained and balanced bitterness allows for a crisp finish that will have you coming back for more."
Ingredients: Water, malted barley (Pale, Cara), hops (Citra, Simcoe, Cascade), maltodextrin, yeast. Less than 0.5% ABV, 60 IBU. 65 calories per 473mL can, 20mg sodium, 15g carbs, 11g sugars.
Appearance: Pours a pale and slightly hazy golden ale with a light amount of sediment in the body. The head is a moderate off-white head that's incredibly carbonated, fizzing off a good deal yet leaves behind a nice yet light fluffy layer of foam on top of the glass, as well as a light amount of lacing on the side of the glass.
Aroma: The first thing I got out of this beer was seriously: "Holy eff, this is actually nice and hoppy!" The first thing I got was the presence of Cascade, giving off notes of a piney bitterness and quite a natural aroma unlike many non-alcoholic beers that use a syrupy extract. There's a light amount of citrus aroma but not as much as I'd expect compared to most beers that use Citra as their predominant hop. The malt aroma is kind of pickle-y and reminds me of something I've had from Glutenberg in the past.
Taste: Fairly watery on the mouthfeel to start off but the hops really pop out here to give off a floral and piney presence, as well as a light amount of citrus (lemon). There's a bit of a grassiness as well, a light sourness that I also saw in the Blanche. The aftertaste is fairly light but gives off a light floral presence to it. Very light on the malt.
Overall Thoughts: This might be the best non-alcoholic IPA I've had yet - it's quite a bit hoppy but not too hoppy.. but you get pine, floral notes, a bit of grassiness and nice amount of citrus. It's very easy to drink to the point that I'm almost done the entire beer by the time I finish this writeup. It's not heavy on the stomach compared to most IPAs but does have a bit of weight on it. I hope they end up experimenting with other styles.. a non-alcoholic NEIPA would be interesting to try.
https://sobercarpenter.ca/our-products/
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