Review: Sleeman Point Five Citrus Lager (non-alcoholic beer)

I was at my local Liquor Mart a few days ago and discovered a new non-alcoholic beer, Sleeman Point Five Citrus Lager. I tend to look at the MLCC website every couple days to see if anything interesting from out of province is coming in to stores (there never is). I didn't see Point Five listed on the website right before going to the store, so this has got to be brand new.

From the can: Point Five is a non-alcoholic lager with full citrus flavour. With natural citrus notes and a refreshing crisp finish, Pint Five Citrus Lager is the non-alcoholic beer that never compromises on flavour. Contains less than 0.5% alc/vol.

Nutrition Facts per 355mL can:
Calories: 60
Fat: 0g (0%)
Carbohydrates: 12g (6%)
Sugars: 6g
Protein: 1g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 20mg (1%)
Potassium: 50mg (1%)
Calcium: 30mg (2%)

Ingredients: Beer, natural flavours (tangerine, grapefruit, lime, lemon). Contains barley

Appearance: Clear golden lager with a light amount of a honey/amber hue to it. The body has a light amount of carbonation compared to most lagers but there are a few continuous lines of bubbles reading from the bottom to the top. The head is fairly thin with a light appearance to it, and a light amount of lacing in one spot on the glass.

Aroma: The citrus notes are pretty much all I really get from this beer. It's heavier on the lime than any other fruit combined, so this gives it a bit of a Mexican lager kind of vibe but without the clear glass skunkiness to it. There's a bit of lemon in there but not really noticing any tangerine but I do get a bit of grapefruit once in a while. Very light cereal profile in there, it has a hint of toasted barley but doesn't really give me anything, perhaps a hint of grassiness.. but that's it.

Taste: So, the first time I tried this beer a few days ago, I didn't like it. The first thing I got from Point Five was the barley this time around, which gave off a bit of a taste that was as if the beer was still a bit in its raw form, giving off a bit of an off-putting dough taste to it. Then I had another can and actually though "this isn't bad". I still get that taste but the citrus presence of lime, lemon and grapefruit mask it enough to make it actually enjoyable. The beer has a bit of a sweetness from the malt, a bit of a grassy/floral hop presence and a bit of an acidic aftertaste. Quite light.

Overall Thoughts: My first impression on the beer was meh at best but this has grown on me. It's a bit heavy on the stomach but I kind of want that feeling sometimes cuz I'm weird like that. This is pretty much lime first, everything else second. This does reminds me of the lime lager craze of 2009-2015 but this one doesn't have a chemically citrus presence like I've seen in many citrus-added beers over the years, pretty much as if you put a lime in the beer kind of beer. You don't get much from the beer itself but for a lot of people, the less you can taste of the beer itself, the better. It's $9.99 per 355mL six pack so a few dollars cheaper than standard Sleeman six packs but I'd like this to be a bit more affordable or use 473mL cans for the same price. Only 60 calories as well, but I'm a fat guy so I'm not watching my weight. This is something I will be buying again, not bad, a bit reminiscent of Five Alive, 100% crushable.

I'm a bit behind on my NA beer reviews, looks like there's a trickling of new releases coming out, so I'll be checking them out as soon as I can.

https://sleeman.ca/en/product/point-5-citrus-lager