This massivly marketed ( and, dare I to say, 'hyped' amongst semi-beerdrinkers ? ) no-alcohol beer by Halve Maan, is supposed to taste exactly alike it's alcoholic counterpart. I'm pretty curious, if so, about how thye got the esters as present in a 0.4 % beer, than the regular one. Anyway, only one way to find out ! Pours rather unclear blonde, big white head. Doesn't appear that watery because of the haze it has. Stable foam, which is in total a nice lookin' beer to me. Smell is sweet, malty, tad thinner than the alcoholic counterpart. more residual sweetness than esters . Taste is sharp malty, sweet, wort-like sugaryness. Mild fruityness, but not as ester-forward ( as was expected ) . Medium body ( which is good, for a 0,4 ! ) and medium high carbo. Rather sweet ending. Mild bitter touch. Not a bad beer at all, and i'm always very respectfull wards no-alcohol beers, so i'm even gonna say I do like this. However, who calls this beer ' exactly the same' as it's alcoholic counterpart, clearly doesn't know how the Original ( or this one) tastes. The difference is, as to be expected, big. Is it the best no-alcohol, as is currently claimed ? hell no. Mikkeller Energibajer is untouchable by the likes of this beer.

Bottle. Color: Clear golden, firm white head. Aroma: Malt, hop, citrus notes. Taste: Pretty hoppy, citrus notes, light notes of wort. My first beer without alcohol that does not have that dominant specific wort taste. Medium body, average carbonation. Quite nice for a non alcohol beer.

Halve Maan's newest hit, conceptually an (almost) alcohol-free version of Brugse Zot Blond, commercially a clever find in being quick to join the current low ABV hype. Bottle from the Carrefour supermarket in Sint-Denijs-Westrem near Ghent. Thick and frothy, foamy, intricately cobweb-lacing, stable head on a warm 'metallic' orangey-hued 'old gold' coloured beer with very fierce sparkling sustaining the pillowy head. Unusual but not unattractive aroma of old cheese crackers, soaking wet raw grains, cold Chinese chrysanthemum tea, freshly baked bread crust, camomile, old cheese rind, baking soda, lemon peel, hot cotton cloth and old socks. Neutral onset, very dry with a strong basal, almost cold green tea-like sourishness which becomes too much for me in the end; fizzy carbonation, bit metallic grainy middle with a very cracker-like character, almost bready and even slightly toasty, colourful lemon peel accent in the end with quite - especially for a non-alcoholic beer - firm, grassy hop bitterness. Well-intended and they almost got it right, but there are some weird flavours and an unpleasant basic sourness to it which became quite bothersome to me after a whole glass. If they continue on this path and seek further technical improvement, though, this may well lead to more 'credible' non-alcoholic Belgian style beers - this is in any case a first step in the right direction (if that is a direction you're interested in in the first place, of course...).

Bottle @ Neerhof, Moortsele. Hazy golden colour, white foam. Light citrussy, bitter, yeasty, light cardboard flavour. Not a bad one for non alcohol.