Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Freedom West Coast Pale from Go Brewing 1 week ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7
Canned 1/9/26, drunk 3/22/26.
And yet, after the disasters that were Burn it Down and Sunbeam Pils, this smells completely different, with actual, juicy, whirlpooled hops and substantial grains. Citrus and tropical fruit with buttery grains.
Not exactly huge of body, but it's not as seltzery as some of their other stuff. The gluten-free side effect is that they seem to use more varied grains that seem to contribute to a better body than just their regular barley-wheat base. Hops aren't a knockout, either, but they're better than average, giving some actual playful fruitiness, and a touch of tropical character, with reasonable bitterness. No wort or oxidation. Some earthiness and unique flavors from the non-barley grains.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Sunbeam Pils from Go Brewing 1 week ago
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 2.5 | Flavor - 3 | Texture - 2 | Overall - 4
6 pack canned 10/29/25, drunk 3/22/26.
Sugary and worty, oxidized lightly, with effectively zero hop charater.
Thin as can be with a seltzery character, followed by vegetal and wort flavors. No hops. Basically everything that is wrong with NA brewing currently, in a nutshell. And I'm not trying to pick on just Go Brewing here - they are just one of the vast (majority) of offenders.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Burn It Down from Go Brewing 1 week ago
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 3 | Overall - 3
6 pack canned 02/26/26, drunk 3/22/26.
Pine resin, though not sharp/obnoxious, is the first thing I get. Cracker and other grainy notes in there, too, but no wort, at least, nor does it seem too toasty.
But it's seltzery as hell in the mouth, with a bit of wort, no body and no robust, round, fruity hop character. Just heavily boiled C-hop character. A touch of sweetness coming from somewhere, but it's too little too late amidst the complete lack of body here. Getting tired of these seltzer-like NAs.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed The Story from Go Brewing 1 month ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Canned 11/25/25, drunk 2/25/26.
Very Freewave-like, though maybe not even as soft or fruity as that one. The PNW hops give it a woodier, pinier edge but there's no scallion from the Mosaic. Bready malts with a bit of toast and caramel. Not really resinous, but it feels like it needs more depth and fruitiness/softness from somewhere.
Pretty standard, thinnish NA IPA. The hops are competent and these cans arrived already almost two months old, but fresh maybe there would be more character. Not sure though, because it would probably just be more pine, wood and spice. I feel like something's gotta give with these basic NA IPAs; they just aren't good enough as is. I liked their Disarm which had oats and lactose. Feels like you need oats/wheat at the bare minimum; just way, way too thin without it. Even the lactose helps in the NA IPA, sadly.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed New School Sour - Berry from Go Brewing 1 month ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7
Canned 11/13/25, drunk 2/24/26.
Very authentic berry character feels neither too heavy, nor too sugary/cheap/artificial. Light-to-moderate lactic acidity joins, with a nutty, bready wheat base to help soften/balance.
Kettle sours generally work very well as NA beers and this is no exception. Not needing a huge body, and propelled on by a big charge of wheat to give some texture, this one is bolstered by a minimal sourness and no cheap/sugary adjunct. Body is still light, of course, but this one gets pretty close to the real thing.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed The Bad Arse Irish Red from Go Brewing 1 month ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5.5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 2 | Overall - 4
Canned 1/27/26, drunk 2/20/26.
Some toast, light sugar, light breadiness...maybe a touch of wortiness on the finish? No hop of which to speak.
Yeah, it certainly is fizzy and light. The typical pitfalls of NA brewing, creating a ridiculously, thin, fizzy, watery drink that little resembles beer. There's some sugary caramel and overly toasty, peppery notes but there's really almost nothing of redeeming quality here.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Freedom Hazy from Go Brewing 1 month ago
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 5 | Overall - 7
Canned 1/7/26, drunk 2/16/26.
Speck of buttery millet with maybe a touch of scallion and otherwise rather spicy, somewhat floral hop character. Light citrus and light pine. Generally light but at least the hops are still the main force of the aroma. Some chalky, pellet-like residue gives a rustic, unrefined, earthy character. Biscuit, butter, cracker lingering from the malt.
Very light up front with a watery, somewhat thin texture that gets slightly filled in by some buttery millet. Very low sweetness and just a touch of slick chewiness. Pine, citrus, hints of scallion and other spice/herb from the moderate amount of hops. Hey, for an N/A AND a Gluten Free, they did a pretty good job. Still suffers from the thin body of most NAs but at least they have hopped it more than many/most NA IPAs.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Into the Wilderness from Go Brewing 1 month ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 6.5
Canned 12/30/25, drunk 2/3/26, as pictured.
Earthy maple with lots of camphor. It's somewhat dominant but there's some toast, vanilla and such behind it. Good, enveloping aroma makes you forget it's an NA.
Definitely a lot more maple beer than it is ESB, and when I first got this six pack back in early January, it was just a glass of maple syrup. But it's improved considerably. Not to the point of being more ESB, but the ESB is coming...slowly. Maybe in another month or two the maple will have fully attenuated and the character will be low enough to allow much more beer character. At least the sticky maple provides some semblance of additional body here.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Smokey Grove from Go Brewing 1 month ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 5 | Overall - 7
Canned 9/25/25, drunk 2/3/26, as pictured.
Grodziskies and Lichtenhainers are two of my favorite styles and I was very hopeful that it would translate to an NA pretty well, given that the abv on these is often very low to begin with and it's not really a malt-driven style. It starts off pretty well with a big, crusty, rustic wheat character backed by a hint of smoke. Lemony acidity adds a mild tartness and there's a reprise of smoke.
Well, it certainly is light. I really feel like they could have got a bit more texture/body out of the wheat. Other than that, the flavors are pretty good. Lemony acidity is mild and the chewy, crusty, bready wheat has only a touch of smoke. I know it's an NA, but I was really hoping for just a bit more body and a bit more flavor.