33cl Blik van AH. Diepgouden kleur, witte kraag. Ruikt naar maïs, goedkoop zwaar supermarktbier, alcohol, smaak is gelukkig zachter, licht moutig, degelijk bitter. Zwerversbier verpakt als premium pils.

The non-alcoholic addition to the Hertog Jan range, based on the Pilsener from this brewery (which, I heard, is actually brewed at the Dommelsch plant in Dommelen and not in Arcen - I guess the same goes for this 0.0 version as well). Thanks to Craftmember for the bottle. Thick and frothy, snow white, very adhesive (though in an irregular way), stable and pillowy head, crystal clear pure golden robe with warm 'old gold' tinge and a steady column of fierce sparkling in the middle. Aroma of wet white paper, plaster, powder sugar somewhere, sweaty feet (!), raw cereals, raw potato juice, rubber, wallpaper paste, withering grass. Neutral onset, lots of minerally from the carbonation with souring effect, under a more sweetish, plainly cereally, plaster-like graininess, with glueish effect but admittedly quite rounded mouthfeel for a beer without alcohol. The cereally sweetishness, as in corn water, becomes even more pronounced in the end, along with rubbery and wet paper-like aspects - the whole feeling very industrial, but there is a redeeming factor in the form of moderately lingering, superficially grassy yet gently bittering hops, trying to offer some balance against that dull corn-like cereally sweetness. The glue- and wet paper-like elements, however, linger beyond both corn and hops. Every bit as industrial and 'fake' as expected, clearly fuelled with adjuncts and cooked to death - but this goes for a lot of non-alcoholic pale lagers of course, so in truth, this one meets my expectations perfectly. Feels a bit less empty-bodied than many of its competitors too, to be honest - so all things considered and viewed within the specific context of non-alcoholic industrial pale lagers, this is not even the worst around.