Everything I drank in June.
23 new AF brews, a mid summer restock, and a care package for a sloth.
Another month. Another shedload of beers drunk.
You’ll find a full list of the month’s new brews at the end, including a handful which I urge you to seek out before they sell out. But, first, here are a few things from my little world of booze-free beer this month.
Zebra striping at American Football.
At the tail end of June I headed to Kentish Town for a Sunday show from Midwest emo royalty, American Football.
First, a fancy Filet-O-Fish at Belly.
Then, onto The Parakeet for a few pre-gig pints whilst we watched the whacky world of North London unfurl from our picnic bench.
We were a party of two. Both craft beer boys.
One, largely off the sauce for well publicised health reasons.
The other, still enjoying his sacred Sunday night bath time DIPAs.
But during this mini session Eems (the bath time boozer) was zebra striping. Swapping from AF to full fat and back again. Come to think of it, he bought himself an AF every time. And I kept sticking a Modelo or a Steady Rolling Man in his hand.
Oops.
But then Mike Kinsella and co. made us happy and sad at the same time.
Perfect.
Note to self: remember to check if other people are actually drinking.
Big wheel keep on turnin’.
Each month, just before payday, the latest Premium Sub Box from The Alcohol Free Co. x Sober Boozers Club lands on my doorstep.
I know this world of AF is niche at the best of times, but this little package of beers is at the cutting edge.
In the first few months since launching it would contain duplicates; the stuff I couldn’t bear to miss out on, so I had ordered it a few weeks earlier. But now we’re in the rhythm.
It arrives, chock-full of new brews, and I then dip into the other tried and tested beer slingers to plug the gaps.
Yes, this is an expensive hobby.
But it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than golf.
A well-past-its-best beer for The Sober Sloth.
A few weeks ago, everyone’s favourite anthropomorphised South American mammal-cum-beer merchant named one of the worst beers I’ve ever had the displeasure of supping as his all-time favourite.
Mash Gang’s Pass Me The Heater.
It’s an abomination.
But, just like Marmite, a handful of wrong’uns seemed to like it. I don’t know what trauma their tongues have experienced to end up enjoying this hellscape, and nor do I wish to find out.
Anyway, when a Sloth is in need you help.
And I just so happened to have a dusty, full-year-beyond-its-best can at the back of my cupboard.
Not on your good nelly was I ever cracking that can. (Niche aside: I gifted this beer’s sister brew, Brutalism, to my brother-in-law as a joke.)
One Royal Mail collection later, a happy Sloth owner named Lui got his just deserts.
AF altruism of the highest order.
Until I wrote about it on Substack for clout…
More soon.
Cheers!
And finally, here are all of June’s beers, in no particular order, with the very best in BOLD/orange:
Day Breaker - Nonnie Beers
MAR-LOW Pale Ale - Rebellion Beer Co.
Top w/ Lemon - Hello Lager
Hazy Grapefruit Lager - Nirvana Brewery
Honey Badger Wheat Beer - Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing
Unwired to the Moon - Brew Toon
Shipway 0.5% - St Ives Brewery
Alcohol Free Lager But Better - Prime Time Beers
Milkshake Lager - IMPOSSIBREW
Peach - Hello Lager
Fassbrause Mojita - A. Le Coq
Kaineken Tikker - Õllenaut
Löwenbräu Alkoholfrei - Spaten-Franziskaner-Löwenbräu-Gruppe
Cinder Toffee Stout Lite - New Bristol Brewery
Zerneannabis - Cerne Abbas Brewery
Super Zero - Revolution Brewery
Lemon Lager - Lucky Saint
Chouffe Cherry 0.0% - Brasserie d’Achouffe