Everything I drank in May.
My thirstiest month yet: 37 new AF brews sunk in the late spring heatwave.
Another month. Another fridge-full of beers drunk.
You’ll find a full list of the month’s new brews at the end, including nearly a dozen 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.
Mash Gang, on tap, at The Dome.
Mash Gang may have sold up to private equity and broken my heart (read more on this here), but I’ll always grab a pint of theirs when the opportunity arises.
As semi-frequent seat-fillers at The Dome in Brighton, I’m used to grabbing a can or two of Chug/Glug before the show.
When I headed into the foyer ahead of Mr Swallow (Nick Mohammed) and saw fresh MG pints being pulled from a tap, my little heart sang.
The booze-free queue was non-existent compared to the main bar. It was a priority lane just for me. But by the interval the patrons had clocked on. Pints of Chug were flying out at £5.95 each. No one batted an eyelid.
Hundreds of great pints of AF. Many of them delivered, presumably, to hundreds of regular full-fat booze drinkers.
Yes! There’s room for both!
Day Off V2.
In news that won’t shock you, I (a man with a literal Substack dedicated to niche alcohol free beers) rate all the beers I drink.
Day Off V1, from Baron and We Can Be Friends, came in hot at 9/10. It was Baron’s second ever stab at AF, and their first collaboration with the brewing magician Sam from WCBF. They nailed it right out the gate.
A few weeks later they tweaked the recipe, swapping out Motueka for Nectaron and retaining Citra. Elsewhere there’s more haze and a bolder malt bill. A few dials cranked up.
Perfection is, of course, impossible. So I scored it 9.5/10.
Another contender for Cronk’s Beer of the Year…
Roll on V3!
A Saturday seaside session of craft beer, sarnies, card games and inane chat.
This is the kind of session I worried about missing out on post-TBI. But one weekend in May a few of us headed to Margate.
The bars and pubs are plentiful, the coffee houses are gentrified, and you can buy a fancy sandwich for about £14. Lovely jubbly.
Margate is essentially Hackney-on-Sea, so you’d think it would be all no/lo booze and matcha lattes. Yet the booze-free options were limited to Lucky Saint or Rothaus on tap, and not much in the fridges. Sure, it’s an improvement on years gone by. It’s something. But I hoped for more.
Chug on tap at The Dome shows that it’s possible.
Ooooh, beer friends!
Last but not least, I got a great DM from Martin Dixon AKA @alcohol_free_world in May.
Martin is the foremost expert on AF in the UK. He’s a real big cheese! And, as luck would have it, his enormous stockpile of dead stock, deep cut and top shelf beers required rescuing from a garage not too far from my house.
Who the hell was I to look this gift horse in the mouth?
Above is the hand-delivered haul that arrived one sunny Sunday afternoon, including:
The Mash Gang glory years!
Omnipollo belters.
The brand new salty Lucky Saint.
A couple of fun hop waters.
And plenty of NZ hops.
Thank you, Martin. I owe you a beer.
More soon.
Cheers!
And finally, here are all of May’s beers, in no particular order, with the very best in BOLD/orange:
Less is More Mosaic - RedWillow Brewery
Elevated AF - On Beer
Smashed Pale Ale - Drynks Unlimited
Born Free - Crafty Devil Brewing Co.
Taps Aff - Bullhouse Brew Co.
Clock End - Athletic Brewing Company
Mudpuppy NA - Central Waters Brewing Company
Blue Balls - Firebrand Brewing Company
Fresh Start - Tap Social Movement
Mycro-pale - Wight Knuckle Brewery
Big Nothing Simcoe - Donzoko Brewing Company
Hero Stout - Basqueland Brewing
TROPICOUS - Kirkstall Brewery
Hazy Galaxy - Vinohradský Pivovar
British Helles - Hello Lager
Passion Fruit Pale Ale - Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing
Free California Love - Funky Fluid
Ocean Drift Cherry Sour - Jump Ship Brewing
BezalkØ.Ø/Unplugged Citrus APA - Trzech Kumpli
Functional Lager - High and Dry Beer
Grapefruit - Hello Lager
Lime & Sea Salt Lager - Lucky Saint
Regent Lemon - Bohemia Regent
Enhanced Triple-hopped IPA - IMPOSSIBREW
Bunta Beer - Bunta Beer
Galahad - Brewboard