Adventures with Macrobrews:
Non-Alcoholic Beer Based Drinks You Can Put Your Own Spin On
Last issue, I did a roundup of my favorite widely-available macrobrew NA beers. They are great on their own when you need something cold, beerlike, and non-alcoholic to drink. Are you on a boat? Grab a Bud Zero. At a dive bar with exactly one NA option? Coors Edge will treat you right.
But what about the times you want something a little more complex or festive? Macrobrew NA beers are also a great base for creating all kinds of fun NA drinks from classic beer-based cocktails to acceptable replacements for more spirit-based drinks. Here are a few of my favorites:
Beer Cocktails
Michelada
The michelada is a classic beer cocktail for a reason. You can customize it to your liking and also it’s delicious. It is the perfect NA beer cocktail. (Hot tip: Bloody Mary mix and NA beer is also a great NA brunch drink!) I’m not going to include a recipe because there are a million, and you need to decide what works for you. Just search michelada and sub in your favorite NA beer.
Shandy
I recommend using sparkling lemonade but honestly grapefruit soda like a Fresca or a Jarritos Grapefruit makes an amazing NA beer shandy too.
Recipe: I usually go with about 4 oz of lemonade or soda to 12 oz of NA beer. Don’t forget a lemon wedge!
Spirited Drinks
Beergarita
Ok this is just basically a limeade shandy with a salted rim but who cares? It’s delicious.
Recipe: Shake 1 part lime juice, 1 part simple syrup (agave simple syrup is great in it but not necessary) in a cocktail shaker and pour into a salted rim glass. Top with 2 parts NA beer.
NA Beer Old Fashioned
This one is an absolutely disrespectful affront to an old-fashioned, but that’s what I’m calling it.
Recipe: Put a large ice cube in an old-fashioned glass. Top with 4 oz NA beer. Add 2 (or more, I do a lot more) dashes bitters of your choice and squeeze a couple orange and or lemon peel strips around the rim of the glass and drop them in. It’s not an old fashioned, but it’s tasty and feels good in your hand!
The key to making a good NA cocktail is honestly the garnish. It’s just a soft drink if there’s no garnish in my opinion. So don’t be shy and add as many as you want to any of these!
Let me know if you make these drinks and like them, or comment below with your favorite NA beer based drinks!