Taste-Testing Non-Alcoholic Beer & Wine for Dry January

After a year of drinking more than I wanted to (20-freaking-20, you too?), I was feeling the need for a little reset, so I decided to embark on Dry January, a.k.a. taking a break from booze for the first month of the year.

Now while I really love wine…and beer…and bourbon…it’s often just the ritual of drinking that I crave. Even though I should know better, I buy into all the marketing that sells alcohol as a way to relax at the end of the work day, or the best way to connect with your girlfriends, etc. and it’s been interesting to spend a little time this month reconsidering my relationship with drinking.

I’m just over two weeks in now and it’s going well so far, but I definitely miss having that “treat” to look forward to at the end of the day. Sparkling water is fine, but let’s be honest, it’s pretty boring, and because I’m normally not a big cocktail person, mocktails aren’t all that exciting to me either.

I’ve been seeing tons of non-alcoholic beer and wine everywhere lately though so I thought I’d give it a try since that’s how I typically imbibe. Some have been great, some have been fine, and some have been meh, so I thought I’d do a roundup of the ones I’ve tried in case anyone else is looking for something fun to drink when you’re not drinking (for whatever the reason).

Giesen 0% Alcohol-Removed Wine: For the wine lovers, this stuff is great and wins for my favorite non-alcoholic drink I’ve tried so far. “Perfect for enjoying at home, out with friends and family, or any time you’d prefer a glass of wine without the after-effects,” is how their website describes it. It makes you feel like you’re drinking without actually drinking, it tastes like wine (minus the bite of the alcohol) and it’s super low in calories—only 100 for the entire bottle! I didn’t know dealcoholized wine was a thing before last week but now I’m a big fan. I might even keep drinking it beyond Dry Jan.

Lagunitas Hoppy Refresher: An IPA-inspired sparkling beverage, this stuff is delicious. While I wouldn’t say it tastes like beer, there is a hint of hops, and either way, it’s really, really good and somehow has zero calories? Definitely recommend.

Brooklyn Brewery Special Effects Non-Alcoholic IPA: Now this one actually tastes like beer (for the most part) and as my friends noted when I sent them a pic of the can, the packaging makes it look like a regular beer, so I can see it being helpful in social settings where you’d rather just blend in than make it obvious that you aren’t drinking. Overall, pretty tasty though, definitely a solid beer stand-in.

Grüvi Non-Alcoholic IPA: The Grüvi products kept showing up in my Instagram feed so I was interested to give them a try, but they haven’t been my favorites. This faux IPA is decent but I liked the Brooklyn Brewery non-alcoholic beer better.

Grüvi Non-Alcoholic Bubbly Rosé: I was really excited about this one because I love rosé, but…it kind of sucked. It didn’t taste bad, it just bares no resemblance to actual rosé so it was disappointing. It basically tastes like a fruity sparkling beverage, which is fine, but I def don’t need to pay $14.99 for that.

FRE Sparkling Rosé: So unlike the Grüvi rosé, this one did taste like wine…just a sweet wine that I didn’t like that much. Now I am on the hunt for a non-alcoholic dry rosé.

HopTea: I love this stuff—so much so that I just ordered a case from their website. It’s essentially tea that’s brewed like beer so it tastes like a fun sparkling tea drink but with a bonus hoppy flavor. Every variety I have tried so far is delicious; I imagine every flavor I have not yet tried is great too.

You win some, you lose some, but It’s been fun taste testing. I should note too that I found all of these at my normal local grocery stores (Whole Foods & Arbor Farms for anyone in Ann Arbor reading this). I’ll keep adding to this post too as I try new non-alcoholic drinks in the coming weeks.

Cheers! 🍻

p.s. I’m actually considering doing 100 days alcohol-free but I haven’t mentally committed yet, I figured I’d start with Dry January and then see how I’m feeling at the end of the month. I’ve been following Ruby Warrington for a while and her Sober Curious movement has piqued my interest so I bought her book, The Sober Curious Reset: Change the Way You Drink in 100 Days or Less, and I’ve been making my way through it. I don’t feel the need to swear off alcohol forever right now, but I am interested in being more mindful about drinking, so I thought this could be a good place to start. We’ll see…