Taste Test: What’s the best alcohol-free beer in Bangkok?
No booze, no problem.
5 years ago
Alcohol-free beers are finally starting to appear on supermarket shelves and in Bangkok bars—and we’re all for it. Whether for health, religion or sheer bordem with drinking, if you’re trying to drink less or not at all, give those sugary mocktails a pass and try one of these malty, boozeless beers instead.
Krombacher Weizen
The brand: One of Germany’s oldest privately owned breweries, dating back to the 1300s. The alcohol-free weizen debuted in 2019 following the success of the brand’s boozeless pilsner.
The beer: Pours cloudy yellow and smells fruity and hoppy. It’s creamy and tastes a bit like banana bread—in other words, the wheat beer you know and love but without the alcohol.
Verdict: We’ll take six, please.
The price: B147
Available at: Villa Market, Wishbeer, Central Food Hall
The beer: Pours cloudy yellow and smells fruity and hoppy. It’s creamy and tastes a bit like banana bread—in other words, the wheat beer you know and love but without the alcohol.
Verdict: We’ll take six, please.
The price: B147
Available at: Villa Market, Wishbeer, Central Food Hall
Heineken 0.0
The brand: The ubiquitous brand known for its green bottles and cans hails from the Netherlands, but it operates a brewing facility in Nonthaburi. Its new 0.0 release promises the flavor of the original but with only 69 calories.
The beer: This is beer—just watery, shitty beer. For many beer drinkers, this is a good thing.
Verdict: Tastes like Heineken.
The price: B39
Available at: Villa Market, Tops, 7-Eleven, Family Mart—pretty much everywhere.
Oettinger Alcohol-free
The brand: The Bayern-based brewery is the Chang of Germany: cheap as chips and just really not good.
The beer: Pours a fizzy, pale yellow and looks a bit like Champagne (spoiler: it’s not). Smells like honey and chrysanthemum, and tastes like a watered-down soft drink.
Verdict: Did we accidentally buy Fanta?
The price: B129
Available at: Villa Market, Wishbeer, Central Food Hall
The beer: Pours a fizzy, pale yellow and looks a bit like Champagne (spoiler: it’s not). Smells like honey and chrysanthemum, and tastes like a watered-down soft drink.
Verdict: Did we accidentally buy Fanta?
The price: B129
Available at: Villa Market, Wishbeer, Central Food Hall
Bavaria Original
The brand: Run by family-owned Royal Swinkels, Bavaria is one of two Dutch giants (along with Heineken) actively promoting its non-alcoholic beer in Thailand.
The beer: Slightly acrid and hoppy on the nose. A bit fruity and honey-like, reminding us baklava, for some reason.
Verdict: Sweet and sour.
The price: B45
Available at: Gourmet Market, Central Food Hall
Hite 0.0
The brand: Hite Brewery makes South Korea’s most popular beer, which you may have previously enjoyed with several shots of soju.
The beer: Smells okay. It has a lychee-like taste, which doesn’t exactly scream “beer.” Not awful, but not great, either.
Verdict: Geonbae!
The price: B50
Available at: Villa Market, Family Mart, Gourmet Market, Isetan, Home Fresh Mart
Krombacher Pils Alcohol Free
The brand: One of Germany’s pioneers of alcohol-free beer is now making in-roads abroad. The brand is highly popular among endurance athletes and health-conscious drinkers.
The beer: Smells like Chef Boyardee but tastes like rotten sweet potato. Totally undrinkable. Weighed up against the flavor of Krombacher’s weizen, how is this even possible?
Verdict: High highs to low lows.
The price: B99
Available at: Villa Market, Wishbeer, Central Food Hall
BK’s Taste Tests are conducted blind by a panel and are intended as entertainment, not rigorous scientific analysis.
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