Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/6221
46 / the tasting panel / january–february 2010 Paulaner Thomas Bräu Asking the Bavarians to make a non-alcoholic beer is like ask- ing BMW to make a car with no torque, but Paulaner rose to the challenge. Rounded, chewy cereal flavors that remind me of eating dry Cheerios out of the box. The admonition on the carton to serve cold should be heeded, as the drop in temperature will relieve it's endency to be a bit cloyingly malty. PAULANER HP USA Kaliber This entry from Guinness wins points by not trying terribly hard to taste like beer, but instead like a crisp malt beverage in and of its own category. Nimble and lilting on the tongue, it's got the charm of an Irish accent (although brewed in the U.K.), and you won't wake up in the morning feeling like you've done Dublin with Buck Mulligan. DIAGEO-GUINNESS USA O'Doul's Original Crisp as biting into a Granny Smith, and it even has a texture like Belgian cider. The flavors aren't exactly deep, but they do scatter out and play around all over the palate before disappearing down the gullet, leaving a guiltless after- taste as clean as a Baptist picnic. AB INBEV Clausthaler Premium Made with a special strain of yeast that refuses to produce alcohol, this one is highly touted among aficionados of non-alco- holic brews. And indeed it is very creditable. If it contained alcohol, I might even confuse it with real beer. BINDING BRAUEREI USA beck's non-alcoholic One of my favorites of the lot for its honest purity of flavor and refreshingly crisp Teutonic taste. A side-by-side comparison with Beck's standard lager shows the close resemblance between these two siblings, even if this one is under-endowed in the octane department. AB INBEV St. Pauli N.A. The St. Pauli "Girl" has taken the day off (seems she's the one with the ethanol), so this one is simply "St. Pauli N.A." It's chock full of sweet malt, bittered up by a nice dose of hops, and goes down almost like the real thing. Perfect for that post-Okto- berfest recovery program. CROWN IMPORTS LLC Gadd's Sixpack YOU SaY YOU OverindUlged dUring The hOlidaYS? JOin The ClUB. YOU COUld Be readY FOr SOme drYing-OUT Time WiTh One OF TheSe non-alcoholIc beeRs