NAN

Non-Alcoholic News my Nan would approve of!

• WINE: 🍷 Proxies has just released a new sparkling wine called Gold Crush. (link)

• BEER: 🍺 Brewdog is selling their 12 NAs of Christmas advent calendar. (link)

• WINE: 🍷 Here’s a quick round-up of The New York Times favorite wines for the Holidays. (link)

• BEER: 🍺 Dunkel is a limited run dark lager from Partake. Get it while you can. (link)

• WINE: 🍷 Kally Wines have just announced the launch of their Chardonnay Verjus Sparker. (link)

• WINE: 🍷 New kids on the block, OJOY Wines, has released its first wine - Sparkling Blanc. (link)

• BEER: 🍺 December sees the long-awaited release of not one but two (!) NA beers from Sierra Nevada. (link)

• COCKTAILS: 🍹 Luna Bay has expanded into the tea-based cocktails. (link)

ON THE BAR

In each edition of The Modern Substitute, ON THE BAR focuses on three drinks you should be on the look out for. We’ll give you a quick rundown of our thoughts on the drink, who makes it, where to buy it or, in the case of mocktails, how to make it.

Please note: due to popularity or limited runs, some drinks may be out of stock - please check with the beverage companies for updates.

BROOKLYN BREWERY - HOPPY LAGER/AMBER

• Brooklyn, NY

• Calories: 95

• Serving: 12 fl.oz.

• ABV: <0.5%

• Buy: brooklynbrewery.com • widely available online

• Price: $15.99

The ModSub thoughts: I first came across Brooklyn Brewery back in the late '90s when I asked a bartender in Manhattan to recommend his favorite beer. I've long since forgotten what beer it was, but it was tasty enough for me to remember the name of the brewery decades later. So while researching NA beers over the last few months, I was excited to see that Brooklyn entered the non-alcoholic beer market five years ago and now have three beers in their Special Effects line.

I hadn't come across any Special Effects back in Portland and was resigned to track it down online at some point. So it was a lovely surprise to come across a 4-pack of the Special Effects Hoppy Lager while back in the UK.

A quick side note here: Hoppy Lager is the name of this amber lager in Europe. In the U.S., it's called Hoppy Amber. I've been trying to find out the reason for the name change but have not heard back from the brewery by publishing time.

Hoppy Lager was the first beer in the brewery's Special Effects non-alcoholic line. With a strong established market for non-alcoholic beer consumption, the beer was tested in Sweden in 2019 before being introduced to a number of other Northern European countries. It was very well received, and by then, the brewery felt comfortable releasing it to the blossoming, yet still relatively new, market in the U.S.

It's not hard to see why Hoppy Lager/Amber has taken off on both sides of the pond. The Hoppy Lager/Amber is an exceptionally well-balanced beer, showcasing impressive depth. Soft carbonation, a caramel malt profile, and a hint of citrus come together beautifully, culminating in a subtle bitter finish. Its clear golden-red color makes for a visually gorgeous pour.

I find myself conflicted by the excitement of finding another excellent “go-to” beer and being slightly annoyed it's taken me two years to discover it!

On to the Special Effect IPA and Pilsner, wherever and whenever I stumble across them!

How Brooklyn Brewery describes Hoppy Lager/Amber: Brooklyn Special Effects Hoppy Lager is a delicious, hoppy and flavorful beer that just so happens to be alcohol free. It’s made for those who want something tasty and fresh but without the buzz. Peeled grapefruit and fresh zesty hop aromas with a clean bitter edge.

Learn more about Brooklyn Brewery at brooklynbrewery.com

BREWDOG - ELVIS JUICE

• Columbus, OH via Ellon, Scotland

• Calories: 20

• Serving: 12 fl.oz.

• ABV: <0.5%

• Buy: brewdog.com • store locator • widely available online

• Price: $12.99

The ModSub thoughts: Two friends, Martin Dickie and James Watt, and a dog, let’s not forget, started their brewery in Fraserburgh, north of Aberdeen in Scotland. They felt strongly, to put it mildly, that beer in the UK had drastically lost its way and they were determined to put it back on track.

They started by brewing in their spare time and the pair would race around Scotland from one farmers market to another, selling their beer out of the back of a van. 

They got their big break from entering a brewing contest with one of the UK’s largest supermarket chains. They won first prize, second, third and fourth. The prize was a huge order and prime positioning on the supermarket's shelves across the country. 

The rest, as they say, is history. In just 16 years, Brewdog now ships beer to 60 countries and has opened over 100 bars and four breweries across the world, from Stockholm to San Paulo, and pretty much everywhere in-between.

They have raised millions from multiple Equity for Punks crowdsourcing campaigns with over 100,000 shareholders, owning over 20% of the company and benefitting from discounts and an annual knees-up masquerading as an AGM. 

Their goal right from the start had always been to shake up the British beer establishment from a decades-long malaise, and poke sticks at it for allowing the industry to fall into such a sorry state. You don’t name your first beer Punk IPA, if you are going to go about your business quietly.

The duo are famed for their publicity stunts from selling a 55% proof beer in a bottles housed in stuffed animals for $500, to driving a tank down a London High Street, to getting their own limited run high-alcohol beer banned from stores, to a Royal Virility Performance beer, purported to have been brewed with Viagra for a certain wedding back in 2011.

Love them or hate them, they have grown a substantial empire around brewing beer and creating their own, sometimes extreme, narrative around it. 

Brewdog had been shipping beer from Scotland to the U.S. since 2015 but two years later decided to open a brewery in Columbus, Ohio, to expand further into the American market. Their non-alcoholic offerings have expanded along with it, their U.S. web site currently boasting 10 different NA beers. 

I picked up an 8-can mixed pack containing the aforementioned NA version of Punk IPA, Nanny State (which has amusing origins), Hazy Jane and the one that I enjoyed the most, Elvis Juice, a grapefruit-infused IPA.

More Pale Ale than IPA in my mind, the fruit undoubtedly takes centerstage with grapefruit and orange vying for the most attention, and a hint of pine and malt make an appearance before a mild dry hoppy finale. It’s no doubt a refreshing beer. Light, citrusy and very drinkable.

It would be easy to just slot it into the summer beer category but I think it’s just as much a beer for the holidays alongside the turkey and the Christmas pudding as it is for sitting by a pool. Who knows whether Elvis would have loved it, but I certainly do.

Juiced Up ’N Ready To Roll, indeed. 

How Brewdog describes Elvis Juice: This U.S. AF exclusive has all of the grapefruit treble notes of his stronger sibling, Elvis Juice [w/alc]. Followed by a chorus of orange and pine, loud citrus flavors groove on a solid malt base foundation, giving the hop aromas a stage to shine for an all-night show.

Learn more about Brewdog at brewdog.com

BALADIN - SPUMA NERA

• Piozzo, Italy

• Calories: 65

• Serving: 11.16 fl.oz.

• ABV: 0%

• Buy: This one is a little harder to find. Try local specialty food stores especially with an Italian influence. Also widely available online.

• Price: $4.50

The ModSub thoughts: While I typically avoid featuring sodas in this newsletter, Italian or otherwise, Mrs. ModSub and I enjoyed Spuma Nera so much, it felt like it should at least get a mention.

Chinottos have been around since the 1930s, but it took a couple of decades before Italian beverage companies caught on and began producing them in earnest. It was said they were a “patriotic alternative” to Coca-Cola. The difference from the U.S. soda was the lean into a bittersweet flavor produced from the fruit of the myrtle-leaf orange tree.

As the popularity of the drink grew, larger companies started to produce Chinottos, and over the years, artificial flavors replaced natural ingredients and the overall quality went downhill. 

Baladin sought to reverse this trend with Spuma Nera, harking back to original recipes to create a lightly carbonated, dark-hued orange soda. Mildly sweet with a satisfying bitter aftertaste, it's a delightful alternative that leans more towards an intriguing aperitif than a sugary soda.

It's worth noting that Spuma Nera has a high sugar content, yet one bottle comfortably serves two. Enjoyed occasionally, and with a squeeze of orange and a glassful of ice, it makes for a refreshing afternoon drink. I’d choose Spuma Nera over Coke or Pepsi any day of the week. 

How Baladin describes Spuma Nera: Spuma Nera, or “dark Spuma” as it was once called, may be considered the “mother” of chinotto. We have chosen to go back to the traditional recipe: a basis of chinotto (a myrtle-leaf orange drink), with the addition of the reddish part of rhubarb roots and an orange zest and vanilla infusion.

Learn more about Baladin at baladin.it