Super Dry is Super Fly

MODSUB#103

Wotcha!

It feels like the flow of Sober October drink releases is starting to gain momentum.

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Enjoy some great drinks this week.

Myles

In this week’s edition:

NAN
New NA Drink News

BEER
Asahi - Super Dry 0.0

BEER
Kit NA - Hazy IPA

Read time: 5 minutes 14 seconds

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New Non-Alcoholic Drink News

NORTH AMERICA

• BEER: My local Indian restaurant will have no excuse to ignore my repeated requests for NA beer now that Rupee is launching its NA beer across the U.S. (Link)

• BEER: Charlie Sheen is the latest celebrity to jump into the non-alc drinks industry with Wild AF Brewing and their first offering—Cold Gold. (Link)

• WINE: Earlier in the summer, Castel Frères launched their non-alcoholic wine brand, Néphalia. (Link)

• COCKTAIL:  Le Spritz Blood Orange is brand new from Ghia. (Link)

• BEER: Apricot Acres is the newest limited run release from Athletic Brewing. (Link)

• BEER: So far Deschutes Brewery haven’t put a foot wrong with all their NA beer releases. So there will be much anticipation around the launch of their new Fresh Haze IPA. (Link)

WORLDWIDE

• WINE: Earlier in the summer, Castel Frères launched their non-alcoholic wine brand, Néphalia. (Link)

• WINE: Germany’s Eisberg Wines released two new canned wines—Sparkling White 0.0% and Sparkling Rose 0.0%. (Link)

BEER

Super Dry is Super Fly

ModSub’s thoughts: It’s funny how some cuisines practically beg to be paired with beverages from the same country—while others, not so much.

If I’m ordering a mole burrito, I’m not reaching for a Guinness 0.0. I want a Corona Cero or a Modelo 0.0. But if I’m enjoying fish and chips back in England, I’m not jonesing for a Theakston Nowt Peculier—I could care less what I pair it with. Likewise, Thai food? Nope, don’t care.

Sushi, however, is different. I want a Japanese NA beer to accompany my nigiri and maki. Lucky for me, the selection of Japanese non-alcoholic beers keeps getting better and better.

Asahi revolutionized Japanese beer back in 1987 with the launch of Asahi Super Dry. The new beer pioneered a whole style by introducing a crisp, dry flavor known as karakuchi, a departure from the malt-heavy brews popular at the time. Marketed as a kind of palate cleanser, it paved the way for a beer style that others around the world would emulate. Fast-forward to 2023 and Asahi expanded the Super Dry line with a 0.0% version, now available across multiple continents.

If you’ve had the original, you know what to expect. It’s a well-carbonated lager with the crisp dryness promised on the label. The mouthfeel is lovely, lifted by lively bubbles, with a hint of fruit cutting through the malts before a gentle bitterness rounds things out—then poof, it’s gone. I can see why Asahi markets it as palate-prepping. One second you’re drinking a flavorful light beer, the next it’s as if it vanished without a trace.

Despite the dry, abrupt finish, this Japanese rice lager is one I’ll keep in my regular rotation. Asahi Super Dry 0.0 is reasonably priced, easy to find in supermarkets, and a notch above most other light NA lagers out there. Time for another one, I reckon!

How Asahi describes Super Dry 0.0: When we invented the world’s first super dry beer in 1987, we changed the world of beer forever. Our dry, crisp refreshing malt beverage can be enjoyed on its own, but also pairs perfectly with all types of food. Kanpai!

BEER

The Hazy IPA from the Other Portland

ModSub’s thoughts: Kit NA hail from Portland. Not my Portland—the Maine one. 

Funnily enough, a couple of years back, I had a friend move to a small town just outside the other Portland. I’d heard such good things about this brewery called Kit NA that I asked him if there was any chance he’d bring me a variety pack the next time he came back here to the west coast Portland. His mum lived just south of the city and I knew he’d back for a visit. 

He forgot, made some excuses, and that was that—until this summer, when I was visiting Monday Morning AF in San Diego and spotted Kit NA on the shelf. Sometimes you really do have to travel to the other end of the country to find what you want.

The brewery started in 2021 and, for the past four years, has been producing award-winning non-alcoholic craft beers. Unlike many of their peers, they’ve focused on just three beers: a Blonde, a Golden, and the Hazy IPA I’m sipping as I type this. While we’re spoiled by other breweries tempting us with a constant stream of limited runs, there’s something refreshing about sticking to a handful of top-notch recipes and making sure word about them spreads far and wide.

I can’t yet speak for the Blonde or the Golden, but the Hazy IPA is fabulous. First off, the head from the pour is something to savor. If the beer itself is cloudy, the head is a whopping cumulus sitting on top, ready to moustachify your upper lip. You don’t see that very often with NA beer. The taste is smooth, tropical, and citrusy—heavily hopped but with minimal bitterness. It’s a perfect New England–style IPA. The brewery is known for using the word crushable, and they'd be forgiven for the overuse of the term when it comes to this beer.

While my suitcase stash of non-alc drinks from that San Diego trip was an enviable haul, finishing this Hazy IPA leaves me a little miffed I didn’t also grab the Blonde and the Golden from Monday Morning’s shelves. It might take me a couple of years to track down all three of Kit NA’s beers—but dang it, I’m now on a mission.

How does Kit NA describe their Hazy IPA: Hazy is a gold medal-winning non-alcoholic craft beer. Bursting with hop aroma and finished with barely any bitterness, this beer is tropical, juicy and everything you want in a Hazy IPA. Crafted to remove gluten and vegan friendly, Hazy is an exceptional craft beer made with the highest quality ingredients, including Idaho 7, Simcoe and El Dorado Hops.

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