Ambar 0.0

Ambar is a brand of beer produced by Spanish brewer La Zaragozana in the autonomous community of Aragon. The brewery was originally known as ‘Fábrica de Cerveza, Malta y Hielo’, which translates in English to ‘The Beer, Malt and Ice Factory’. Their history goes back to 1900, when a group of friends put the abundance of good barley in the region to good use and brewed traditional ales. A couple of years later and their beers were winning awards at the International Exhibition in London, as well as awards in Madrid and Paris. It currently has a range of 13 beers, which makes La Zaragozana the Spanish brewer with the most products on the market.

Ambar 0.0 is not the company’s first foray into the world of alcohol-free beers. La Zaragozana was indeed the first Spanish brewer to offer a non-alcoholic beer as part of their line-up. This was ‘Ambar Sin’, and came out way back in 1976, during the period when many European brewers were also experimenting with their own nolo brews. Since 1993 it’s been known as Ambar 0.0, and sometimes Ambar Green in it’s native Spain. Undoubtedly there will have been some tweaks to the beer’s recipe over the years (especially looking at the ingredients list), but I suspect this will be similar to the original beer in taste. Let’s crack one open and see.

Pouring out from the bottle we get deep amber coloured liquid with good clarity and a slight glimpse of carbonation bubbles. A mere sliver of a head appears and is soon forgotten. On the nose we get some sweetness, a mix of malt and honey, with a background of leafy hops.

On tasting we get pale malt sweetness and some caramel, with a touch of hop bitterness at the back of your palate. The carbonation is a higher level than it appears on pouring, but is not too aggressive. Indeed, the mouthfeel is actually pretty good here. I wonder if the added ‘dietary fiber’ in the ingredients is helping to add body here. We get a short bitter finish to the drink.

Another middle-of-the-road AF beer here, pretty much like it’s alcoholic forebear. Drinkable and inoffensive, but there are plenty of better beers to drink out there.

Buy Ambar 0.0

You might spot Ambar 0.0 in some bottle shops, and it’s occasionally available online from one of the following drinks shops:

Nutritional Information (per 100ml, taken from the side of the bottle)
ABV	0.0%
Energy	19 kcal
Fat	0g
Carbohydrates	4.3g
Sugar	2.5g
Protein	0g
Ingredients
Water, Barley Malt, Isomaltulose (Glucose and Fructose Source), Rice, Dietary Fiber, Natural Flavourings, Hops
Additional Information
Country of Production	Spain
Brewer	La Zaragozana – https://ambar.com/en/
Gluten Free?	Yes, the world’s first gluten-free nolo beer according to the producer
Vegan Friendly?	No