by BeerDrinkerSan Diego-based Two Roots Brewing wowed us last year with two expertly-crafted non-alcoholic beers, giving us a full bodied malty and spicy Helles lager and a dank and juicy West Coast IPA. Easily the best beers I’ve had from the States, be that alcohol-free or not. That may tell you a lot about the range of my travels and how much of my beer consumption is European-based!
Two Roots New West was part of the brewer’s initial line-up of beers made available over here in the UK, but for some reason I didn’t get my hands on any. Judging by how much I liked their other two offerings, it seemed germane to try it after all this time. Luckily all three beers seem to be readily available online, but not any of the brewer’s newer offerings. Anyway, New West is described as an ‘East meets West’ style, meaning a coming-together of both the East and West Coast styles of IPA. East Coast IPAs tend to be fruity, with a balance between malty sweetness and hoppy bitterness, whereas West Coast IPAs, being typically brewed closer to the abundant hop farms over there, are usually packed full of hoppy goodness, with complex bitterness banishing any malt to a distant memory. So, using my quick napkin maths this would mean an ‘East meets West’ style of IPA would be both fruity and bitter with somewhat balanced sweetness – so pretty much like a ‘standard’ IPA? Let’s get this one in a glass and take a look.
Pouring out the beer from the can we get a hazy amber coloured liquid which is pretty cloudy. A great thick head is produced, and if you’re a seasoned NA beer drinker you might need to adjust your pour or risk being engulfed. This also gives us some great lacing as we drink. On the nose we get an exotic greengrocer’s shop of aromas – tropical mango, passion fruit and pineapple along with orange and grapefruit citrus and a sprinkling of pine needles.
We get juicy citrus up front as we taste, grapefruit and mandarin, with piney bitterness ramping up somewhat. Some tropical sweetness comes in, in the form of pineapple, but citrus reigns supreme with the balance swinging in the favour of bitter. The mouthfeel of the beer is heavenly – like Two Roots’ previous beers it’s thick and creamy and could probably replace a meal if you wanted to give chewing a rest for a while. Carbonation is similarly on-point. We get a bitter, pithy finish to the drink.
Two Roots have really nailed this alcohol-free beer malarkey. The brewer manages to retain the full flavour of the hops in their brews, and New West is a testament to this, even though they’ve been through the vacuum distillation process, which can normally strip a lot of hop character from a beer. Whatever they’re doing I hope they keep on doing it, and get a few of their new styles shipped over here too.
Buy Two Roots New West
In the UK Two Roots beers are pretty much only available online. You can pick up your cans of New West here:
| Nutritional Information (per 100ml, taken from the side of the can) | |
|---|---|
| ABV | 0.5% |
| Energy | 34 kcal |
| Fat | 0g |
| Carbohydrates | 8g |
| Sugar | Not given |
| Protein | 0g |
| Ingredients | |
| Filtered Water, Malt, Hops, Yeast | |
| Additional Information | |
| Country of Production | United States of America .png) |
| Brewer | Two Roots Brewing Co – https://www.tworootsbrewingco.com/ |
| Gluten Free? | No |
| Vegan Friendly? | No |
Two Roots New West Non-Alcoholic IPA
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Summary
Another fantastic IPA from Two Roots, maybe veering towards the West Coast styles of old. And still offering the best mouthfeel of any non-alcoholic beer brewer.
