0% beer - authorisation needed!

[MK-2]

Now I don't drink alcohol (haven't done for about 8 years now). Never bothered about it and usually drink some sort of fruit cordial (ribena/robinsons) instead. I try to stick off of coke if possible.
Yesterday a teacher who also doesn't drink mentioned that she'd tried some of the 0% beer, not the ones that have 0.5% and are labelled as non alcoholic, but the real 0% one. So I thought well I may as well give it a try, it's something different.

Went to Asda, got a four pack of bottles of them (for about £1.50 i might add!) and as it was busy, went to the self service. Put them through and it came up with authorisation needed. The woman came over, scanned her card and on we went. But my wife did ask why we needed authorisation for something that contains absolutely no alcohol. The woman said (and i quote)
"I asked my manager the same thing a few weeks back and its apparently because it looks and tastes just like beer, but we're not sure the exact reason"

So let me get this straight, even though this item contains 0% alcohol i need to have my age checked? Does that mean that a kiddies gun should require a gun permit because it looks just like the real thing?
How ridiculous is that? I could understand with the low alcohol ones, as they have about 0.5% alcohol so might still be seen as an alcoholic drink. But just because these ones are stacked next to the normal beer and might taste similar to normal beer, it shouldn't make it illegal for under 18's to buy it.
Let's face it, mouthwash has more alcohol in it than this beer!

[LosOjos]

Interesting, tonight I'm going to go and attempt to buy a can of Shandy Bass and see if that needs authorising - it looks and tastes like shandy, and it even contains alcohol (something like 0.1%) but I've been buying that no quibbles since I was a wee lad

[Andrew_C]

Let's face it, mouthwash has more alcohol in it than this beer!

And tastes better? Seriously; does any of this stuff taste anything less revolting than any other?

[MK-2]

And tastes better? Seriously; does any of this stuff taste anything less revolting than any other?

And what are you using as a reference for this taste? Are you saying it tastes worse than real beer? Because if so, I don't have that reference so to me it doesn't taste better/worse than anything because i have nothing to base it against.

Same as if you'd never tasted a beef steak before, the first time you eat one you are hardly going to be saying "oh no i like it medium rare with a hint of pink on the edges and some cracked black pepper seasoning".

[MK-2]

Interesting, tonight I'm going to go and attempt to buy a can of Shandy Bass and see if that needs authorising - it looks and tastes like shandy, and it even contains alcohol (something like 0.1%) but I've been buying that no quibbles since I was a wee lad

It probably will (on self serve anyway) as if its stacked in the beer and wines aisles i think they just blanket class it all as alcohol

[Michael]

Going back to my own school days here, but isn't alcohol on its own tasteless? So in theory it should taste exactly the same!

[LosOjos]

It probably will (on self serve anyway) as if its stacked in the beer and wines aisles i think they just blanket class it all as alcohol

It's usually in with the pop! I'm going to have to try now out of sheer curiosity (although I better take my ID - it'd be earth shattering to be denied a can of Shandy Bass!)

[LosOjos]

Going back to my own school days here, but isn't alcohol on its own tasteless? So in theory it should taste exactly the same!

Theoretically yes - if it is brewed the same way as alcoholic beer and then somehow has the alcohol removed. It is the process of brewing/fermenting the beer that creates the alcohol and the method and ingredients the taste, so unless it is done this way then has the alcohol removed, I guess it must be created synthetically, so wouldn't taste quite the same.

EDIT: that's all my own theory by the way, I don't know for sure!

[MK-2]

Theoretically yes - if it is brewed the same way as alcoholic beer and then somehow has the alcohol removed. It is the process of brewing/fermenting the beer that creates the alcohol and the method and ingredients the taste, so unless it is done this way then has the alcohol removed, I guess it must be created synthetically, so wouldn't taste quite the same

The low alcohol ones are brewed the same but have the alcohol removed at the last process, leaving very little behind.
The 0% one is brewed differently and doesn't involve alcohol at all. Not sure exactly, that was just a quick google. But that's my point. If it tastes different to real beer, how am I to know? How does a vegetarian know that quorn doesn't taste exactly like real meat?

If you were given 0% beer from your very first drink, and after 5 years of drinking it someone said here's a different beer and gave you a 5% one, i bet that would taste awful as you are used to one acquired taste. same as if you were fed quorn from an early age, tasting real meat would seem different, but if you'd never tasted real meat you have nothing to base the taste on. if you like the taste, that's it....its not better or worse than anything else

[LosOjos]

if you like the taste, that's it....its not better or worse than anything else

Completely agree! I've never tried a low/no alcohol beer but I wouldn't turn one down just because of the lack of alcohol. I'm a meat eater but I love the taste of certain Quorn products.

The geek in me just couldn't resist pondering on the process/taste - in fact, I'm gonna get me a pack of none alcoholic beer just to see what it tastes like! Although the missus might think there's something wrong with me!

[MK-2]

The geek in me just couldn't resist pondering on the process/taste - in fact, I'm gonna get me a pack of none alcoholic beer just to see what it tastes like! Although the missus might think there's something wrong with me!

The one I had was Bavaria 0.0
according to one site:

Most alcohol-free beers are brewed as normal alcoholic beers, with the alcohol removed at the last stage. It's impossible to remove all of the alcohol, so such beers tend to have up to 0.5% alcohol remaining. Bavaria is brewed with no alcohol at all and is a genuine 0% beer.

Ingredients
Purest Mineral Water, Barley Malt, Wheat, Hops


They do also have a wheat one instead of malt which it lists as having a fruity taste. But i opted for a more traiditional one!


**and to be fair, there is something wrong with you**

[sidewinder]

Non alcoholic beer is ok actually, it doesn't taste quite the same as alcoholic but the difference is hard to describe

If I couldn't drink for whatever reason I'd certainly prefer a few of those to several cokes at the pub (because I drink coke far too quickly!)

Is non alcoholic beer taxed the same as normal? Eg in a pub should it be much cheaper?

[Oaktech]

can i also add a big up to the co-op non (not low) alcoholic pear cider. it is really nice and a lot cheaper and more readilly available than koppaberg non alcoholic (which is also outstanding!)

[AngryTechnician]

So let me get this straight, even though this item contains 0% alcohol i need to have my age checked?

Last time I checked (and this was some time ago, mind) you had to get authorisation for buying a copy of FHM and the like, even though there is no legal age restriction on them (whether they should have one is a matter of debate).

I also once had to get authorisation for a bag of frozen sweetcorn, which the checkout operator couldn't even hope to explain.

[Andrew_C]

All the ones I have ever tried (when driving) have tasted very caramelly. Far, far, too sweet for my palette.

I'm open to trying another to see if it is any better.