By Greg B. I was moving some of the beer bottles around that my new roommates had saved from previous parties when I came across a 6 pack of O’Douls.  After sufficiently chastising them all for purchasing such a product, I had a sudden change of heart and decided to open a bottle and give it a try, just to see what it was like.  Let me tell you, it’s pretty much exactly as you expect.  Not good.

Making a non-alcoholic beer is, I guess in a way, a product made with the intention of doing good things.  Drinking and driving accidents can probably be avoided and the idea behind this beer is that if people are out in social situations, they don’t want the stigma of being the ‘non-drinker’ or ‘DD”, so they can grab an O’douls and fit right into the party, all while not getting alcohol and yet drinking that same great flavor they would get from a normal beer.  Except this is where the plan goes awry.  Some beers use the alcohol as an integral part of the flavor.  And others beers just taste good.  But O’Douls unfortunately, despite all it’s good intentions, falls short of the mark.

So, there really wasn’t much to write about this beer.  It poured a  very clear yellow with a very bright white head which rapidly faded.  Smell was quite average actually… it had the hop aroma of a lager, perhaps even some saaz hops in there a la a pilsner.  However once I drank it, the amazement faded.  There was a maltiness that existed in the beer, but it was slight.  Other than this, the beer presented little or no real flavor and was just a carbonated beverage that smelled/tasted like it might have wished it was a beer, but it wasn’t.  I guess in a social situation, if someone MUST absolutely drink a beverage like a beer, this should be something to reach for. But it is not a beer that I would happily recommend.