Chicagoist's "Beer of the Week": Clausthaler Premium Non-Alcoholic Lager

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Jan 31, 2007 5:00PM

Now that this post is live, you're probably reading the headline, wondering if this is a joke. Some of you regular "BotW" readers are typing furiously, eager to be the first to tell us that low-alcohol beers deserve no place for inclusion in the "BotW" archives. We thought about that ourselves, when we decided on this week's selection. We're still thinking about it, filing this post on a Tuesday night. It's only emboldened us.

Remember, this series is a celebration of the craft of brewing. Eventually, we have to touch upon low-alcohol beers. There are people who, whether by choice or circumstance, like the flavor of beer without the alcohol content. We've even been known to pull back an n.a., now and then, ourselves. For most of us, our experiences with non-alcoholic beers veer toward's Sharp's and O'Doul's territory: thick, malty swill that raises our blood sugar and kick-starts our gag reflex. There are better ones out there. Beck's and Warsteiner make good n.a.'s, Erdinger brews a non-alcoholic weiss, and Bavaria Malt from Columbia is actually popular with children. For Chicagoist, though, the gold standard in low-alcohol beer is Clausthaler Premium non-alcoholic lager.

Most breweries make make n.a.'s the same way, by removing the alcohol after the beer is brewed, using dialysis and reverse-osmosis. Clausthaler uses a carefully guarded, patented process to prevent the formation of fermentable maltose. Once that's done, beer yeast that's been specifically cultured for Clausthaler is added to the brewing process. The result is a low-alcohol beer (around .45 percent, by volume) that has all the flavor of a classic German lager. It's a crisp and refreshing beer, with a pleasant bitterness that will have you forgetting that you're drinking an n.a. after a couple sips. The crisp flavor of Clausthaler also makes this beer a perfect complement for summer cookouts.

Clausthaler brews four different types of low-alcohol beer. Back when our local CVS was an Osco, we were able to buy both this and Clausthaler's non-alcoholic golden amber, which has a richer flavor and darker color. The more easily found one is what we're focusing on today. If other breweries placed as much thought into their low-alcohol selections, we'd probably see more people opting for an n.a. Until then, whenever we're the designated driver or just don't feel like consuming large quantities of alcohol, we'll opt for a Clausthaler Premium non-alcoholic lager, Chicagoist's "Beer of the Week."