Article

Can less be more?

Can non-alcoholic beers cure your Ramadan malt craving?
Issue: Sep, 2009
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 If you believe that the word "acquired taste" is simply a euphemism invented by Western Ammani girls to justify eating raw fish, then you probably won't understand why someone would suffer through the taste of brewed barely without its, er, advantages. But it is Ramadan, and even if you're not fasting, the least you could do is "try to give up drinking for the month", as one of our obviously non-religious friends suggested. 

Most of these products contain the basic ingredients of any lager out there (water, malt and hops) with an added touch here or there – mainly sugar. Even though it is alleged that some brands contain traces of alcohol (less than 0.5 per cent), they have been widely viewed as "halal" – unless you live in Pennsylvania, where you have to be over the age of 21 to buy non-alcoholic beer. Thank God for Saudi Arabia...
 
 
 
Barbican
UAE
Sugar
0.650 JDs
Surprisingly dark 
Non-intrusively good 
Sweet with glimpses of original beer taste 
4/5
No wonder it reportedly has 60 per cent of the market share 
 
 
Amstel Zero 
Egypt
Lactic acid, flavours
0.750 JDs
Confidence-inducing dark
Honey
A jasmine-flavour sweetened juice
Score3/5
Drinkable but has nothing to do with its adult sister
 
 
Moussy 
Switzerland
Ascorbic acid, anti-oxidants
0.800 JDs
In the middle of the line-up fair
A sharp smell with traces of beer
Metallic bitterness
Score1/5
It may be Swiss, but it tastes nothing like it
 
 
Mood 
Jordan
Citric acid, caramel colouring 
0.500JDs
Worrisomely pale
Corn 
Canned corn brine 
Score0/5
We will not support local products if they taste this bad 
 
 
Hillsburg
Saudi Arabia 
Ascorbic acid, flavours
0.600 JDs
Close to the shade of Amstel
Vomit inducing 
Sweetened vomit water 
Score0/1
We should have guessed from the shape of the bottle 
 
 
Rockers 
Jordan 
Sugar
0.650 JDs
Almost as dark as Barbican 
Fried falafel with a dash of metal 
A crushing metallic after taste, but does ring of a beer
Score:2/5
It reminds you of a cheap beer in can, but stealing the Miller falcon was unnecessary