Beer of the week - Triple time again - Rügener non-alcoholic


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Last post I promised more non-alcoholics, so here we go!
Before we get to my new favorite non-alcoholic that received a whopping 5 star rating, it's time to finish the three remaining candidates from the 4x world's best beer award winning island brewery on Rügen.


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That would be:

The surfers summer ale

featuring malted barley, malted wheat, malted rye, hops and yeast.

The skippers special bitter

featuring malted barley, malted wheat, hops and yeast.

And:

The snorkelers sea salt ipa

featuring malted barley, malted wheat, malted rye, hops and yeast.
Special ingredients: sea salt

Price is again 2€/330ml


First the special bitter:


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This beer is of a medium amber ale color and the head can become quite massive with really good stamina, if you use the right glass.

The first smell contains sweet tropical fruits, a lot of spice - although this time no spice is included - and finally turns into apple. Also a slight bready flavor can be found, that comes with most of these beers.

It takes some time for the hops to kick in but the finish finally reveals the advertised bitterness. It is in fact a very dry one without any aroma, which certainly originates from bitter hops.

Next the summer ale:


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Same visual experience, but the color is a little ligther.

The smell is veery light and a little fishy. There is a creamy component to it that makes me think of yoghurt ice cream.

The flavor is fruitier but still not overwhelming. The bitterness is equally strong but very different, as the aroma hops make it a lot more resinous. Finally there is a refreshing acidity.

And finally the sea salt ipa


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The color is a dark amber and the head seems the strongest of all three.

Again it features the creamy flavor but lacks any fruity IPA flavors. Instead there is a slight sea flavor to it.

The body is heavy and the salty mouth feel hits right away. The taste is dominated by spicy flavor and not fruity like most IPAs. The salt makes it appear kinda stale.

Conclusion

I haven't had a Jever in decades, but I assume the special bitter is falling into that category. I thought it would be my least favorite but after switching between the beers it ended up as my favorite, even though I prefer aroma hops over bitter hops.


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The sea salt ipa is again a niche brew that you love or hate. Definitely not for me but I'm also not much of a salt guy.


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After some back and forth the summer ale didn't beat the special bitter and gets:


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Those beers were very tough to rate because they seem to be changing rapidly in the glass. I would have hopped for a more extraordinary experience with such fancy beers, but overall they are pretty good for non-alcoholics, nonetheless.
The bottle fermentation makes for a nice creamy carbonation and interesting flavors. Although the saison had a weird yeast aroma, it was my personal favorite so far with the special bitter beeing second place.

Considering the price I can't really rate them higher and would probably opt for a different one of the new non-alcoholic beers that came to the market recently.
Speaking of which - stay tuned for my personal favorite that will be revealed on #beersaturday 166!

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