Brewery Highlight - Drop Bear Beer

 


Drop Bear Beer Company
For anyone who doesn't know Drop Bear Beer are a brewery from Swansea in South Wales who specialise in alcohol free beers  Who launched in 2019  Their range consists of 4 beers all of which  are Gluten free and Suitable for Vegans.  They are also now Bcorp certified which is a certification of "social and environmental performance"

Drop bear are currently in the process of building their own brewery and when this completes they will be the 2nd only dedicated alcohol free brewery in the UK.

The beers can be purchased from all good online alcohol free retailers, Direct from Drop Bear and also now they are available in TK Maxx and Homesense stores.  The beers are all sold in 330ml cans.  Drop bear moved from bottles to cans in late 2021 they have also tweaked some of the recipes so if you have had them before and weren't too sure then why not grab some of their new cans to see what you think.

The Beers


YUZU PALE ALE

Drop Bear describe it as:

Easy drinking for the fierce, this alcohol free pale ale has a lot to shout about. Dry hopped with refreshing floral and grapefruit hops, a splash of yuzu bursts through the toffee base to create a unique and sessionable non alcoholic beer. This non alcoholic pale ale is Vegan and Gluten Free.



My Thoughts

This beer has a golden colour to it and a strong citrussy aroma.  

The flavour is mainly a nice citrus fruits but with a toffee flavour that comes through from the malts.  There is then a nice bitter finish which they seem to have refined from when it was in the bottles to be a lot smoother and less artificial tasting.  




New World Lager

This is the newest Beer to the drop bear family.

Drop Bear describe it as:

Looking for an award winning alcohol free IPA with real bite? Step into our office...

An abundance of tropical hops bursts through the roasted coffee and dark chocolate base of this alcohol free beer with blasts of passion fruit, stone fruit, and citrus. Perfect for the traditional bitter drinker, this alcohol free beer certainly packs the punch of a full strength IPA. This alcohol free beer is vegan and Gluten Free.


My Thoughts 

This beer was very lively out of the can and needed a very careful pour to avoid too much foam.  But once poured you get a beautiful looking beer with a great head.

The look and aroma of the beer is unmistakably a lager with a slight hint of citrus there on the nose as well.

The taste has all the usual crisp flavour you would expect from a larger with a slight citrus on the finish.  Also I found that it wasn't overly gassy which I find for me can be a problem with lots of lagers.

Overall I feel this is a great example of an alcohol free lager and recommend giving it a try.



Tropical IPA

Drop Bear describe it as:

Looking for an award winning alcohol free IPA with real bite? Step into our office...

An abundance of tropical hops bursts through the roasted coffee and dark chocolate base of this alcohol free beer with blasts of passion fruit, stone fruit, and citrus. Perfect for the traditional bitter drinker, this alcohol free beer certainly packs the punch of a full strength IPA. This alcohol free beer is vegan and Gluten Free.

My Thoughts

The beer pours a nice colour but with little head.  There is a nice tropical fruit aroma.  In the taste the tropical flavours come through first but then I find there is quite a strong bitterness that takes over.  Would like the flavours to be a bit more balanced and allow the tropical taste to come through more. 


Bonfire Stout

And last but not least their bonfire stout for me this is the favourite of the bunch and up there as one of the best alcohol free stouts I have tried.

Drop Bear describe it as:

This alcohol free stout is all about those specialty malts.

Complex notes of roasted coffee and smoked malt awaken the senses whilst hints of dark chocolate burst through to create a carefully crafted balance of flavours. Inspired by the traditional Irish stout and German Rauchbier, this dark alcohol free ale provides a refreshing and smooth finish. This alcohol free stout is Vegan and Gluten Free.

My Thoughts

I will admit that when I first tried this I was unsure it came across with a burnt caramel taste and a little over carbonated.  I have now had a few of these and for now get a lovely smoky flavour almost similar to a smoked cheese sort of flavour.  Its a really great beer for cold winter evenings and would be just perfect around a fire pit.

What's next for Drop Bear

As Previously mentioned Drop bear are in the process of building their own brewery and this along with getting the beers into more and more retailers seems to be their priority at the moment I would love for them to come out with a new beer as either a special or addition to the core range but don't think this is likely until they have completed the brewery.  But who knows their 3rd anniversary is coming up in May so maybe they will surprise us with something new to Celebrate.


Well if you've got this far thanks for reading.  Let me know what you think of drop Bear beers and which ones you prefer.


Written by: Tim Jenkins

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