having tried the original from Bremen which i thought was fantastic, i was skeptical as to how good this would taste.

Yes, it is not going to blow your mind, but it does what it’s suppose to do – be a clean, refreshing, cheap non-alcoholic lager that you can easily find.Pale Lagers as a style are usually straw colored, up to a light gold with a white head. The flavor is very light and dry with only slight malty sweetness. A little crisp hop bitterness without too much hop aroma. If you're going to go the way of sam adams, at least get the right kind of beer and not some awful american lager. Sam Adams makes a Noble Pils. Any sweetness eludes me, and I have a hunch the hop bitterness would be at least moderately strong on the palate. It’s slightly syrupy but the body isn’t too bad. It’s highly carbonated but the foam gives it a creamy – dare I say luxurious – feel as it slips down your throat.

it's made by supervision in various countries now, and the quality differs so much from place to place and i feel this reflects on the poor rating this has incurred. Yes, but it wouldn’t be my first choice if there were other options, especially when there are so many tasty non-alcoholic beers these days.

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If you wanted to try local or American brewed versions just about anyone's Session Lager (Full Sail comes to mind, as does Notch if you're near MA at all) should be similar. According to this list on BeerAdvocate you should be near Berghoff and Baderbrau which will both make traditional German styles. Some breweries, Baderbrau included, will call their pale lager a "Lawnmower beer". This leaves a beer with only trace amounts of alcohol if any – up to 0.05%. This is less than what occurs naturally in many types of food. On a harder pour 4 fingers of bone white head form, then slowly recede over a couple minutes to 1cm of foam. Lacing is not left. Body is a clear golden straw . Taste is almost lighter than the aroma. For a German beer this would be considered light, but this isn't a watery American ligjt beer quite yet. Still MHL is more flavorful, but I will say the malt tastes more natural than most AALs. Sweet but crisp, zero bitterness. This all happened around 2003. And that was still a decade after the Bremen-based brewery created this alcohol-free pilsner-style lager in 1993.

On the nose.... malty hops with a light citrus peel, and slight grass (not the slightest hint of skunk at all) However, it’s worth bearing in mind that it’s possible the alcohol content could be higher because labelling rules vary between regions and some countries like the UK allow a small tolerance to what’s shown on the label. Overall, this is a good emulation of the German offering, however slightly sweeter that makes this taste more like a Helles than a Pilsner in my opinion. The smell is sweet, malty and clean with straw and lemon aromas appearing as it warms in the glass. Aroma is light and mediocre. Certainly not a true German pils, but better than most ABInbev products here in the states. Doughy with a slight hint of bread yeast. Very low, almost nonexistent herbal, earthy, and skunky hops.Finally, Pilsner Urquell has a bit more foam than I would like from a German beer (probably because it's not German) but still did not weigh heavy on my stomach and easy to drink as well. Not quite as much flavor but I did not try the bottle. This one is a traditional pils. Taste follows the nose but with a lovely bread tone on the finish, i feel the New Zealand version is slightly sweeter than the German one, ever so slight toffee at the end. very nice. very moreish indeed.