Lower alcohol drinks

[Furbo]

What I want is something different for the evening, whilst watching TV before dinner. I have tended in the past to sip Negroni or a cocktail. But they are quite strong and not that healthy due to the sugar. Yes, I understand that alcohol is intrinsically not that healthy a choice.

I like a beer, but it makes me gassy.

I drink wine with dinner.

Gin and tonic becomes a bit meh and it's easy to drink too many.

Any suggestions for something that is pleasant, not too strong and which is not too "neckable"?

[oddman]

Experimenting with the same thing ATM as trying to cut down so have tried quite a few.

Beers - really quite good. The closest to real beer taste I've had are Guinness AF and Erdinger AF. The good beers have that hoppy bite and quite satisfying if chilled down.

White wine. OK but not a substitute

Red wine. Pretty horrible - can be made almost drinkable by chilling but still no substitute. I think white and fizzy wines have a bit of an advantage over red as we are used to tasting them chilled and at much lower ABV than 'PH Director Red' at typically 14.5%. Also tannin has a weird mouthfeel with no alcohol to balance it - kind of a cold tea type feeling.

Fizzy wine not too bad but I don't really like that style especially with food.

AF Cider (I've tried Thatchers mainly). I'm not a cider drinker normally so a regualr cider drinker might think they are rubbish but I find that AF cider has that nice combination of acidity and bite that makes a better white wine substitute (with food) than AF white wine.

ETA some of the French ciders come in at 2% and are available in sweet (very sweet) semi sweet (quite sweet) and dry (still a bit sweeter than our dry ciders). They are really apply, and pleasant but I can imagine wanting to drink more than 75cl.

I haven't tried any AF spirits. I can't commit to spending so much when I know I'm not paying tax and that a significant part of the spirit experience comes from the alcohol. I like a cocktail, and part of it is how it reliably gets you to cruising altitude which obviously won't happen with an AF substitute.

I think there is a general consensus that fizzy drinks are better at fooling the palate and that red wine is really difficult to pull off.

I've done a bit of experimentation with 'mocktails' and these are pretty good though quite a lot of sugar. Virgin Mojito with lime muddle with dark brown muscovado sugar, mint, fizzy water is pretty good. I put muscovado in my regular mojito and it has a similar flavour to rum so it's very similar to my regular dirty mojito. Three spoons of sugar in a big measure though. Simple lemonade with juice of lemon, two teaspoons of caster sugar ice and fizzy water. Tonic water with ice and lemon and a good dash of angostura bitters (46% alcohol but not much in a few drops). These are all quite bitter/sour grown up drinks and definitely hit the flavour requirements of a cocktail without the alcohol.

Haven't even tried to make an AF Negroni. I can't imagine that you could get decent representations of the three components together. I you're as fussy as me, it's hard enough to get a vermouth that's just right.

TL;DR I think fizz, bitterness or sourness and at least some sugar are essential parts of fooling the palate to accept AF alternatives.

Edited by oddman on Tuesday 19th August 08:56

[cml24]

I've been trying, on and off, something similar to the OP.

I will try the advice above regarding AF cider. I am only a very occasional cider drinker, but will give it a go.

What works for me, is ensuring I've got some AF beers chilled in the fridge. After I come in from work I might grab one or two and then not bother with anything else after that. Maybe even keep the normal beer at room temp so it needs time to chill.

[spitfire-ian]

cml24 said:

What works for me, is ensuring I've got some AF beers chilled in the fridge. After I come in from work I might grab one or two and then not bother with anything else after that. Maybe even keep the normal beer at room temp so it needs time to chill.

That's not a bad idea. My AF beers are in the fridge in the garage whereas the normal beers are in the fridge in the kitchen. Maybe I should swap them over.

Does anyone do AF lager in 440ml cans rather than 330? I normally drink the Heineken AF but all they come in is bottles or small cans. If they sold them in boxes of 10 or more 440ml cans I'd probably not drink anything else.

[sherman]

Have you tried diluting juice?
Some of the posher cordials are really quite tasty.
Even a glass of Ribena or a Robinsons Fruit creations is a nice alternative to alcohol.

[Furbo]

The thing with AF beers is they taste st. My favourite beer, chouffe blonde, is now available as a 4% and that too tastes horrible. Basically some drinks rely upon their alcohol content to taste good. Without it, the balance is askew.

I’m fine with that and I am not trying to eradicate alcohol. Basically just not become pissed as fast.

[ARHarh]

This is going to sound daft to many i am sure, but if you think alcohol and sugary drinks are bad why drink them? No point compromising on some tasteless low alcohol stuff, either don't drink them or accept they are not healthy.

Another solution may be don't drink so many.

[wibble cb]

Another vote for Guinness AF, it’s surprisingly good, I couldn’t tell from the taste it was the AF version

[zetec]

Furbo said:

The thing with AF beers is they taste st. My favourite beer, chouffe blonde, is now available as a 4% and that too tastes horrible. Basically some drinks rely upon their alcohol content to taste good. Without it, the balance is askew.

I’m fine with that and I am not trying to eradicate alcohol. Basically just not become pissed as fast.

AF beers have improved massively over the past few years. I no longer drink alcohol but enjoy an AF beer on occasions to 'scratch the itch'.

[48k]

Furbo said:

What I want is something different for the evening, whilst watching TV before dinner. I have tended in the past to sip Negroni or a cocktail.

A Negroni or a cocktail?

What do you class a Negroni as if not a cocktail?

[Lotobear]

I rather like Plenish Ginger Shot as an alternative to alcohol.

[bennno]

Guinness Zero is surprisingly good, hugely popular in Ireland due to their stringent drink drive laws.

The best non alcohol version of a drink that ive tried although our local publican was suggesting Threshers zero cider is supposed to be decent.

[Harpoon]

I had a bottle of St Austell Proper Job IPA 0.5% recently and thought that was very good as a "no-lo" option.

Wildhorse Brewery do a session IPA which is "only" 3.8% and excellent IMHO.

https://wildhorsebrewing.co.uk/products/nokota-ses...

Another 0% option is Zingi Bear which is very refreshing

https://www.zingibear.com/switchel

[Furbo]

wibble cb said:

Another vote for Guinness AF, it’s surprisingly good, I couldn’t tell from the taste it was the AF version

I was tricked by this a year or so ago, after some PHers said how good it was. Maybe my taste buds are wrong, but it tasted exactly the same as every other AF beer.

I am not an expert on the structure of flavours. But, for me, every AF beer has a good initial taste, but then gives way to a weird fruity after-taste and feeling of disappointment. I think this is where alcohol comes in, it "cuts through" the fruitiness to give a pleasant bitter / sweet contrast.

Jancis Robinson probably isn't out of a job anytime soon, is she.

[TVR Sagaris]

What about the various forms of spritz, OP? You can use sparkling water instead of Prosecco and you don't even need to start with an alcohol base; you could use a fruit syrup instead. Even something simple like Campari soda must be quite low alcohol but refreshing. The Guardian did a review of some options recently: https://www.theguardian.com/thefilter/2025/jul/10/...

[Furbo]

TVR Sagaris said:

What about the various forms of spritz, OP? You can use sparkling water instead of Prosecco and you don't even need to start with an alcohol base; you could use a fruit syrup instead. Even something simple like Campari soda must be quite low alcohol but refreshing. The Guardian did a review of some options recently: https://www.theguardian.com/thefilter/2025/jul/10/...

Yes we've started on these. As you say, if you use an Aperol or Campari base and then prosecco they can be quite punchy still. But messing with the soda volume is probably the way to go.

[bennno]

Furbo said:

wibble cb said:

Another vote for Guinness AF, it’s surprisingly good, I couldn’t tell from the taste it was the AF version

I was tricked by this a year or so ago, after some PHers said how good it was. Maybe my taste buds are wrong, but it tasted exactly the same as every other AF beer.

I am not an expert on the structure of flavours. But, for me, every AF beer has a good initial taste, but then gives way to a weird fruity after-taste and feeling of disappointment. I think this is where alcohol comes in, it "cuts through" the fruitiness to give a pleasant bitter / sweet contrast.

Jancis Robinson probably isn't out of a job anytime soon, is she.

Go try a pint of it on draught in Ireland, its surprisingly good.

Ive never really liked Guiness itself so perhaps that helps

[Sticks.]

Furbo said:

I am not an expert on the structure of flavours. But, for me, every AF beer has a good initial taste, but then gives way to a weird fruity after-taste and feeling of disappointment. I think this is where alcohol comes in, it "cuts through" the fruitiness to give a pleasant bitter / sweet contrast.

I know what you mean, but they seemed like artificial sweetener to me. Guinness is the best I've tried so far but I don't have it regularly.

I sometimes can get away with having a sparkling water with some frozen lemon as it give the initial refreshing hit of a beer. But then I fancy a beer

[Mobile Chicane]

I would try any of the classic French aperitifs, over ice, or with soda:
Lillet
Suze
Pineau de Charentes
Noilly Prat

Ricard if you like that sort of thing - one is definitely enough.

Cognac with chilled water sounds gross but is actually nice.

A light whisky of course.

[Furbo]

Sticks. said:

I sometimes can get away with having a sparkling water with some frozen lemon as it give the initial refreshing hit of a beer. But then I fancy a beer

I agree. The initial sensation is similar to lager.