When is an alcohol-free beer good enough for our shop?

In the early days of ONP5, I tried an alcohol-free porter from Braxzz. I thought it was awful. Too flat, too malty. Just to be sure, I asked someone else to try it. They weren’t impressed either. Decision made: this beer wasn’t going in the shop.

Not long afterwards, a customer asked why we didn’t stock that porter. He said it was the best alcohol-free beer he had ever tasted.

What I found flat, he called subtle. And that astringent edge? He actually liked it.

We added the beer to our range after all. An important lesson, early in the shop’s history: our taste isn’t the benchmark for everyone.

A beer has to bring something to the table

Of course we care about quality. But “good” doesn’t mean every beer has to be as bold as possible.

In a fruit beer, we want to taste the actual fruit. In an IPA, we look for a good hop character. But a beer can also be clean and crisp. Then we want that fresh pilsner flavour or a lovely malt balance. It doesn’t always need mango, coffee or chocolate to get us excited. We’re looking for something that makes us think: yes, this brings something extra.

That’s what makes small craft breweries so interesting to us. For large breweries, consistency matters. You want your favourite beer to taste the same wherever you drink it. With smaller brewers, we often see more room to keep tweaking. A different hop variety, an adjusted recipe, a slightly different balance.

I sometimes say that large breweries work with recipes, while small brewers work more with concepts. That’s a bit of a generalisation, but it captures part of what we enjoy about craft beer. A brewer can surprise you all over again with the next version.

We taste together

When Bas, Fenna and Maxim are around, they join in. We discuss what we can smell and taste. Sometimes you know straight away what you think. Sometimes you work it out as you talk.

Customers occasionally join us too, if they happen to be in the shop at the time. That often leads to some great conversations. Especially when someone picks up something completely different in a beer.

We try to distinguish between a beer that isn’t particularly well made and one that simply isn’t to our taste. Those are two different things. That Braxzz porter still reminds us of that.

And sometimes you need a little nudge. You might not be in the mood for a sour, but then you take a sip and find yourself pleasantly surprised. Those are good moments.

Sometimes we have to take a chance

Ideally, we taste before we buy. But that isn’t always possible.

When we bring beers in from abroad, either ourselves or through an importer, we can’t always order a sample can first. So we look at Untappd reviews, read people’s experiences on social media and try to judge whether our customers will enjoy the beer. And how much we should order.

Sometimes a familiar brewery releases a new beer and there aren’t any reviews yet. Then we have to rely on previous experience and our own judgement.

We don’t always get it right. Very occasionally, a beer disappoints. But it can go the other way too.

At first, I consistently ordered too little from Omnipollo. Their beers weren’t cheap, so I bought cautiously. Then they sold like hot cakes. Funky Fluid’s Free Gelato range was also almost impossible to keep in stock in the beginning. Apparently, our customers were a lot less hesitant than I was.

And then there’s the price

A good beer can still be too expensive for what it offers. That’s why we always consider value for money.

At a higher price, we want to find something special in the glass. Real fruit, interesting spices, plenty of hops, coffee, chocolate or a smoky note. Or a combination that makes you wonder: could that work? And after the first sip, you know: yes, it can.

But a well-made, affordable beer deserves a place too. We get around five to ten new beers in every week. Some have familiar flavours, while others take us outside our own comfort zone. Thankfully. It would be pretty boring if nothing ever surprised us.

What can you expect from our selection? We’re discerning, we stay curious and we’re honest about what we think of a beer.

Whether you agree with us is entirely up to you..