Skip to main content

Heineken 0.0 Best Alcohol Free Beer




What if you wanted to drink a beer, but without getting drunk? Say, you don’t drink alcohol, or for one reason or another, you are off alcohol. Or perhaps it’s a working day, and you would like to have a cold one in the middle of the day but without all negative effects. Well, you could. Welcome to the world of Alcohol-free beer. 

Over the last few days, I’ve been enjoying some Heineken 0.0 rather than the typical beers. Now, Heineken 0.0 is a beer, in the malt lager style as the standard Heineken, the only difference being that all the alcohol has been removed - it contains less than 0.03% alcohol, which counts as safe enough even for those who are pregnant or affected by alcohol, according to Heineken.

It smells very close to a Heineken, tastes close to a Heineken, and you even keep taking a piss like you would when drinking a Heineken - but you never get drunk. 

How do they remove all the alcohol? From my research, they brew a standard Heineken beer as normal, then use some form of vacuum to make the alcohol evaporate without having to heat the beer. Remember alcohol has a lower evaporation point than water.

The process does result in some change of flavour, but they correct this change by extracting flavours from the evaporated alcohol and adding them back to the alcohol free beer.

This is however not the official version of events from Heineken, and thus the beer making process for alcohol free lager may be vastly different from the above. Heineken of course may be keeping the process secret for competitive purposes.

From my review, Heineken 0.0 is the best alcohol free beer in Nairobi.

It’s the perfect accompaniment for those social engagements or club runs where you simply don’t want alcohol, but would still love the character of a beer. Unlike juice or coffee, you can keep chugging Heineken 0.0 one after the other the entire night, and still walk home with a swagger rather than a stagger. Heineken however does state the product is targeted to adults above the legal drinking age.


The only challenge is that as at the beginning of 2021, it is available from few retailers. I am yet to find a supermarket stocking it, and I bought my stock from Oaks N Corks who retail it at KES 220 per bottle compared to KSh. 210 for the original Heineken. The 500 ml original Heineken can is cheaper retailing at KSh. 210. Heineken 0.0 appears to be only available in a 330 ml bottle, or 330 ml can in some countries.

Should your weight be watching you with the threat of ballooning should it sense your enjoying life, Heineken 0.0 carries half the calories of the ordinary Heineken, but also almost twice the carbohydrates due to its brewing process.

The other common alternative in Kenya is Bavaria 0.0, which comes in a variety of flavours from Apple to Mango Passion, and also the “unflavoured” original. However, this is a malt drink meaning that it is made from malt and other flavouring ingredients without necessarily undergoing fermentation. It’s flavour is therefore more that of a malted drink rather than a beer.

Carlsberg equally makes the Carlsberg 0.0, an alcohol free beer. It’s method of brewing differs from that of Heineken 0.0 in that they use a special yeast that produces no alcohol when fermenting the beer. Carlsberg 0.0 carries among the lowest calories and carbohydrates for alcohol free beers, but again slightly more carbs than a standard Carlsberg beer. The brand is however unavailable in Kenya or hard to come across.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Beers in Kenya: A sober opinion

Note: This is a dated post and has since been mostly passed by events. SAB Miller beers including Castle and Peroni are no longer widely available in Kenya after their exist. Sirville Brewery was bought out by Brew Bistro before being permanently shut in a tax dispute. Kenya is a land of milk, honey, beaches and taxes. I have penned, or is typed, a newer post here .  Peroni - One of the best beers in Kenya. Did a taste of canned and bottled Italian, and bottled Tanzanian I like the tangy flavour and body in Tanzanian Peroni. The can is close. Heineken drinkers will like the Italian one.  I have had a short beer swigging stint in my life. It has however been long enough for me to share my opinion of Kenyan beer. Interestingly, over the course of sharing such opinions with other drunkards connoisseurs,  I have found that we all have different views as to what beer is the best, which one makes you too drunk, or which one gives one free, extra hangover for every ha...

How to Drive from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda to Namibia (or South Africa)

  What You Need COMESA Yellow Sticker (Tanzania and Zambia third party insurance. Botswana may require local bond. Namibia doesn’t require insurance) Logbook Processing with KRA Copies of your logbook for temporary import permits in other countries Passport Yellow fever vaccination proof. COVID vaccination proof may be required Warning triangles and 1 litre fire extinguisher Border Crossing Checklist Key: Required items are indicated in brackets next to each country's title  YS – COMESA Yellow Sticker, P – Passport TIPi – Temporary Import Permit entry TIPo – Temporary Import Permit exit LB – Log book LBc – Log book copy Recommended Extras  1 extra full size spare, 2 if your tyres are more than 75% worn Tow strap Tyre Pressure gauge and pressure pump. Enough rest every day. It’s a perseverance marathon, not an exhaustion sprint What you need to know  Seasons - Tanzania largely has same seasons as Kenya besides the cold July-August season....

WhatsApp Solution: Sorry we were unable to restore any of your message history backup

*This method only works if you are trying to transfer WhatsApp from one phone to another, and have not deleted WhatsApp data or formatted the old phone. If you already uninstalled WhatsApp and deleted data or logged into a different number, it won't work. If you get the “Sorry we were unable to restore any of your message history backup” when trying to restore your WhatsApp messages, trying to restore again from the same backup will probably fail. The issue seems to be caused by an issue with your backup file such as if you repeatedly tried to backup with internet connecting and disconnecting. 

Visiting Watamu

Getting to Watamu: Flight to Malindi Airport. Jambojet flies here and so do other airlines from Wilson. You'll then need a Cab to Watamu (KSh. 1,700 to KSh. 2,000 - many apps are inaccurate) or matatu just outside the airport (KSh. 100) SGR to Mombasa, then shuttle to Watamu. There are about 2 regular shuttles and they charge KSh. 1,500 to KSh. 2,000 one way  Bus to Watamu. Tahmeed and other buses operate regular schedules to Total Watamu  Drive: It's faster branching through Mariakani to Kaloleni then to Kilifi. The route through Tsavo is not any faster and has park fees. Takes 9 hours  Things to do  Beach Sunbathing : Watamu has some of the world's best beaches, with white sand. The left side from Watamu Village has a bay with shallow water during low tide,  you can wade and swim in the ocean even if you don't know how to swim! Ocean is warm in July - August but very windy. Watamu beaches have lots of seaweed but this shouldn't deter yo...

Nairobi's Top 4 Texas Brisket Places Reviewed and Ranked

Brisket on a bed of roast vegetables with barbecue sauce at Texas Brisket, Kikuyu  This review has been updated after a number of you suggested I try the brisket at County2County.  What's the best place to have Brisket in Nairobi? What's even brisket?  Brisket is one of the toughest cuts in a cow, from around the belly. It is so tough that it has to be smoked for about 16 hours to tenderise. But that there, is the catch.  12 to 16 hours later, it is the most flavourful and softest cut you will ever have. So full of flavour and so soft you can pick it apart with your fingers.  However, due to the long cooking time involved, only a few places offer brisket in Nairobi.  The best so far is Texas Brisket which is located within Kikuyu Railway station.  They do the meat for a proper 16 hours, and will usually have a fatty or non-fatty portion. The fatty portions are more tasty. A 500 gram serving goes for KSh. 900 and a 1 KG order comes with a serving of fre...