Lowtide NEIPA the Cosmic Turtle

ABV: 0.5%
Calories per can: 76 (23 per 100ml)

This is a guest review by Tim Jenkins of the Alcohol-Free Explorers blog. Tim can be found on Twitter @afbeerexplorer

This is one of two beers brought out in September 2021 by Bath-based alcohol-free brewery Lowtide.

Lowtide like to try out lots of different styles of beers and show what they can do with each style without the alcohol, and they’ve become highly regarded in the alcohol-free community. This time, as you can probably guess from the name, they have gone for a New England IPA (NEIPA). And as with all their beers, the can has some stunning artwork by John Miles. The beer itself is made using hops that are traditional to the New England style: Citra, Mosaic, Armarillo and El Dorado.

For me, the first thing that is noticeable about this beer when poured is the lack of the traditional haze you would expect from a NEIPA. The aroma is quite subtle but you can pick up a hint of tropical fruit on the nose. It has a decent mouthfeel and a bit of thickness too, although it’s not quite got the body you associate with typical NEIPAs. It’s quite a smooth beer but there is some bitterness and citrus that comes through as you swallow.

Overall, this is a good attempt at a style which is quite hard to replicate in alcohol-free, but it would be nice to see a bit more body and a hazier appearance.