The Non Alcoholic Beer Market
If you have seen our post about Samuel Adams Boston Lager Remastered Beer, we go into a lot of history about Samuel Adams, one of the early leaders in craft beer. Boston Beer jumped into the non alcoholic beer market in 2021 with Samuel Adams Just the Haze Non Alcoholic Hazy IPA. The non alcoholic beer market has grown rapidly in recent years with the introduction of non alcoholic beers that taste more like regular beer. Non alcoholic beers have several health advantages over regular beers, including fewer calories, sugar, carbs and of course, alcohol. Non alcoholic means less than 0.5% alcohol, so non alcoholic beers can still have traces of alcohol.
Athletic Brewing is the current market leader in non alcoholic beers and is now considered a top 10 craft brewer.
Boston Beer Company
Jim Koch, the founder of Boston Beer Company, had a belief that beer drinkers deserved a better option than what was available in the 1980s. He brewed the first batch of Boston Lager in his kitchen. Koch used a recipe that belonged to his great great grandfather that he found in his father’s attic in the early 1980s. Today Boston Beer Company is a large conglomerate with national distribution and two tap rooms in Boston and one in Cincinnati. It is one of the largest beer companies and an icon of the craft beer movement.
Samuel Adams Just the Haze Hazy IPA Non Alcoholic Beer
Boston Beer Company entered the non alcoholic beer market in 2021 with Just the Haze. Boston Beer describes Just the Haze as “a juicy, refreshing & rich, non-alc IPA that tastes like an IPA.” It has Citra, Mosaic, Sabro and Cascade hops and Samuel Adams two-row pale malt blend, White Wheat and Golden Naked Oats malts. The 12 oz. can has a 35 IBU, 98 calories, 22g carbs, 0g fat and 1.5g protein. It has a “Very Good” rating on Beer Advocate.
Our Review of Samuel Adams Just the Haze Hazy IPA
I took one taste and thought “this is good.” Like the tagline, it was “juicy & refreshing.” It reminded me of Racer 5 IPA, which is my favorite alcoholic IPA due to its citrus flavor and limited bitterness. Others say Just the Haze is too sweet or the taste is inconsistent, but this was not my experience. The largest concerns about Just the Haze are the calories and carbs. Its 98 calories is about half of most alcoholic IPAs, but very high for a non alcoholic beer. It is in the ballpark of light beers like Miller Lite. The carbs are also higher than other non alcoholic IPAs and even higher than Racer IPA. So if you are drinking non alcoholic beer to reduce calories and carbs, Just the Haze is not a good choice.
However, if you are looking to just reduce alcohol consumption with a non alcoholic IPA, then Just the Haze is a good choice. If you are an IPA lover, then Athletic Brewing Free Wave Hazy IPA may be a better choice. If you are like me and prefer IPAs with less bitterness, then Just the Haze is the better choice.
We may earn from qualifying purchases at ProofNoMore.
Just the Haze is available at Amazon at Just the Haze
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
For another recommendation, see our review of Athletic Brewing Run Wild IPA.
For non alcoholic beer nutritional information for all NA beers we have reviewed and more, see NA Beer Nutritional Information.
