This is the year for non-alcohol beers, as I’ve been reviewing and writing about since February, and among the latest I’ve tried and considered are five NA beers from Partake Brewing. I received the lineup which consisted of Blonde, Pale, IPA, Red, and Stout.

Partake is located in Canada, with the beers brewed in Toronto. The brewery’s story is similar to many that started in this space:

“Over a decade ago I gave up alcohol due to a medical condition. But I missed my beer. I missed the taste of beer and discovering new beers, especially new craft beers. But more than that, I found that I missed the social connection that comes from sharing a drink with a colleague after a hard days work, cracking a beer with the guys after hockey, and joining in to celebrate special occasions with family and friends.

So a friend suggested that I try non-alcoholic beer. The problem is most of the non-alcoholic beer I tried tasted awful and there really was almost nothing in terms of variety. Unfortunately the long-standing stigma surrounding non-alcoholic beer has been well deserved.

That is until now!

I launched Partake Brewing to bring all the things that make craft beer great to non-alcoholic beer drinkers including taste, variety, authenticity, creativity, and passion. Non-alcoholic beer drinkers want to Partake in the craft beer journey with everyone else. Why? Because we’re beer lovers too.”

-Ted Fleming, Partake Brewing Founder and CEO

The non-alcoholic market has definitely been growing this year, perhaps due to the pandemic and folks wanting to drink more without the drawbacks, perhaps just as part of the increasingly popular “lifestyle-conscious” market segment. Perhaps both; all of these NA beers are low in calories in addition to having low or no alcohol.

So. When it comes to the Partake beers, all of them do have an alcohol content of 0.3% by volume, which is less than the legally-defined standard of 0.5% to be considered alcoholic. Most of them are 10-15 calories per 12-ounce can, with the Stout the highest at 30 calories. So these are certainly easy to drink. Let’s get to my notes.

Blonde

As already noted, this and all of the other beers have 0.3% ABV listed. The can also reveals that Blonde has 15 calories and 2g of carbs (the website says 3g, so maybe it has been updated); the “BB” date (best before) on the can read 6/17/21. Here’s Partake’s description:

Our Blonde is an easy summer sipper perfect for sitting on your patio, the beach, or even in your office. At 15 calories and 3 carbs, you’ll wonder where this has been all your life!

Golden, bubbly and easy-drinking, this malt-forward ale will be a crowd-pleaser. While other lighter, alcohol-free beers tend to be watery, Partake Blonde’s fuller body and balanced flavour profile make it an instant classic.

Appearance: Brassy gold color, great clarity, active carbonation feeding a persistent white head.

Smell: Earthy, with under attenuated malt and perhaps a bit of oxidation. Almost just wort-like with no alcohol or “beer” notes to offset the malts/grains.

Taste: Similar flavor profile as detected in the aroma; deeply earthy/grassy with an unbalanced hop bitterness. Wort-like, grainy notes with grain husk that goes a little tannic. Clean at the back.

Mouthfeel: Light, crisp, good carbonation, though there’s a lingering bitterness that leaves a tannic near-astringency.

Overall: Not great, probably too light to handle the hops without alcohol.

Pale

Interestingly, the Pale has less calories and carbs than the Blonde (10 cals, 0g carbs), something I would have expected to be reversed. This can had a “BB” date of 12/31/20. The brewery’s description reads:

Our Pale is an internationally award-winning craft beer with 10 calories and 0 carbs!

With a medium bitterness balanced by a caramel malt sweetness and perfumey, tropical aromatics, this pale ale is will please both beer geeks and beer newbies alike.

Appearance: Copper color, slight haze, decent carbonation for a white head.

Smell: Earthy and slightly vegetal note over under attenuated wort. Hop stems, grainy, some husk/chaff.

Taste: Hop tea that’s bitter and leafy. Some decent grain notes though there’s a touch of astringency, and there’s still an unfermented wort character, but it’s not bad. Would like some more hop flavor as opposed to just tasting boiled hop bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied, dry, with some lingering astringency.

Overall: Better than the Blonde with decent body, though it could still be less bitter with a focus on the hop flavor. Hop/barley tea.

IPA

Another surprisingly lighter beer than the Blonde, with 10 calories (same amount of carbs). Non-alcoholic IPAs are a tough nut to crack, based on the previous ones I’ve tried; it’s tough to get a good balance because you don’t want to end up with just vegetal hop bitterness. Partake wasn’t shy with the hops in the first two beers I drank, so I wasn’t sure what to expect here. The description says:

Our IPA is the first beer we ever brewed, featured on the Dragons Den. 10 calories and 2 carbs means this fan favourite is sure to please!

This beer balances the citrusy hops with a sweet malt backbone. Its light and bubbly body and dry finish make it an all-day sipper that packs a lot more flavour than most non-alcoholic beers on the market.

The “BB” date on the can was 7/1/21.

Appearance: Deep copper, good clarity, active carbonation feeding a big head.

Smell: Hops are prominent here, a bit of sticky, resiny lupulin, followed by that signature under attenuated wort-like aroma. Hops have a tea-like, sort of “raw” quality to them; a touch stemmy but I appreciate that this is actively hop-forward.

Taste: Bitterness is front and center, a big steeped-hop tea bitterness that’s resiny, a touch woody, herbal, and a bit harsh. On the other hand it does overpower much of the unfermented wort character, which is good. Would like more hop flavor beyond bitterness but it does deliver hops in that area. It’s a touch caramelly and toasty in the “wort” malt flavors.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied, astringently bitter, rather dry and bitter finish.

Overall: Finally, an NA IPA that brings the bitterness and some flavor, which I’ve found lacking in others. Kind of a tonic quality to the overall drink.

Red

The Red was the newest of Partake’s lineup, and beefier than the previous three beers with 25 calories and 3 grams of carbs. The “BB” date on this can read 3/11/21, and the brewery’s description says:

Meet our Red, the newest addition to the Partake family. At 25 calories and 3 carbs, this beer will have you crackin’ another one all day long!

Crafted with 5 malts, Partake Red is smooth and soft with ribbons of caramel malt and toast, this balanced brew will be a hit with lovers of classic English and Irish ales.

Appearance: More brown than red in color, with copper highlights, and nice clarity. Light tan head.

Smell: A bit more malt complexity than the others with very light roastiness. Grassy hops. Wort and a touch of extract twang.

Taste: Bread crust, wheat chaff, grassy/herbal hop bitterness, hints of roasted barley. Less “unfermented” flavors than the others, more dextrinous maltiness seems to mute them. Toasty, bread dough, a touch woody/stemmy.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied, moderate carbonation, decently dry.

Overall: It’s the best of the group so far with nice “red” flavors I associate with the style and less wort-like character.

Stout

Stout is the “heftiest” of all five beers with 30 calories and 8 grams of carbs. The “BB” date on the can was 12/20/20. The brewery says:

Our Stout is 30 calories and 8 carbs, and it holds its own against juicy burgers, desserts, and even makes a good ice cream float!

Pouring a deep brown with warm, walnut highlights topped by a tall, tan cap of foam, it looks the part, and smells the part too. Picture cracking a fresh bag of medium-roast coffee with dark berry and plum notes. The medium-light, bubbly body boasts notes of coffee, smoke and a long, dry cacao-nib note in the finish.

Appearance: Dark cola brown, opaque in the glass, tan head that’s decent but a little loose.

Smell: Dark, roasted grain, drip-pot coffee, burnt toast, walnut shells. A touch worty with steeped hop stems.

Taste: Burnt grain and husk flavor that’s a bit harsh and astringent. Quite roasty, not in a coffee way, more just bitter. It does mask any of the usual under attenuated/wort flavors present in the others, and there’s that woody, oversteeped hops note as well.

Mouthfeel: Thin, medium-light body, astringent roast lingers.

Overall: Less “worty” but too much astringency with a touch of burnt character; not great unfortunately. Perhaps because it was close to its “best by” date, it developed some harshness as it aged? The brewery’s FAQ indicates all its beer have a best before date of one year after packaging, which means it was canned almost a year ago.

The Red and the IPA were the standouts of this series, with the IPA being the most hop-forward and IPA-like of the various NA beers I’ve tried thus far. All in all these were about as expected, and provide another option to the market in the non-alcoholic beer space with Partake Brewing, and as such are worth exploring if you have the beers available to you.