Dry January may be over but I’m a little hooked on trying to find some stand out alcohol free beers that can hold their own against their boozy counterparts. After the very successful tasting of Big Drops milk stout last week I thought I’d give them another go. ‘Pine Trail’ is a pale ale and a silver medalist at the World Beer Awards. As with all Big Drop beers it is also gluten free!

Visually, the beer pours a clear gold with a quickly dissipating white head. A really solid aroma with lots of pineapple notes and a touch of citrus grapefruit. There is a fairly decent body to the beer and a nice solid hop throughout. However, I found that there isn’t a ton of flavour going on expect perhaps a touch of pine or a floral taste, perhaps lending to the name.

A quick note on the can art: As always, features the signature Big Drop logo. A rather simple design with contrasting shades of blue.

A fairly short review today as there isn’t really all that much to say. It’s not bad and a slightly above average AF beer. They’ve added lactose to the beer which I imagine is to provide it with a stronger body and bulk it up. For my taste it comes across as a little one note and certainly not as complex as their milk stout. If you like hoppy beers and are looking for a low alcohol alternative I imagine this would be more up your alley. Solid but certainly not exceptional.

Score: 6/10

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Additional Information:

• Hops: Magnum, Mosaic & Amarillo
• Malt: Not Available
• IBU: 42
• ABV: 0.5%
• Gluten Free: Yes!
• Vegan: No (Contains Lactose)
• Purchase Location: Arch Rivals
• Purchase Price: £2.90