Brulo Cascadian Tides Stout

Brulo arrived right as alcohol-free beer finally stopped tasting like somebody whispered hops near a glass of sparkling water and called it a day. Founded in Edinburgh in 2019, the brewery focuses entirely on low and no-alcohol craft beer, but crucially approaches it like actual craft beer rather than a sad compromise for January gym memberships.

The beers lean heavily into modern hop-forward styles with loads of citrus, tropical fruit and proper bitterness still intact. IPAs, DDH pales and crisp lagers all feature heavily, usually carrying the sort of flavour intensity you’d expect from full-strength craft beer rather than the thin watery disappointment that haunted early alcohol-free brewing for years. Brulo brews everything from scratch too, rather than stripping alcohol out afterward, which helps preserve texture and flavour properly.

What gives the brewery its appeal is that it never treats non-alcoholic beer like a punishment or health lecture. The branding stays sharp, the beers stay genuinely enjoyable and the whole thing feels aimed at people who still love beer culture but occasionally also enjoy functioning the next morning. Fairly revolutionary concept honestly.

The wider alcohol-free beer scene has exploded recently, but Brulo helped push the category away from bland supermarket “0.0 lager” territory and into something craft drinkers could actually get excited about. Which probably explains why people keep accidentally checking the can twice to make sure it’s really alcohol-free.