The best non-alcoholic beer for runners

By Henry Howard

My fitness and health journey has taken me to places I never envisioned. The catalyst was buying my first pair of running shoes as I set out to cross “finish a marathon” off my bucket list.

About 18 months after an initial run of roughly 1.5 miles, I finished the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, checking off a big item from my bucket list. But that was only the beginning.

Around the same time, we discovered ours sons had Celiac Disease, which was later confirmed in both my wife and I. Our diets immediately transitioned from a fairly typical American diet to gluten-free. From there, I weeded out red meats, then all meats, dairy products and similar items to where I am now, a plant-based athlete who has completed more than 45 marathons and ultras.

A more recent development has been my relationship with alcohol. I’ve minimized it over the years to special occasions and a few social events related to work. I know friends who have used a sober day counter which has been a simple yet powerful way to stay accountable and track progress. But I still enjoy the taste of beer, especially as a way to celebrate or chill out on a weekend night.

Finding the best non-alcoholic beer for runners

That’s where Go Brewing comes into play. While they offer non-alcoholic beer options with gluten, there are several NA varieties that are gluten-free. Among them:

• Freedom: With only 45 calories, its ingredients are water, millet, buckwheat, certified gluten free oats, hops and yeast. (Please note for those cannot tolerate any gluten, this option has less than 5 ppm of gluten.) Freedom is a California-style pale brew, crafted without gluten for those that want to break free.

• Freedom Amber: With 68 calories, its ingredients are millet, buckwheat, certified gluten free oats, hops and gluten-free yeast. The amber version offers rich toasty malts, a smooth backbone, and just the right amount of bite.

• Freedom Hazy IPA: With 81 calories, its ingredients are millet, buckwheat, certified gluten free oats, hops and gluten-free yeast. The IPA has juicy tropical notes of citrus and stone fruit.

Personally, I like each of them but have a slight preference for the amber version. I must not be the only one because, as of this writing, it’s sold out. In the meantime, you can certainly try the other gluten-free options if that suits you, or there are plenty of other options who aren’t restricted in that way.

For full disclosure, I became an ambassador for Go Brewing earlier this year after being a fan of theirs for several years. With the ambassadorship, I am able to offer my followers a special 15% discount. Simply follow this link and use my code HENRY391.

Cheers!