Non-alcoholic beer is getting better. I’ve observed (and tasted) this just over the past two years alone, and with a growing number of breweries dedicated to all NA brewing (Athletic, Surreal, Partake), the bar continues to get higher. Here in Central Oregon, both Deschutes Brewery and Crux Fermentation Project are producing NA beers, each following a different process, with good results.

Of course once Deschutes announced the release of Black Butte Non-Alcoholic, that set a whole new level of expectation for NA beer, and when the brewery provided samples of both Black Butte NA and original Black Butte Porter, it was a foregone conclusion that I’d be tasting them side by side for my review!

The process by which Deschutes produces its NA beers incorporates the proprietary BrewVo® process developed by Colorado-based Sustainable Beverage Technologies, which essentially takes a full-strength beer (such as Black Butte Porter) and removes the alcohol while maintaining flavor and aroma. “Thus far, the BrewVo technology provides the closest flavor profile to full strength beer that we have tried,” R&D brewmaster Veronica Vega told me last year, when I wrote an article for The Bulletin on NA beers.

So, we can expect Black Butte NA to be literally the alcohol-free version of Black Butte Porter. Is it?

Let’s go over the stats and then get into my review. Black Butte NA has less than 0.5% alcohol by volume, with 30 IBUs; the base recipe has 2 row, chocolate, wheat, crystal, and carapils malts, with Cascade and Tettnang hops. Original Black Butte Porter (BBP) has the identical recipe, but is 5.5% ABV with 30 IBUs.

I’ve written quite a bit about original Black Butte over the years, so my review notes below focus primarily on NA, with a few notes about BBP interleaved as comparisons.

Appearance: Dark brown, nearly black, with deep ruby-amber coloring at the edges when held to the light. Creamy, thick, lacy tan head. It’s identical to Black Butte Porter, I can’t tell the difference visually.

Smell: Grainy dark bread crust with a light touch of stale grain dust. Some weak coffee, a light grassiness, a not-quite-chocolate note (carob?). Original BBP is richer in aroma, with some sugars like molasses, and perhaps a bit of licorice.

Taste: Roasty malt notes with dried grass and weak coffee and a watered-down presence of brown sugar; watery hot chocolate. Grainy and dry. Maybe an impression of something like lentil or barley tea. BBP is richer and roastier, French roast coffee with a squirt of black tea. NA definitely tastes watery when sipping side-by-side, though a sip of NA followed immediately by one of BBP yields a slightly harsher bite to BBP, interestingly. On the “lentil” note above, I keep also thinking of navy beans with the NA for some reason.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light body, with a watery presence and a light finish with a hint of astringency. BBP has a fuller feel to it, though not by much, and also finishes on a darker/roastier note.

Overall: Black Butte NA is definitely noticeable as a non-alcoholic brew directly compared to Black Butte Porter, with its lighter overall character, but it has none of the common NA beer markers like worty flavors, harsh hop tea, etc. Side by side in a blind tasting, I’d be able to tell the difference (famous last words!) but as an overall NA version of Black Butte Porter, I think this is mostly successful.

For those who want to drink Black Butte Porter but can’t (or don’t want to) have the alcohol, Black Butte Non-Alcoholic should scratch that itch.