Like most people I look to kickstart a bit of a detox after the festive season. Who can forget all those epic Christmas ales with their punchy ABVs? So, this got me thinking a little bit about the range of free from beers now available. These are suitable not only if you are looking at low or no alcohol but can also be gluten free and vegan friendly. Alcohol free used to be a nightmare but now there are some excellent brews.

If your palate is a bit jaded after all the Christmas excesses, then beers with plenty of dry-hopping and refreshing carbonisation are going to be the number one choice. My first is Adnams Ghost Ship 0.5%. Multiple reviews describe this filtered beer as virtually indistinguishable from the full-fat version and, when you pour it, it certainly looks the part. There are citrus and sweet tropical fruit aromas from the hopping and plenty of body which is often lacking in reduced alcohol beers and a pleasant dry finish. This is a great beer to drink with a curry and as it’s vegan friendly you can partner it with a good lentil dahl with lots of ginger, coriander and chilli. The hoppy notes will really help bring out these flavours and the dahl is vegan and gluten-free like the beer.

While Adnams uses a clever bit of kit to remove the alcohol from a conventionally brewed beer, my next choice is made by a brewery set up to brew low and no-alcohol beer. The Big Drop Brewing Company from Ipswich, Suffolk produces a full range of styles with a naturally low ABV. This means there is no need to remove the alcohol and potentially reduce the flavour of the finished product. Its Uptime Lager is full flavoured but lighter in its use of hops than Ghost Ship. Light floral aromas are followed by an almost biscuity maltiness and a hint of spice, caramel, and orange. It is gluten-free, vegan and get this, it’s around a third the calories of a full alcohol lager. This is a great session beer and perfect with pretty much any food, but the malty flavours go brilliantly with caramelised food, so I think it would be fantastic with authentic Neapolitan-style pizza with maybe some woodland mushrooms.

My last choice is if you crave something sweet to eat. It’s a classic pairing of chocolate fudge cake, brownie or anything that’s really chocolatey with a low-alcohol milk stout. One of the secrets of early low-alcohol beers was brewers used lactose sugar to replace the body associated with alcohol. Lactose is derived from milk, so this is now often replaced so the finished beer is suitable for vegans. Lactose is however an essential ingredient in one style of beer, milk stout, giving the drink a distinctive mouth feel.

Ilkley brewery’s Nowt Mary (0.5 per cent) is such a beer – dark, bitter, easy to drink and packed with coffee aromas and flavours backed up with blackberries and cinnamon. This screams for something sweet and made with lots of dark chocolate. The combination of bitter and sweet develops the characteristics of each. In fact, I have a great recipe for a dark chocolate and stout cake – it’s that good. Nowt Mary is suitable for vegetarians.

Food and drink writer Christian Gott is a full-time chef and one-time pub manager. He’s lived on six islands, working in probably just about every type of hospitality business. From beachside burger joints to famous pizza and jazz bars, and in more than a few really good food pubs, historic country inns, and a former RAC Blue Ribbon UK Hotel of the Year. His work appears on the current CAMRA podcast. He writes about drink at https://the-cask-away.com/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/anislandchef/ Twitter https://twitter.com/islandchristian