As the Non-Alcoholic (often abbreviated as NA) trend takes over the beer world, it's almost strangely become the new frontier for breweries, established or emerging, to once again step up to the plate and show the community what they've got. It's become a sort of new flex for a brewery to ace the NA trend (ain't that a trip?) - and to that end, I've been rather fascinated with trying to run head-to-head's between standard and NA versions of the same beer expression, just to see how they compare.

And to that end, I've got with me a very hotly anticipated NA brew today! It's the super hyped Omnipollo Non-Alcoholic Bianca! 

Omnipollo finds itself in a century old church.

Omnipollo, hailing from Sweden, housed in a century-old church that's been rejuvenated as a brewery, had built its reputation on creating incredibly over the top imperial pastry stouts and pastry sours, often inspired by their childhood favourite confectionaries and sweet treats. This was by far not an overnight success, for a long time, Omnipollo (whose name references a "Powerful Chicken", pollo meaning "chicken" in Spanish) had operated as a cuckoo brewer, brewing beers out of other folks' breweries. Yet their embracing of modernity and dispensing with traditionalism had led them from one high-profile collab to the next, building for themselves a highly esteemed reputation.

You'll often recognise Omnipollo's beers (apart from its contents) from its trippy and high saturation label designs, which is the work of Karl Grandin, co-founder and chief designer for Omnipollo. And while Karl exclusively handles the look of the beers, it is Henok Fentie who takes charge of the brewing, with the two serving as co-founders of the craft brewery that boasts a global cult-following.

Henok Fentie (left) and Karl Grandin (right).

And so when a name as lauded as Omnipollo announces they're about to make one of their all-time favourite expressions an NA version - you can bet their fans went wild (me included). 

For those new to Non-Alcoholic beer-making, it's worth clarifying that NA beers are fermented and brewed akin to standard alcoholic beers - this ain't no mocktail! Rather, brewers have found rather innovative ways to remove the alcohol from the brewed beer, or use processes that reduce alcohol production or strip it away from the beer as it is being brewed. Nevertheless, with Omnipollo we're not quite informed about how it is they're stripping away the alcohol from its brews.

An Omnipollo Bianca head to head.

And with all that said, it's time to give Omnipollo's NA Bianca a go! 

Note: As the Bianca has numerous versions each containing its own mix of added ingredients, I wasn't able to get my hands on the exact equivalent alcoholic version that matches up with the NA Bianca. Instead I had tried the Omnipollo Bianca J.R.E.A.M. Blueberry Lime Pecan Cobbler Lassi Gose prior to trying to Bianca Non-Alcoholic Blueberry Maple Pancake Lassi Gose.

Omnipollo Bianca Non-Alcoholic Blueberry Maple Pancake Lassi Gose, 0.3% ABV - Review

Tasting Notes

Colour: Dark Cassis

Aroma: A very distinct scent of lemon tea, which can be further deconstructed to clear lines of black tea and oversteeped tea, and also poached lemons, along with some syrup. The components of iced tea is all somehow distinct and unified at the same time. Beneath all of that is some blackcurrant and blueberry paste - it's quite subtle and comes off concentrated. Some light stevia notes too, to go with the tea leaf tannins. With time, alittle bit more on blueberry cobbler.

Taste: Really smooth, rich and cohesive - it comes off as seamless and rich, almost the consistency of a rich full-bodied red wine. It's giving blackberry pie but unsweetened, some blueberry paste, almost a blueberry cream cheese, and then more of iced lemon tea concentrate and well steeped black tea. Some stevia, it's very much like a long island iced tea of sort. With time the maple note connects and I'm beginning to see how it extends from that black tea note. Despite the richness and fullness in flavour, it's actually medium-bodied and not at heavy, it's a got a very good weight to it. On the whole it strikes as being somehow very well-balanced and moderate in weight, richness and taste. It's not overly heavy, sweet, not rich - it's nails it just right.

Finish: More cream cheese here and blackberry jams, that long island iced tea, slight tannins of oversteeped tea coming through here. A couple of seconds after the finish, the maple begins to come through, along with some maple syrup coated walnuts.

My Thoughts

This was rather surprising! First off - it's surprisingly tasty. It's not so much that I'm surprised that it could taste good, but rather that I'm surprised at how much I really like it. For some context, the initial note of oversteeped tea had thrown me off alittle, and all throughout the maple note sort of strikes rather strangely, often coming off as that aforementioned long island iced tea as opposed to maple. It takes some time for it to connect between my brain and palate for me to recognise that note of maple. Hence along the way I found myself scratching my head over this particular oversteeped tea (without the tannic bitterness) note that felt neither here nor there. But alas this is all to do with the particular mix of adjuncts selected for this version of the Bianca. 

To do with the Non-Alcoholic aspect, this feels like nothing is remotely missing. Again, for some context, I had tasted the standard alcoholic Bianca J.R.E.A.M. (Blueberry Lime Pecan Cobbler Lassi Gose) just before this in order to do a head-to-head comparison, and I found nothing missing in the NA Bianca - well, the standard Bianca doesn't even convey much in the way of alcohol anyway, only hitting you with some booziness long after you're done. In that sense, I actually appreciate the NA Bianca more because I'm not getting that delayed boozy hit.

On top of that, I found this particular NA Bianca lighter (not light!) and more well-balanced, along with being just as flavourful, bold and rich. It's just as well-expressed as the standard Bianca, but almost feels cleaner and less heavy, which in turn strikes me as being more structured and balanced. It's all the flavour without so much of the weight - yet, maintaining the right amount of weight and richness. If I had to pick between the NA Bianca and the standard Bianca - I'm 100% going with the NA Bianca, and it's entirely to do with it tasting better.