NA beer drinkers take note: Oregon has an exclusively non-alcoholic brewing company in Portland’s Roaming Nobles Brewing, founded by Marla and Liam Hoban in 2021, the state’s first such company. Roaming Nobles has three core brands, IPA, Pils, and Tropical Pils, all less than 0.5% alcohol by volume, and at the end of December introduced its new West Coast Pils.
The company’s marketing agency recently sent me samples of three of these NA beers to review; I had not tried any of Roaming Nobles’ beers before, so I definitely approached these with interest.
Here’s more backstory about the owners and the company (from the PR agency):
Roaming Nobles Brewing Co., founded by Marla and Liam Hoban, is Oregon’s first exclusively non-alcoholic brewing company. The Hobans were inspired by their time living and working in Germany, where bountiful options for NA beer are seamlessly woven into social life. With Roaming Nobles, they envision a thriving craft NA beer movement in a state known for its breweries. Roaming Nobles is committed to intentionally crafting NA beers without compromising quality or experience; their non-alcoholic IPAs, pilsners, and seasonal releases are made with local, all-natural ingredients. They use traditional methods to arrest fermentation, and hand-pasteurize each beer to ensure freshness and flavor. As the sober-curious movement continues to grow across the United States, Roaming Nobles remains uncompromising in their commitment to taste, authenticity, and innovation.
Grounded in a commitment to sustainability, Roaming Nobles Brewing Co is committed to increasing access to nature and conservation. They use fully recyclable cans and compostable four-pack toppers to decrease their carbon footprint, and have partnered with Portland’s Forest Park Conservancy to help support the urban forest and the noble creatures that roam there.
Initially, they contracted with Gilgamesh Brewing to brew their non-alcoholic beer, and in 2023 partnered with Steeplejack Brewing; according to the label on the cans, these beers were brewed at Steeplejack’s Hillsboro brewery.
From what I can deduce, the beers are brewed either via the arrested fermentation method (halting fermentation when it reaches 0.5% ABV) or by brewing an extremely low gravity/low alcohol beer and diluting it with water (similar to how Crux Fermentation Project produces its NØMØ NA beers).
So, how are they to drink?
Non-alcoholic IPA
There is not much information on the company’s website about the beers, but it does reveal that IPA is brewed with Centennial, Amarillo, and Citra hops. With less than 0.5% ABV, IPA has 45 calories and 5 grams of carbs per 12 ounce serving (the cans are 16 ounces).
IPA is one of the standards in the lineup.
Appearance: Pale golden yellow, with a haze. Choppy, coarse white head that breaks down fairly quickly.
Smell: Some over-steeped hop character with a touch of sweet wort. A light citrusy note, reminds me of spent hops. There are some hay and some raw wheat grain aromas.
Taste: A light wheaty flavor with dried grass, a bit of Triscuit crackers or Shredded Wheat cereal (the non-sweetened kind), a woody note. There’s a woody bitterness that lingers, especially at the back, slightly harsh. I don’t get any sweetness or unfermented flavor markers, which is good. Not a lot of hop flavor, either, though, just bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Fairly light, maybe medium-light body, and somewhat gassy. The bitterness lingers, not really astringent but with a woody character.
Overall: It seems too light to read “IPA” to my palate based on how the hops present, it’s more like a pale wheat ale with woody hops.
Non-alcoholic Pils
Pils is the other standard lineup beer of these samples, brewed with Mt. Hood hops. It has 66 calories and 13 grams of carbs per serving.
Appearance: Golden color with decent clarity. Fizzy white head that broke quickly.
Smell: Subtle but bready—bread dough. A touch of biscuit, with low hop aroma—almost none, but a hint of earthy hops if you look for them. Quite light.
Taste: Light and a bit watery with a grainy flavor highlighting raw grain, hay, dried grass notes; grain dust. Ultimately this graininess gives a bit of unfermented wort. Super light bitterness, just enough to keep any sweetness in check, otherwise no real hop profile. Quite light and mellow all around.
Mouthfeel: Light-bodied, some crispness, clean finish, and slightly mineral water-like. A bit gassy like the IPA.
Overall: Could be an American light lager, it’s pretty light and crisp, a refresher you wouldn’t necessarily know is non-alcoholic.
Non-alcoholic West Coast Pils
Here’s the marketing blurb about West Coast Pils:
Crafted with Mt. Hood hops, this refreshing West Coast Pilsner features nuanced notes of dark berry, citrus, and pine for a clean, crisp profile. “It’s the IPA for pils drinkers,” shares co-founder Marla Hoban, “it’s perfect for folks looking for a hoppy, fruity American Pilsner, and makes a perfect companion to our flagship German Pilsner.”
The stats are the same as the Pils, with 66 calories and 13 grams of carbs per serving, which makes me curious if any other hops were used in the recipe or if the brewery just amped up the amount of Mt. Hood hops (and/or dry hopped with them).
Appearance: Pale gold, a touch of haze. Decent white head that stays a bit.
Smell: There are hops here, presenting as earthy and steeped (hop tea); a bit of the same breadiness as in the regular Pils, and quite light. Possible some pine in the hop aroma, but it’s rather indistinguishable.
Taste: Grainy and light flavor profile, I think the same as Pils, with the steeped hop tea bitterness that’s in the aroma. As such it’s not as clean as Pils, there’s a touch of vegetal quality, which in turn draws out a slight wet note. It’s not bad, there’s a bit of a “hop water” character to it.
Mouthfeel: Light-bodied with a lingering vegetal hop bitterness. Lightly gassy.
Overall: This is decent, but a little bit of a miss on the hops compared to Pils. Still worth checking out of course.
Conclusion
Although I identified some issues with these beers, they are good additions to the non-alcoholic beer space and worth your time exploring if you’re looking for new NA alternatives. I’m impressed by the fact that the company pasteurizes these beers, which I’m not sure is common practice especially among smaller brewers crafting NA beers, but should be considered essential.
My favorite of the three is the Pils, though if you’re looking for hops be sure to check the others out as well.
