Surrey-based Central City Brewers has been making beer since 2002, starting with its award-winning Red Racer beer. It dipped its foot into the no-booze beer around 2021, and now boasts a line of de-alcoholized beer under the Street Legal line.
I couldn’t find much online about the brewery – except for a few stories about its business struggles in light of COVID and craft beer label drew copyright concerns after comparisons were made with a popular comic book character.
Salacious headlines aside, I am here to talk about its line up of Street Legal delcoholized craft beer.
My Review – Crooked IPA by Central City Brewers (355 ml, 68 calories, 0.5% ABV)
Name Bling (name creativity) – I always believe less is more when it comes to most things in life, and Crooked IPA is straightforward and easy to remember. It’s part of the Street Legal line up of dealcoholized craft beers, which includes Prankster Pilsner, Menacing Mango Wheat Ale and Pool Hopper Pale Ale. You can tell the marketing team had fun choosing these names. All four cans in the Street Legal line cleverly align with the over arching law theme, featuring a playful crook plot. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sip n’ Savour (Taste) – The craft beer is traditionally brewed before the alcohol is removed in what the brewers say is a “state-of-the-art cross-flow filtration system.” Dry-hopped with mosaic gives this craft brew a nice hoppy punch with tropical fruit aromas, according to the brewers. I quite enjoyed this IPA. Crafting the perfect non-alcoholic IPA involves a balance of flavours and ingredients to maintain that classic IPA taste. Central City Brewers definitely found that perfect balance. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Wallet Wellness Index (Value for Money) – I paid $8.99 on sale (regular $10.99) for the four-back in a sleek greenish-yellow box featuring the “crooked” sketch art. I thought this was good value for money. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Label Love (Packaging/ Presentation) – The modern can is truly a work of sketch art, reminiscent of the Pink Panther series. I love the simplicity. Take your time looking at the can while you sip your beer. Against a greenish-yellow background, the brewery’s signature logo and branding elements are prominently sketched, along with key details such as alcohol percentage. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Overall – This is definitely one of my favourite IPAs that I have tried this year. It has everything I look for in an IPA: balance of flavour and aroma. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Where to buy: Head to Surrey! Just kidding .. you can find the beer at Co-op grocery store in Calgary. Check out your local grocery or liquor store. Learn more here from Central City Brewing.