Skip to main content

Firestone Walker drops refreshing non-alcoholic blonde ale

Firestone Walker drops NA beer

Firestone Walker 8ZERO5.
805 Beer / 805 Beer

Cheers to an endless summer. California brewery Firestone Walker is celebrating with a refreshing non-alcoholic blonde ale. Perfect for those who are struggling with the change in seasons, this beer reminds of a sunny beach and is an ideal post-workout sipper.

The easy-drinking ale is called 8ZERO5 and is the first of its kind for Firestone Walker. It marks a continuation of the brand’s pursuit of an outdoors-y audience. The label has been slanging 805 Cerveza as of late, bringing on pro surfers to help market the light lager.

Firestone Walker 8ZERO5.
805 Beer / 805 Beer

The beer is nothing if not sprightly, coming in at around 60 calories and 0.5% ABV. Apparently, Firestone Walker brewmaster Matt Bynildson has been fine-tuning the release for about two years. The evolution of the beer included trials on many of the athletes the brand works with. In the end, the overriding objective was to craft something strikingly similar to the label’s popular 805 Blonde Ale.

Recommended Videos

“We’ve tasted and analyzed 805 Blonde Ale’s appeal exhaustively over the past ten years, and we know all of the key elements that customers love in that beer, and we wanted to capture these elements in the non-alcoholic version closely,” Brynildson said. “We worked hard, nailed it, and now we’re off to the races. We’ve got something here that can compete with anything in the non-alcoholic space, and I’m pretty stoked about it.”

Whether you’re learning to surf, looking for a good post-run beer, or just want to try the non-alcoholic route, there are more options then ever. Firestone Walker’s latest is worth a place in your fridge.

Like beer? Us too. Check out our features on the best beers in the world and our favorite beer movies.

Mark Stock
Mark Stock is a writer from Portland, Oregon. He fell into wine during the Recession and has been fixated on the stuff since…
The rise of non-alcoholic drinks: A deeper look at the No/Low Tour
A circuit with a finger on the industry's pulse
Lineup of cocktails

Do things seem to be getting slimmer? From skinny Margarita recipes to session IPA beers, non-alcoholic options, and the spritz revival, beverages at least, are trending towards trim. It's hard to distill it all in one story but there's an increasingly popular drinks festival that might just be doing that for us.

The No/Low Tour paints a pretty vivid picture of the current state of things. An annual circuit in its third year, the No/Low tour is the work of celebrity bartenders, pop-ups all over the country, and a focus on the evolution of non-alcoholic and lower-alcohol beverages.

Read more
10 Barrel Brewery drops Camp Coldie IPA beer
A hop-forward beer for adventures
Cracking open a can of 10 Barrel Brewing Camp Coldie beer, with a Scout Campers truck camper in the background.

West coast brewery 10 Barrel has teamed up with outdoors brand Scout Campers for a new beer just in time for camping season. The beer, dubbed Camp Coldie, is an IPA made with hops grown in Yakima, where Scout is based.

It's a sensible release from an Oregon label with a mantra that states "drink beer outside." The beer is 5% ABV and medium in body. A west coast IPA, the beer boasts citrus and tropical fruit notes with a leaner mouthfeel. If there was ever a cold one to accompany an afternoon fly-fishing on the river or a hike through the woods, this is it.

Read more
Cheers to a dry spring with this non-alcoholic take on a Moscow Mule
A fresh, bright, gingery mocktail using non-alcholic wine
Libby White Ginger Fizz

With spring in the air, you might be looking for a lighter, non-alcoholic option for a refreshing drink to enjoy. If that's the case then we have a couple of mocktail recipes for you courtesy of Libby Non-Alcoholic Wine, including a zingy and gingery taken on the Moscow Mule. While that drink typically involves vodka and ginger beer, this version calls for fresh ginger juice which is sharper and more flavorful than packaged options, including adding some extra punch through the use of black pepper and texture achieved with chia seeds. That's added to a base of non-alcoholic wine for fizz and sharpness, creating a grown-up ginger drink that has all the flavor of a Mule but without the alcohol.
Libby White Ginger Fizz

By Grant Hemingway, Libby Non-Alcoholic Wine

Read more