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…
Flying with beer? Here’s how to pack alcohol in your luggage
Learn how to do this right with this packing guide
Packing a suitcase

If you're anything like me and can’t resist picking up a few bottles of that amazing local wine or craft beer while you’re traveling, you’ve probably faced that moment of panic when it’s time to pack. Maybe you went a little overboard at a vineyard in Napa or filled half your suitcase with IPAs from a cool little brewery you stumbled upon. No judgment -- been there, done that. Honestly, local beer and wine make some of the best souvenirs (and gifts, if you don’t end up keeping them for yourself). Here's the big question, though. Can you bring alcohol on a plane?

The short answer is yes. Like with anything else in life, there are rules, and it's important to know them before you head to the airport, including how much and what you can bring. If you're flying with beer or wine, it's also essential to know how to pack the alcohol for the flight. There’s nothing worse than a bottle of red wine breaking in your suitcase and staining everything, or a broken beer bottle making your luggage smell like yeast right before a long-haul flight. With a few smart packing decisions, your beer or wine will be safely waiting for you at the baggage carousel, wherever your final destination may be.

Read more
Summer in a bottle might be Elysian Brewing’s new blonde ale
Elysian Brewing Lemon Daydream.

The west coast brewery scene has been busy as of late, dropping seasonal beers in time for warm weather. The latest? A lemon-kissed blonde ale from Elysian Brewing in Seattle.

Say hello to Lemon Daydream, a 4.9% ABV offering that's something of a hybrid. A bit like a shandy, a bit like a lager, the fruit beer is citrusy and offers refreshing tangerine notes. It's made with Idaho 7 hops, beloved for their punchy characteristics.

Read more
Stone follows suit and drops low-octane IPA
Stone Brewing Dayfest IPA.

Anybody who's anybody in the craft beer movement is dropping a session IPA at the moment. Stone Brewing is the latest to do so, a west coast brewery known for its hop-forward offerings. The beer, called Dayfest IPA, is a hoppy lawnmower beer coming in at a refreshing 4.5% ABV.

There's an abundance of tropical fruit to the beer along with some dankness, which IPA-lovers will very much appreciate. The IBU count is a respectable 24 and there's a palpable maltiness one might expect from a bigger-bodied IPA. And it comes just in time for the warmer days of spring and summer, where a day drink or two might seem appropriate.

Read more