Halfway Crooks Brevet Pils
88/100 How we score
Verdict
Editorial VerdictA German-style NA pils that commits: subtle fennel, oyster cracker, lemon, and moderate tangerine, finished with crisp bitterness from an Atlanta brewery that writes tasting copy worth trusting.
Verified facts
Evidence: Documented · 5 sources
- Sourced ABV <0.5% Retail listing
- Sourced Classification Naturally low alcohol Retail listing
- Undeclared Method Technique undeclared Not disclosed
- Sourced Origin Atlanta, Georgia, United States Cited source
At a glance
- Flavor profile
- Fennel
- Biscuit
- Lemon
- Orange
- Structure
- Moderate bitterness
- Short finish
- Mouthfeel
Light-bodied and snappy — pils snap without worty weight.
- What stands out
Subtle fennel and oyster cracker over lemon, with moderate tangerine riding behind.
- How beer-like is it?
Reads as a real German-style pilsner that happens to sit under 0.5% — crisp bitterness and cracker malt do the structural work alcohol usually would.
- Perfect for
Post-ride (the brewery's whole aesthetic), spicy food, or replacing the macro lager you stopped drinking.
Tasting notes
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Nose
Subtle fennel, oyster crackers, and lemon — the brewery’s own aroma brief, clean and lightly herbal, with a soft cracker saltiness before any citrus lifts.
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Palate
German pils body with lemon up front and moderate tangerine half a step behind. Crisp bitterness frames the middle without turning sticky or worty; the malt stays crackery rather than sweet, and the sip stays light without going thin.
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Finish
Short and dry. Citrus drops first; a faint oyster-cracker saltiness hangs a beat longer than the lemon and tangerine.
The beer
Halfway Crooks brews Brevet Pils in Atlanta as a non-alcoholic German-style pilsner. It stays under 0.5% ABV by arrested fermentation: Atlanta Magazine quotes co-owner Shawn Cooper on Chiber, a mushroom extract that keeps yeast static so alcohol never forms, rather than stripping it out later. BeerMenus lists about 0.3% ABV for the can; the brewery page publishes the familiar under-0.5% line. You usually find it as 12 oz cans in a six-pack — the same format as most craft NA pilsners on the shelf.
The brewery’s aroma brief is the map worth keeping: subtle fennel, oyster crackers, lemon, and moderate tangerine. In the glass that reads as herbal-cracker lift over citrus — fennel and cracker on the nose first, lemon on the palate, tangerine a half-step behind. Bitterness is crisp and tidy, not soft-pedaled into “gentle.” Body stays light without going watery; there is no worty leftover in the middle.
The finish is short and dry. Citrus drops away; a faint oyster-cracker saltiness hangs a beat longer. What sells the likeness is structural honesty: crisp bitterness and cracker malt do the work a full-strength German pils expects from hop and alcohol. Serve it very cold in a tall pils glass — post-ride, spicy food, or anywhere a macro lager used to live.
How to drink it
Very cold, in a tall pils glass.
How it was made
Classification Naturally low alcohol
Evidence status Documented
Atlanta Magazine quotes co-owner Shawn Cooper describing the brewery's NA process directly: he uses a mushroom-derived extract called Chiber that 'keeps the yeast static,' halting alcohol production during fermentation rather than removing it afterward. The article names Brevet Pils as one of the brewery's NA beers made this way.
Product record history
Sourced changes and open disagreements. Prior claims stay on the record when sources conflict.
Product record history
- Reviewed and published.
- Catalog record updated from sourced research.
Sources
Product facts are only as strong as their sources. Editorial tasting notes are opinion.
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BeerMenus lists 0.3% ABV; brewery page publishes <0.5%.
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Additional citations & background
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88/100 How we score