Lager
72/100
The short takeLight malt and a smooth, light body make this an easygoing American lager. Modest bitterness and a brief finish leave little hop character or persistence.
Tasted Karl HillHow we score
Serve Very cold.
Who it’s for The budget nonalcoholic option, the beer you buy by the case.
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In the glass
- Nose
- Light malt and a faint grain note — the American lager profile, clean and unassertive.
- Palate
- Smooth and light; the malt is present but subdued, no hop character to speak of, the mouthfeel of a standard macro lager.
- Finish
- Clean and brief.
Structure Show Hide
Structure
- Bitterness
- Modest bitterness
- Body
- Light body
- Finish length
- Short finish
The beer
Light malt and a faint grain note open the glass — American lager, clean and unassertive. The sip is smooth and light; malt is present but subdued, almost no hop character, macro-lager mouthfeel in nonalcoholic form. Close is clean and brief.
Serve very cold. Budget lager honesty, nothing more claimed.
The bottle
Trade record, where to buy, and product facts.
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Research notes
Method Unclassified. Marketing (“naturally brewed and aged”) fits either route. The living Non-Alcoholic Beer and Wine listing associates Penn’s Best with Genesee in Rochester, New York, while the reopened Clangoring article reports a Fred Koch label and Genesee ownership of that name. Those are secondary origin and label-history sources, not proof of a present contract plant or manufacturing method. Full ingredients, container volume and a unit barcode were not established from the reopened label and living sources. Pittsburgh Brewing database attributions remain an unresolved conflict with the historical filing.
Where to buy
- Package
12 fl oz
About $4 per six-pack (historical Total Wine price reported by Clangoring; not a current offer)
- Availability
Historically reported at Total Wine, US; current retail availability not reverified
Prices and availability are independently observed and may change. Retailer listings do not imply endorsement. A different package is labeled as a different format. Reader-service exceptions and commercial links are identified above; neither affects scores, rankings, classification, verification, or editorial coverage.
Product facts
- Producer
- Genesee Brewing Company (Rochester, New York)
- Origin
- Rochester, New York, United States
- Bottle / can
- 12 fl oz
Sources disagree on Producer. Send a correction
Sources & verification
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Where sources disagree
Sources disagree on the following points.
- Producer: TTB COLA 13218001000038 (2013) names High Falls / Fred Koch, Rochester NY. Aggregators often say Genesee; plausible as successor/operator but not established from that COLA alone. Pint Please / some Untappd paths list Pittsburgh Brewing — conflicts with COLA; treat as database error unless corroborated.
Evidence at a glance
- Bottle verified1 fact
- Secondary source3 facts
- Press sourced2 facts
- Research sourced1 fact
- Retailer sourced2 facts
- Unverified3 facts
Sources
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Note
- ABV
- Reopened the exact-can photograph.
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Note
- Calories
- 70 kcal / 15 g carbs per 12 fl oz on 2013 COLA-era listings.
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Note
- Availability
- The formerly cited Beer for Driving page is 404. The reopened press account records a historical Total Wine sighting only; no current inventory is claimed.
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Note
- Country
- Living exact-product listing associates Penns Best with an American brewery in Rochester, New York. US origin is a secondary attribution; current plant operator and manufacturing method remain unestablished.
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Note
- Production
- Secondary listings say only naturally brewed and aged, which fits either a removal or a limited-fermentation route. No producer or label statement of method was found.
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Note
- Method
- No current plant operator, full ingredients, container volume, unit barcode or removal method was established. Obtain a readable current back label and producer statement. Unable to re-verify on 2026-10-03.
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Cited source Cited source
- Barcode (EAN/GTIN)
Note
- Barcode (EAN/GTIN)
- Unable to re-verify on 2026-10-03.
Product record history Sourced changes and open disagreements. Prior claims stay on the record when sources conflict.
- ReviewedReviewed and published.
- UpdatedCatalog record updated from sourced research.
- Classification changed · ClassificationCorrected from naturally-low-alcohol to Unclassified. Rechecked 2026-10-18. No source establishes naturally low alcohol over dealcoholization; the record's own production note already concluded Unclassified.
- OpenDiscrepancyProducer.