- Dark malts and vanilla flavours
- Organic and natural ingredients
- Already looking to improve the recipe
- Not gluten free
- Too sweet
The Good Karma Brewing team started brewing beer at the beginning of 2016, took a short break in 2018, but are now back and are part of the mindful drinking movement embracing an ethos of wellness and positivity.
They are an alcohol free only brewery, with all five of their beers made from organic or natural ingredients that are suitable for vegetarians and vegans. Of the five beers they currently offer, three beers are their own – Love That Feeling, Happy Pils and What’s Your Mantra. The remaining two beers are collabs – Free Your Mind and Culture Shock – made alongside Cloudwater Brewery and Rock Leopard Brewing respectively.
In this review, we are trying out What’s Your Mantra, their first 0.0% alcohol free beer, with the others all labelled at <0.5%. As far as I am aware, this is also the first alcohol-free black lager!
What’s Your Mantra Initial Review
As expected from this black lager, once poured it is obvious just how dark it is. However, in the light it is obvious to notice a slight reddish tint to it rather than being fully black, like a stout.
The aroma smells strongly of sweet malts; however, you don’t get much of a roasty coffee or chocolate smell that I was expecting from a typical black lager.
The taste itself starts off with some dark malts. But then there is quite a bit of sweetness that follows, with a sweet vanilla flavour coming through afterwards. It reminds me a little of the taste you get from the Nirvana breweries Stout.
As a comparison I also tried Sheep in wolfs Clothing Black lager – a 2.8% black lager.
This has much more of a roasted flavour to it and more of the characteristics you would expect from a black lager; with chocolate and coffee producing a stout flavour but with a less thick beer and lighter mouth feel. It was obvious that even that small amount of alcohol in a beer helps to carry the flavours, much more than the alcohol free drink.
Where Can I Buy Good Karma Brewing What’s Your Mantra?
If you want to purchase yourself some of What’s Your Mantra – or any other Good Karma Brewing beers, you need to head over to their website, where you can purchase directly from the team!
What’s Your Mantra Ingredients, Nutritional Information and Calories
The ingredients in What’s Your Mantra are as follows:
Water, Malted Wheat, Malted Barley, Hops, Yeast, Natural flavourings
Malted wheat and malted barley are both allergens in this dark lager. Unfortunately, this beer is not gluten free either.
| Nutritional Information | Per 100mL |
|---|---|
| Energy (KJ / KCal) | TBC |
| Fat (g) | TBC |
| Of Which Saturates (g) | TBC |
| Carbohydrate (g) | TBC |
| Of Which Sugars (g) | TBC |
| Protein (g) | TBC |
| Salt (g) | TBC |
| Alcohol Content | 0.0% |
Overall Verdict?
Overall, What’s Your Mantra is an enjoyable drink but personally I’d like to see a bit more of a roasted flavour coming through and slightly less sweetness.
Good Karma brewing have acknowledged this, and are already looking to tone down on the amount of apricot they use in the recipe to dial back on the sweetness in their next batch.
