Alcohol-free beers doing heavy lifting for brewery

Martin Hesp was impressed with what he sampled at tap room a short drive from A30

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We are creatures of habit, and one example is the regular port of call people make when they are travelling to certain places.

I mentioned calling into Appledore on a drive back from Cornwall. If I'm going the other way I'll often make a point of leaving the A30 at Launceston so that I can visit the truly excellent Philip Warren butchers' emporium just off the main road. Imagine my delight, then, to discover there's a first-class brewery located just behind the famous butcher shop.

I called into the Firebrand Brewing Company the other day to try some alcohol-free beers and take home a selection of stronger ales, and very, very good they were too.

Up until now I've tended to avoid the low or alcohol-free stuff, not because I am an alcoholic, but because it doesn't often seem to have the satisfaction of what I'd call "the real thing".

But Firebrand's low or alcohol-free offerings are different. You can tell the young team which runs the operation thinks very hard about the challenge of making a fermented drink that has barely any alcohol. It's good stuff - I'd be quite happy drinking either their zero ale or lager anytime I am the allotted driver.