REVIEW: Fieldwork Brewing Headliner
Fieldwork Brewing Company Headliner Non-Alcoholic
Where’d We Find It: Samples provided by the brewery.
ABV: <0.5%
Hometown: Berkeley, California
Our N/ATION Review:
From their northern California base, Fieldwork Brewing Company has been carefully crafting fully-leaded beers since 2014. Founded in Berkeley, this award-winning brewer currently has eight taproom locations around the Bay area and beyond, with a 9th (Roseville), coming online soon. Their core portfolio features a rotating selection of every craft style you could desire, while their move into the NA scene (which also includes two great zero-proof supertonics) came very carefully over the last half decade.
The company officially moved into the non-alcoholic sector in summer of 2024, currently offering a portfolio of three NA beer selections, each available in 16 ounce cans. Encore is their Hazy IPA, and Day Money a Grapefruit Blonde. We started our journey into their beers (appropriately enough) with Headliner, the brewery’s classic West Coast IPA. Right from the trippy can art, this beer brings the west coast vibes immediately. Featuring a potpourri of flavors the brewer’s notes describe as a combo of grapefruit wedges, passion fruit, white wine grapes (did we mention they have a Napa taproom location?), papaya, blueberry skins and pine needles. There’s a lot going on in this Mosaic and Simcoe-hopped beer, and we couldn’t wait to dive right in.
Poured from the tall boy can, Headliner has a light, golden color, along with a lighter foam head inline with the style. We detected very subtle hints of a floral aroma, with a light to medium bitterness that quenched our taste for a beer, without overwhelming the palate in any respect. We enjoyed it all the way through the final sip, and could see ourselves reaching for another one the next time we want a medium-bodied NA that will scratch the itch for some malted barley and hops. For a craft style (IPA) that can often leave your taste buds wanting something fuller in the non-alcoholic world, this offering delivers the goods.
As for where you can find it, Fieldwork’s non-alcoholic beverages can be found at their taprooms, in select Bay Area stores, and through their online store.