Alcohol-Free IPA and Pale Ale

Mostly it's how hard the hops hit. A pale ale is lighter and easier going, built to have a couple. An IPA turns up the hops for more aroma and more bitterness. An XPA, like Heaps Normal Quiet, sits between the two. In alcohol-free versions the gap still shows, so if bitterness isn't your thing, start with a pale.

A hazy IPA, or NEIPA, is cloudy on purpose. Oats often give a soft, pillowy body, and hops are added late so you get loads of fruit aroma with low bitterness. Expect mango, pineapple and passionfruit. vandeStreek Funhouse is a good example: juicy, creamy and almost no bitterness. If you think you hate IPA, this is the style that might change your mind.

West Coast IPAs are the clear, dry, bitter side of the family. Instead of soft juiciness you get pine, resin and grapefruit, with a bitterness that lingers. In our range, Nirvana's IPA is heavily dry hopped with Mosaic, Nectaron and Simcoe, and Jump Ship's Dazzle Ship Galaxy is their West Coast-inspired one. Great if you miss the old-school hoppy pint.

DDH stands for double dry hopped. Dry hopping means adding hops after the boil, for aroma rather than bitterness. Doing it twice, or with a double dose, packs in even more smell and flavour. It has nothing to do with strength, so a DDH alcohol-free IPA is still 0.5% or under. Brulo Lust For Life and Below Brew Wild Juice Chase are both DDH.

A few hoppy cans are seriously light. Northern Monk Faith and Fierce Beer Fancy Juice both have 26 calories a can, Beak Brewery Nolia is around 30 and Firebrand Shorebreak around 35. At the other end, a big bold IPA can be over 100. We list calories on every drink where the brewery gives them. See our low-calorie ranking.

At our taproom in Otley, 7 Manor Square. We've got alcohol-free IPA on draught, so you can try a proper pour before buying a box to take home. Online orders are delivery only and can't be collected, but tasting in person is a good way to work out whether you're a hazy person or a West Coast person. Find us here.