Übergeek releases a second non-alcoholic beer in Devolve series
Eastern Long Island has no shortage of craft beer between both forks, but non-alcoholic brews? It’s an area of craft brewing that has remained relatively untouched on the forks — that is, until brewer and Übergeek owner Rob Raffa decided just because the alcohol is missing doesn’t mean the flavor should be, too.
Raffa, who launched his irreverent Riverhead-based craft brewery (and sometime contract brewing businesses for other labels in the area) with a brick-and-mortar tasting room and brewery in 2021, created the Devolve N/A brand just about a year ago, with his first entry into the category an ambitious IPA-style brew using Citra and Simco hops, as well as two-row barley and wheat.
Today, Raffa’s second entry under the Devolve brand hits the market via a lager-style non-alcoholic beer, right in time for summertime quenching.
“The lager is a Bohemian pilsner, and it’s just nice, it’s light, it’s crisp, it’s clean,” he says. “It’s inspired by a Czech pilsner, with very pale pilsen malt and a little bit of dextrin malt for head retention; typically the hops used are also from the Czech area, so you’d use something like a Czech saaz [pronounced zots], which gives the beer a really nice balance of bitterness.”
