Here’s a riddle for you: what do you get when you take one of the world’s best-known beers and remove the alcohol? Stella Artois Liberté of course! This Belgian lager-style beer has been making waves in the non-alcoholic beer industry, so we were eager to sample it (finally).
See what we think in this Stella Artois Liberté review. Plus, you’ll find where to buy it if you decide to give it a try.
A Quick Look At Stella Artois Liberté
Stella Artois Liberté is a 0.0% ABV a Belgian lager-style beer that promises all of the Stella you love, without the alcohol. It’s supposed to have a floral aroma, balanced malt sweetness, hoppy bitterness, and a dry finish.
Something odd to note about this beer is that it goes by different names depending on where it’s brewed. If you buy it in the United States, it’s called Liberté. In the UK, it’s called Stella Artois Alcohol Free. Elsewhere in Europe, it’s marketed as Stella Artois 0.0%.
We were pretty confused about this, wondering if there were any differences between the beers. Ultimately, we came to the conclusion that it’s all the same product, just under different names.
Stella Artois Liberté Review
Looks & Aroma
Liberté pours a clear golden-yellow color. There’s not much of a head (less than a finger width) and the retention is poor, lasting less than 30 seconds. That’s not surprising, considering we didn’t see a lot of carbonation after the initial pour.
On the nose, the aroma of bready malts dominated. That said, the aroma isn’t particularly strong and we found ourselves sticking our noses well into the glass in order to get a whiff of the beer. Neither of us could detect the floral notes that were supposedly present.
Taste
As soon as we took the first sip, we were hit with a bunch of malt sweetness.
After the initial sugary sip, pretty much all we could taste were bready malts that foams up in our mouth, resulting in a very one-dimensional drinking experience. Neither of us tasted much bitterness from the hops.
Customer Reviews
We were surprised to see that Stella Artois Liberte with a 3.2-out-of-5-star rating on Untappd with more than 800 customer reviews. For a 3.2 rating, I would expect at least a beer with BrewDog’s standard.
Stella Artois Liberté Ingredients
Liberté is made from water, barley malt, cane sugar, natural flavors, and hops.
More specifically, Stella uses Saaz hops. One of the four noble hops, this variety is responsible for the beer’s distinctive floral aroma.
Two ingredients really jumped out at us: cane sugar and natural flavors. Both of us try to keep our sugar intake to a minimum (especially when it comes to drinks), so we weren’t pleased to see added sugar in this brew.
As for the natural flavors — what does that actually mean?! We’re big fans of transparency, so we always get a bit testy whenever we see this vague ingredient on an ingredients list.
Stella Artois Liberté Calories
An 11.2oz bottle of Stella Artois Liberté contains 59 calories and 13g of carbohydrates. Somewhat strangely, it contains 0g of sugar, but we’re not sure how that’s possible given the addition of cane sugar.
Final Verdict Of Our Stella Artois Liberté Review
Both of us gave Liberté 1.5 stars.
Audrey found it too sweet for her liking. What’s more, she didn’t think she could drink more than a few sips without getting sick of this one-note beer.
Chrystabelle also found it lacking in depth and complexity, noting that it was way too malty for her taste buds.
In the past couple of weeks, we’ve both had multiple opportunities to drink this beer for free (or very cheap) and we’ve both refused. We think that says it all. If you won’t drink something when it’s free, then you certainly wouldn’t pay to drink it.
Still, despite our hesitation, we do recognize that Liberté is much easier to find than a lot of other non-alcoholic beers.
It’s good enough to drink at a restaurant, party, or event and we think it’s worth sipping on if you’re craving a non-alcoholic beer but don’t have a lot of other options.
Where to Buy Stella Artois Liberté
Those located in the United States can purchase Stella Artois Liberté from the online drink retailer Proof No More. It’s available in single bottles, 4-packs, 6-packs, and 12-packs.
You can also purchase six packs of Liberté from Amazon in the United States.
Stella Artois Liberté is also available in the UK. However, you should be aware that it’s marketed as Stella Artois Alcohol-Free. It is available for purchase from Dry Drinker or on Amazon UK.
Other Stella Artois Liberté FAQs
Is Stella Artois Liberté Gluten-Free?
Unfortunately, Stella Artois Liberté contains barley malt, an ingredient that contains gluten. But not to worry! If you’re avoiding gluten for whatever reason, there are plenty of gluten-reduced non-alcoholic beers available on the market.
Is Stella Artois Liberté Alcohol-Free?
With 0.0% ABV per serving, Stella Artois Liberté is completely free of alcohol. That means it’s safe for pregnant people, those avoiding alcohol for religious reasons, or those with an alcohol allergy.
Most non-alcoholic beers contain trace amounts of alcohol (less than 0.5% ABV), so Liberté is really unique in the fact that it’s completely free of alcohol.
If you enjoyed this Stella Artois Liberté Review, be sure to check out some other Belgian beers!
Flavor profile is too one-dimensional and malty for our liking. The added sugar is another drawback.