Review: Fiden’s Brewing Company

NA Experience Rating: Okay

Background

Fiden’s is a local brewing company that opened just before the pandemic hit. They weathered the pandemic well, selling cans out of their production facility to lines of cars that snaked out of the parking lot and down the street. In the last year or two, they moved to a taproom in Albany’s warehouse district, between long-time favorites Nine Pin Cidery and Wolff’s Biergarten. The taproom is more of an entertainment venue than a brewery tasting room—the focus is not on the beer.

While their beer is great (though I think it’s fallen from its apex since they opened their tasting room), and the food is solid, their non-alcoholic options were disappointing. They don’t brew any non-alcoholic beer that I’m aware of, so it’s not surprising that they don’t have any on tap. But they don’t offer cans of NA beer, and while they do offer cocktails, none of them were free of alcohol. I did eventually find a list of non-alcoholic options on their food menu; when I’d originally asked, the bartender railed off the list quickly but didn’t point me there. They don’t list the non-alcoholic beverages on their (quite extensive) drink menus that are displayed over the bar.

NA Offerings

As of the time of this writing (per the food menu on their website):

• Liquid Death Arnold Palmer
• Liquid Death Sparkling Lime
• Liquid Death Sparkling Orange
• Mexican Coke
• Mexican Sprite
• Diet Coke
• IBC Root Beer
• Lemonade

Experience

Overall, it’s a bit disappointing, to the point where it’s on the line with a “poor” rating. There’s no NA beverage on the menu that won’t single you out as a non-drinker. While the products from Liquid Death are decent, all of the NA offerings are served in a can or bottle (no glass was offered), and there were no cocktail options.