Paradiso Citra is a 0.5% IPA brewed by Big Drop Brewing Co, a specialist brewer of alcohol-free craft beers.
Big Drop Brewing Co have a huge range of non-alcoholic beers, including IPAs, pale ales, lagers, amber ales, brown ales, sours and stouts.
Big Drop’s USPs are that they brew their non-alcoholic beers “naturally” – that means without alcohol extraction or halted fermentation – and they brew locally, so even though their beers are available internationally, they’re not shipped internationally. Instead, they’re brewed by “carefully selected brewing partners” in the country where they’re sold.
The brewery has won too many awards to mention, in both low alcohol categories and in competition with full-strength beers.
In 2020, Paradiso Citra IPA won ‘best speciality IPA in the UK’ in the World Beer Awards, so we couldn’t wait to give it a try…
Branding & Packaging
Paradiso Citra IPA arrives in a bright green can (a bottled version is also available). Different shades of green form a leafy pattern that gives the beer a tropical rainforest feel.
The front of the can is dominated by a huge Big Drop Brewing Co logo in bright yellow.
The other most noticeable feature is the World Beer Awards logo, proudly announcing that the beer was the United Kingdom winner in the 2020 awards.
Ingredients & Nutritional Information
Paradiso Citra IPA is brewed using water, barley, wheat, milk (lactose), hops, yeast, which makes the beer suitable for vegetarians but not vegans.
The beer is defined as gluten-free, as it contains less than 20ppm gluten. The Big Drop Brewing Co website states that the gluten content is “less than 10ppm”.
The hop varieties used are Chinnook, Cascade, Simcoe, Citra and Columbus.
Like most non-alcoholic beers, Paradiso Citra IPA contains 0.5% alcohol.
The calorie content is moderate for an alcohol-free beer, at around 22kcal per 100ml, while the carbohydrate content is a little on the high side at around 5g per 100ml.
Opening the Can
Paradiso Citra IPA boasts a noticeably sweet aroma with the tropical fruit fragrance created by the Citra hops clearly coming through.
The beer pours a hazy orange amber, with relatively few bubbles. The light bubbly head doesn’t last long before fading to a shallow layer of light foam.
Watch our Paradiso Citra pour video to see a can of the IPA poured and check out the colour and carbonation for yourself.
Tasting Notes
In terms of what taste to expect from this beer, the clue is in the name and in the Citra hops: Paradiso Citra IPA is packed full of mango, grapefruit, orange and tropical citrus fruit flavour.
All that fruit is supported by malty background notes and a slightly bitter finish, which will keep you coming back for more.
Possibly the most impressive aspect of this beer, however, is how similar it is to a full-strength IPA.
It’s so good that we suspect that many people wouldn’t even notice that Paradiso Citra IPA was a non-alcoholic beer if they were served a glass in a blind taste test.
If you like a fruity IPA and you’re looking for a “real” beer experience, only without the alcohol, Paradiso is a fantastic choice.
Where to buy Paradiso Citra IPA
Paradiso Citra IPA is available online and in supermarkets and specialist retailers around the world.
Rather than attempt to list them all here, we suggest you check out the Where to Buy Big Drop page of the brewery’s website.
What did you think?
Have you tried Paradiso Citra IPA? Please leave a comment below to let us know what you thought of the beer.
I have tried a lot of LA beers and this is one of the better ones. Had heard good things about it and noticed they were selling bottles of it in a pub I was in so gave it a go. Definite citrus flavour which is pleasant and it looks and feels like a modern IPA style beer. You do notice the alcohol is missing but there is quite a bit going on to keep you interested. For me personally there is too much sweetness but there is good bitterness too which lingers and overall it’s well balanced. Definitely one to look out for.