The range of alcohol-free beers has expanded rapidly over the last few years and most of the major players in the brewing industry now have their own non-alcoholic offerings. Long gone are the days when Kaliber was the only player in the field.
The quality of these products had also improved dramatically, with some of them now almost indistinguishable in taste from their alcoholic counterparts. Teetotal beer enthusiasts have never had it so good.
Personally I’ve moved over to drinking more and more of them since having children made the prospect of a hangover even less desirable, and never knowing when you might suddenly need to run one of them into A&E makes being over the drink-driving limit impractical.
As somebody who is striving to keep fit and keep the weight off in middle age, it’s an added bonus that many non-alcoholic beers also count as fairly healthy, low-calorie drinks, especially compared to some of the sugary alternatives usually available to to non-drinkers in pubs and bars. And it’s much easier to actually get out of bed and exercise in the morning if you haven’t been drinking the night before.
Here’s a ranking of some of my favourites amongst the brands widely available in UK shops.
Lager type beers:
Hoegaarden 0,0
I’ve always had a fondness for wheat beers and Hoegaarden has been one of my favourites since I first encountered it on a school trip to Belgium back in the mid 1990s, so I was excited when their alcohol-free version hit the shelves of my local supermarket.
Strictly speaking the small print has it as not more than 0.05% alcohol by volume, although it’s marketed as 0.0. It seems to be reasonably priced, but it’s one of the more calorific low-alcohol beers that I’ve reviewed, at 27 kcal per 100ml, so it may not be one for the slimmers.
The ingredients list is certainly a lot longer than for most of the other non-alcoholic beers I’ve sampled, so that probably goes some way towards explaining the higher calorie count. It reads like an experimental fruit salad recipe, with orange, apple, hops and coriander all involved. There are certainly many levels of flavour to it, and it may be a bit fruity for some tastes, but I loved it and found it to be a fairly faithful reproduction of the classic Hoegaarden flavour.
Score: 90%
Ingredients: Water, barley malt, wheat, sugar, flavours, citric acid, coriander seeds, orange peel, hops, apple extract.
Calories: 27 kcal per 100ml
Price: £4.00 for 4x330ml cans (Tesco, 02/03/2021)
Birra Moretti Zero
This is undoubtedly one of my favourite non-alcoholic lagers. It’s deliciously refreshing, very pleasant to taste, with slightly fruity and citrusy notes and leaves me wanting more each time I drink it. I find it preferable to the alcoholic version of Moretti and it’s very reasonably priced too. The Moretti website describes it as being soft with floral sensations and as going well with mozzarella, steamed fish or summer picnics.
Score: 85%
Ingredients: Water, Barley Malt, Hops, Hop Extract, Natural Flavouring
Calories: 20 kcal per 100ml
Price: £0.80 for 1 330ml bottle (Tesco, 28/07/2020)
Erdinger Alkoholfrei
The Bavarian brewery is clearly pushing the healthy credentials of this wheat beer, with the words ‘isotonic’, ‘reduced calories’ and ‘contains vitamins’ featuring prominently on the bottle. On the back label they claim that the ‘purely natural ingredients supply the body with important nutrients’, the beer will ‘help reduce tiredness and promote the normal functioning of the body’s immune system and energy metabolism’ (thanks to its vitamin B9 & B12 content). They recommend drinking a bottle a day to contribute to a well-balanced diet and healthy lifestyle.
I’d certainly be happy enough to drink a bottle a day of it as I’ve always liked Erdinger’s alcoholic wheat beer and this version looks, feels and tastes quite like the real thing. It pours with more of a head than most of the beers reviewed here, but is not overly carbonated, and has a smooth velvety feel on the palate. It’s refreshing enough to compete against sports drinks such as Lucozade for your post workout refuel and I’ll be making it one of my regular alcohol-free beer choices.
Score: 84%
Ingredients: Water, Wheat Malt, Barley Malt, Hops, Yeast, Carbon Dioxide.
Calories: 25 kcal per 100ml
Price: £1.30 for 1 500ml bottle (18/09/2020)
Peroni Libera
This is a very drinkable, very refreshing lager that’s a great choice for a sunny afternoon outside or to accompany al fresco dining. It’s every bit as good as Peroni’s alcoholic version, albeit with a very different, more citrus taste, and I could happily drink a few of these without getting tired of it. For me, it’s definitely one of the nicest options on the market, although it is also one of the most expensive.
Score: 83%
Ingredients: Water, Barley Malt, Italian Maize, Hops, Natural Flavourings
Calories: 22 kcal per 100ml
Price: £4.50 for 4x330ml bottles (Tesco, 11/08/2020)
Paulaner 0,0%
This is another Bavarian wheat (or white) beer, very much in the same vein as Erdinger (see above). It’s slightly darker in colour than the Erdinger and slightly cloudier too, with a nice frothy head. Similarly to Erdinger, the Paulaner brewery vaunts the isotonic credentials of their product. There’s not much to choose between the two of them. I like them both, but I think the Erdinger offering is slightly more drinkable and refreshing, plus it’s a little bit cheaper too, hence me marking this one down a percentage point.
The alcohol-free version of Paulaner is brewed in exactly the same way as their traditional beer and the alcohol is then removed after the maturing process, which they claim means that it has the same taste as the alcoholic version.
Score: 83%
Ingredients: Water, Malted Wheat, Malted Barley, Carbon Dioxide from Fermentation, Yeast, Hops.
Calories: 24 kcal per 100ml
Price: £1.80 for 1 500ml bottle (Tesco, 29/06/2022)
Pistonhead Flat Tire
This 0.5% alcohol lager from the Swedish Brutal Brewing company is made with Centennial and Mosaic hops imported from America. It is refreshing and very drinkable, packing a lot more flavour than many of its competitors.
The blurb describes it as having hints of tropical fruit and citrus and an aromatic, balanced, pleasant bitterness. I think that’s a fair description of what I tasted and I’ll definitely be coming back for more. It’s reasonably priced too.
Score: 82%
Ingredients: Water, Barley Malt, Hops
Calories: 20 kcal per 100ml
Price: £3.50 for 4x330ml cans (Tesco, 15/09/2020)
Shipyard Low Tide
This is a golden yellow pale ale from Portland, Maine in the USA (although the one I bought was brewed and bottled by Marston’s in Wolverhampton). It comes in at 0.5% ABV and I found it to be a tasty and refreshing beverage.
The first impression on the palate was of tropical and citrus fruit and, as noted on the bottle, there is a distinct aroma of mango. There’s a definite bitterness to the aftertaste and a medium level of effervescence. All in all, I found it to be very drinkable.
Score: 82%
Ingredients: Water, Barley, Hops, Lactose, Yeast
Calories: 17 kcal per 100ml
Price: £1.30 for 1 500ml bottle (Tesco, 14/10/2020)
Free Damm
This nicely balanced 0.0% lager from The Damm brewery in Barcelona, Spain, is described on their website as having “a clean, sparkling, transparent amber colour with shades of gold. It has a light head and lively, fine bubbles”. The Damm brewery is famous for their Estrella Damm lager that is ubiquitous in Catalonia and this alcohol-free version is a worthy companion to it. In fact, it begins life in exactly the same way. They outline the brewing process on the bottle label:
- We brew the beer with alcohol.
- We remove the alcohol until 0,0%.
- We recover the aromas lost during dealcoholisation.
And I think they do a pretty good job of it. It had about the right amount of hops and bitterness for my taste and wasn’t too gassy. I’ll definitely be ordering it again and, as a bonus for some people, it’s gluten free and vegan.
Score: 82%
Ingredients: Water, barley malt, maize, glucose and fructose syrup, rice, hops.
Calories: 20 kcal per 100ml
Price: £4.00 for 4x330ml bottles (Tesco, 17/11/2023)
Lucky Saint
This is a 0.5% alcohol, unfiltered, pilsner style lager that is brewed in Germany for Not Another Beer Co Ltd. The blurb on the bottle describes it as ‘biscuity malts’ with a ‘smooth citrus hop finish’. It’s light in colour and not overly effervescent, but does have a small head on pouring.
I found it to be amongst my favourite low-alcohol lagers. It’s refreshing and went well with my curry, as all good lagers should do. I would definitely consider buying it again.
Score: 82%
Ingredients: Water, Barley, Yeast, Hops
Calories: 16 kcal per 100ml
Price: £1.50 for 1 330ml bottle (Tesco, 14/12/2020)
Brewdog Punk AF
This is Scottish company Brewdog’s alcohol free version of their Punk IPA beverage. Like most Brewdog beers, it’s full of flavour and is enjoyable to drink. There’s a good balance of flavours to this one, with tropical fruits in evidence and competing for attention with what they describe as ‘grassy and pine notes’. It’s every bit as tasty as the original alcoholic version and I’d happily make it one of my regular choices. It’s not overly fizzy either, and is fairly light on the calories, so it has a lot going for it in my opinion.
Score: 81%
Ingredients: Water, Lactose (Milk), Malted Barley, Hops, Yeast, Malted Oats, Malted Wheat, Lactic Acid
Calories: 15 kcal per 100ml
Price: £4.50 for 4x330ml cans (Tesco, 02/06/2022)
Heineken 0.0
To me, this tastes more or less how I would expect a half-decent lager to taste, and I even prefer it to the alcoholic version of Heineken. It’s crisp, refreshing, and not overly fizzy. It’s not that dissimilar to the Peroni version, but slightly less fruity and considerably cheaper. I’ll definitely be buying Heineken 0,0 again.
Score: 80%
Ingredients: Water, Malted Barley, Hop Extract, Natural Flavourings
Calories: 21 kcal per 100ml
Price: £4.50 for 6x330ml cans (Tesco, 21/07/2020)
Nanny State
If you prefer an ale to a lager, which I often do, then Brewdog’s Nanny State is a good option. It has all the flavour of many of their regular ales whilst coming in at less than 0.5% ABV, which qualifies it as ‘alcohol-free’ under UK legislation. It’s bitter and hoppy with a medium-dark amber hue and I really like the taste. Also counting in it’s favour is the extremely low calorie count, so it won’t damage your waistline.
Score: 80%
Ingredients: Water, malted barley, rye, wheat, hops, yeast
Calories: 8 kcal per 100ml
Price: £4.00 for 4x330ml cans (Sainsbury’s, 23/08/2020)
Leffe Blond 0,0
Leffe is a venerable Belgian brewing brand and I’ve always liked their alcoholic range of beers so I had high expectations of their entry into the non-alcoholic end of the market. However, I didn’t feel that this one quite comes up to the standard set by their other offerings.
It was nice enough, and not too fizzy, making it perfectly drinkable, but the flavour wasn’t quite to my taste. The label promises ‘subtle notes of vanilla and cloves’, but try as I might, I couldn’t pick out either of them. Perhaps my palate just isn’t refined enough.
It’s not unreasonably priced, although I’m not particularly fond of the 250ml bottle size as it doesn’t make for a very substantial drink. What it lacks in volume, it makes up for in calorific content. With a count of 40 kcal/100ml it’s 50% higher than most of its rivals and more than double many of them.
Score: 79%
Ingredients: Water, Barley Malt, Maize, Barley, Sugar, Hops, Natural Aromas.
Calories: 40 kcal per 100ml
Price: £4.50 for 6 x 250ml bottles (Tesco, 28/02/2021)
Doom Bar Zero
Sharp’s Brewery from Rock in Cornwall have produced an alcohol free version of their popular Doom Bar amber ale.
They describe the aroma as spicy resinous hop and sweet roasted malts, and the taste is said to be succulent dried fruit and lightly toasted malts.
It has a very low calorie count and is decent value for money. I liked it, but not quite as much as I liked the Nanny State ale above, hence the slightly lower score.
Score: 78%
Ingredients: Water, Malted Barley, Sugar, Oats, Hops & Hop Extracts, Antioxidant: Ascorbic Acid, Natural Flavours.
Calories: 13 kcal per 100ml
Price: £1.30 for 1 x 500ml bottle (Tesco, 18/09/2020)
Innis & Gunn
Innis & Gunn is an Edinburgh based brewer that was founded in 2003 and whose beverages have become increasingly popular across Scotland over the past couple of decades. Their regular lager product is usually 4.6% ABV but they now offer an alcohol-free version that’s made with a special yeast strain that doesn’t produce alcohol.
This lager is brewed with golden oats, which apparently contribute to a smooth finish, and it is described on the can as crisp, zesty and refreshing. It certainly packs a lot more flavour than most lagers and I did find it fairly smooth on the palate. It’s another one that I’d happily drink again.
Score: 78%
Ingredients: Water, Barley, Oats, Hops.
Calories: 23 kcal per 100ml
Price: £5.00 for 4 x 440ml cans (Tesco, 04/06/2022)
St Peter’s Without
This is the first non-alcoholic beer that I have tried without having ever previously tasted one of the brewer’s alcoholic beverages. I was unfamiliar with the St Peter’s brewery from Suffolk until I saw this intriguingly shaped 500ml bottle on the shelves of Tesco.
This 0.0%, full bodied, dark amber ale comes in a vessel that has the appearance of an old fashioned medicine bottle, but the taste is far from medicinal. It describes itself as ‘rich and malty’, ending with a ‘delicate bitterness’ and that proved to be an accurate claim.
It took a while to grow on me, as the first few mouthfuls did seem overly bitter for my taste, but by the end of the bottle my palate was signalling its approval. It’s definitely one of the most flavoursome alcohol-free brews that I have tried and I’ll be coming back for more.
Score: 77%
Ingredients: Water, Malted Barley, Rye, Hops, Yeast
Calories: 29 kcal per 100ml
Price: £1.30 for 1 x 500ml bottles (Tesco, 08/10/2020)
Corona Cero
This was a refreshing but fairly bland lager. I imagine it’s nice to drink in the sun on a hot day, but it didn’t really stimulate my taste buds very much. I don’t think it’s quite as flavoursome as the alcoholic version of Corona. Perhaps, like its alcoholic cousin, it could benefit from a slice of lime to enhance its citrus kick, but I opted to drink it without in order to sample its unadulterated taste.
In its favour are that at only 17 kcal per 100ml it’s not going to harm your waistline, and it’s not too fizzy, so it slips down easily. Nonetheless, I don’t think I’ll be rushing back to it unless it’s on special offer.
Score: 77%
Ingredients: Water, Barley, Malt, Maize, Sugar, Hops, Natural Flavours
Calories: 17 kcal per 100ml
Price: £4.00 for 4 x 330ml bottles (Tesco, 23/02/2022)
Adnams Ghost Ship
The Adnams brewery from Southwold in Suffolk produces this low-alcohol version of their Ghost Ship citrus pale ale, which registers at 0.5% ABV rather than the 4.5% of the standard version. The 0.5% brew actually starts life as the standard version but they then use a ‘de-alcoholiser’ to remove most of the alcohol and leave a drink that tastes the same but will keep you sober.
I liked it and found it to be just as full of flavour as the brewery suggests, although the citrus kick was slightly too pronounced for my taste, so I haven’t scored it quite as highly as some of the other ales here. It’s definitely very drinkable though.
Score: 76%
Ingredients: Water, Malted Barley, Malted Rye, Hops, Yeast.
Calories: 23 kcal per 100ml
Price: £1.30 for 1 x 500ml bottle (Tesco, 18/09/2020)
Guinness
This has to be one of the alcohol-free beers that is most faithful to the taste of its alcoholic cousin. It’s a while since I’ve had a pint of the original Guinness, but this zero alcohol version smelled and tasted almost exactly how I remembered a pint of Dublin’s most famous export to taste. I’m not sure that I would have known the difference if it had been a blind test. The colour, look and feel in the mouth are also practically indistinguishable from the real thing.
They say that the brewing process starts in exactly the same way as for the alcoholic version, but the alcohol is then removed via a cold filtration method, so all the flavour remains and it is essentially the same drink minus the alcohol. Top marks for authenticity then. If you’re a Guinness drinker then you should like it. Personally, it’s not my favourite tipple, which is why it’s not quite up there with my highest scoring alcohol-free beers, but I do enjoy a stout from time to time and I’ll probably return to it occasionally.
The cans contain a ‘widget’, or nitrogen filled capsule that ‘surges with bubbles when the ring pull is opened’, which simulates the pouring of a beer on draught and helps deliver the ‘smooth, velvety texture’ and creamy head that you get from a pint of Guinness on tap.
Score: 74%
Ingredients: Water, Malt, Barley, Roast Barley, Fructose, Natural Flavourings, Nitrogen, Hops.
Calories: 17 kcal per 100ml
Price: £4.00 for 4 x 440ml cabs (Tesco, 01/06/2022)
A Ship Full of IPA
This is another offering from the Brutal Brewing company based in Vårby, Sweden, which also produces the Pistonhead lager featured above. It’s a 0.0% alcohol India Pale Ale that sometimes pops up in my local supermarket.
I liked it, although it was probably slightly too bitter for my taste, so it’s not quite up there amongst my favourite alcohol-free ales.
Score: 72%
Ingredients: Water, Barley, Malt, Hops.
Calories: 20 kcal per 100ml
Price: £1.50 for 1 x 330ml bottle (Tesco, 08/11/2020)
Bavaria
Despite the name, Bavaria is a Dutch brand and has been brewing beers under that label for almost a century, with non-alcoholic varieties for over 40 years. I was unsure about this one at first, but it gradually grew on me over time. It has a smooth, slightly viscous feel on the palate and is not too effervescent, leaving behind a mildly sweet aftertaste. It’s nothing special, but it’s perfectly drinkable and its main competitive advantage is its price. Coming in considerably cheaper than most of its rivals, it’s a good option if you’re looking for a cheap night and value for money.
Score: 72%
Ingredients: Natural Mineral Water, Barley Malt, Wheat, Hops
Calories: 24 kcal per 100ml
Price: £4.00 for 8x330ml cans (Tesco, 06/07/2020)
San Miguel 0,0
On first taste my initial reaction wasn’t particularly positive, although it did grow on me as I drank more. It feels a bit heavier than some of the other offerings here, with more depth of flavour and has a slightly amber hue. It doesn’t seem as refreshing as some of the others, and it wouldn’t be my go-to choice to cool down on a sunny afternoon. Maybe it’s better suited to a cold winter’s night.
Score: 65%
Ingredients: Water, Barley Malt, Hops, Flavourings
Calories: 24 kcal per 100ml
Price: £3.49 for 4x330ml bottles (Tesco, 11/08/2020)
Wheesht
This is a dark ale from the Harviestoun brewery in Alva, Clackmannanshire, Scotland. The word ‘wheesht’ is Scots slang for telling someone to be quiet, and they’ve certainly muted the alcohol in this 0.0% beverage. The label describes it as having “aromas of roasted chocolate, sweet biscuit and dried fruit” and my nose could pick out the dried fruit at least, if not the other two.
Taste wise, I think it achieves what it sets out to do, so if you like this sort of ruby ale then you’ll probably enjoy a bottle of Wheesht. For me, it’s a bit too far towards the bitter end of the scale for my palate, so I can’t see me drinking it regularly, but I might be partial to the occasional one.
Score: 64%
Ingredients: Water, malted barley, malted wheat, malted rye, pinhead oats, malt extract and hops
Calories: 16 kcal per 100ml
Price: £1.50 for 1x330ml bottle (Sainsbury’s, 02/07/2022)
Tennent’s Zero
Scotland’s best known lager brand has produced their own alcohol-free version and I had the opportunity to assess it first hand whilst knocking back a few cans in the sun at a Queen’s Platinum Jubilee community picnic event in 2022. It went down well enough in the convivial summer party atmosphere, but then pretty much any cool drink would.
Overall, I’d say it’s rather average fayre. Nothing much to write home about. I’m placing it in the lower-mid-table section of my ranking as it’s a fairly bland and unremarkable drink. I was never particularly fond of the alcoholic version of Tennent’s compared to the plethora of alternatives available, and this ‘zero’ version probably occupies a similar market position in my mind. I doubt I’ll be rushing back to it.
Score: 59%
Ingredients: Water, Malted Barley, Hop extract
Calories: 17 kcal per 100ml
Price: £3.75 for 4x440ml cans (Sainsbury’s, 15/06/2022)
Budweiser Zero
I found Budweiser’s zero alcohol offering to be fairly bland when compared to some of the competition, so in that respect it’s a bit like their standard alcoholic version. There’s not much substance to it and it’s a bit too carbonated for my liking. The low calorie count means you can drink a few of them without piling on too much weight, but that’s about all it has in its favour.
Score: 50%
Ingredients: Water, Barley Malt, Rice, Hops, Natural Flavours
Calories: 14 kcal per 100ml
Price: £3.00 for 4x330ml cans (Sainsbury’s, 11/08/2020)
Stella Artois
The first two times I tried to buy Stella Artois’ alcohol free lager in my supermarket home delivery order, it failed to turn up, which suggests it’s either extremely popular and sells out quickly or there are supply chain issues. It was third time lucky and by then I was eagerly anticipating my first taste of Stella’s entry into this market. However, I was disappointed as it failed to live up to my expectations.
It’s heavily carbonated and simply too gassy for my liking. So much so that I couldn’t drink it regularly. It tastes not unlike the standard version of Stella, and is not the worst offering out there, but it doesn’t stand up to comparisons with my favourite non-alcoholic lagers and I doubt I’ll be buying it again, especially as it’s slightly more expensive that some of the competition.
Score: 49%
Ingredients: Water, Malted Barley, Hops, Sugar, Natural Flavours
Calories: 18 kcal per 100ml
Price: £3.50 for 4x330ml bottles (Tesco, 08/09/2020)
Beck’s Blue
Beck’s Blue is one of the most widely available alcohol-free beers in shops and bars in the UK and has been one of the market leaders for a while now, but I personally don’t particularly like the taste of it. It’s far more bitter than most of its competitors and leaves a strong after taste on the palate. I find the occasional one is OK if there’s nothing else on offer, but I wouldn’t want to drink many of them. The low calorie count does mean that it’s not bad for your waistline.
Score: 35%
Ingredients: Water, Malted Barley, Hops, Yeast
Calories: 14 kcal per 100ml
Price: £3.50 for 6x275ml bottles (Tesco, 11/08/2020)
Sainte Etienne
This is a typical budget French lager that is exclusive to Aldi. It’s cheap and it tastes cheap. It’s also far too sharply effervescent. I didn’t like it and I’m unlikely to buy it again unless there’s absolutely nothing else available. It also loses points for bearing a name not dissimilar to that of Lyon‘s fiercest rivals!
Score: 21%
Ingredients: Water, Barley malt, Hop extract, flavouring, citric acid.
Calories: 23 kcal per 100ml
Price: £0.89 for 1x500ml bottle (Aldi, 11/12/2020)
Conclusion
As with regular beers, the range of alcohol-free beers varies greatly in quality, although this is very much subjective to individual taste and preference. However, there is now a wide enough selection of products available that most people could probably find one that meets their approval. Personally I find that my favourite non-alcoholic beers are every bit as good as any alcoholic versions – the only noticeable difference being that they don’t get you drunk.
Therefore, it seems to me that the only remaining reason for drinking alcoholic beer is if you’re drinking specifically to get drunk. If you’re just having one or two beers in an evening then you wouldn’t be getting drunk anyway so you might as well stick to the healthier, non-alcoholic option. Given the recent studies that have concluded there is no safe level of alcohol to have in your diet, I’m happy to convert to alcohol-free beer for the foreseeable future and limit my alcohol intake to the occasional wine or whisky until they develop alcohol-free versions of wines and spirits that are as good a the real thing.