Yahoo News Sober October: 11 best alcohol-free beers that taste like the real deal
Although we’re hearing lots of reports of alcohol sales shooting up thanks to lockdown, it’s interesting to note that there has also been a surge in low and no alcohol drinks searches – suggesting that many of us are simply craving the ritual of cracking open a nice cold one after a hard day at the home office – booze or no booze.
Indeed, Waitrose reports that its sales of low- and no-alcohol beer have shot up by 50 per cent compared to last year, and Waitrose.com searches for “non-alcoholic beer” have climbed by nearly 30 per cent.
The good news is that for those of us looking to enjoy a refreshing pint or two without the negative effects are in luck, as the “no and low” market has come on in leaps and bounds, even since we last tested the best low alcohol beers around.
So now, take your pick from sophisticated IPAs, foamy wheat beers, and all manner of craft ales, knowing that most of them are going to contain something pretty decent.
In looking for a great alcohol-free (ie less than 0.5% ABV) beer we wanted to find something that had fairly universal appeal while also tasting genuinely good, having a bit of personality and crucially, feeling like a real beer and not a consolation prize.
So, pregnant people, designated drivers, and anyone simply looking for a day, week, month, life off the sauce, cast your eyes over our list of brilliant alcohol-free beers that will still very much hit the spot. Cheers!
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Insel-Brauerei snorkeler’s sea salt IPA, 6 x 330ml
Insel-Brauerei has won four golds at the World Beer Awards, and while this 0.5% ABV sea salt IPA isn’t a medal winner itself, it’s clear the brewers know their stuff as we were very surprised to find out this was alcohol-free. Deep amber with a rich foamy head, this has forward citrus aromas, lots and lots of bitterness, a persistent fizz and – unsurprisingly – sea salt. Insel has incorporated a generous amount of Baltic sea salt into this IPA and it is brilliant, providing the beer with a glorious tang. We love this one – and it’s worth saying the rest of the low ABV beers in its range are almost as great too.
Buy now £14.99, Dry Drinker
Brookyln Brewery special effects, 335ml
Brooklyn Brewery has come up with this excellent lager that is light, bright, very hoppy and distinctly beer like from pronounced malt flavours, so we don’t think you’d know it is alcohol-free, which is the “special effect”, if you will. Apparently the big hoppiness comes from it being dry hopped with three hop varieties – not usually a process employed in alcohol-free beer making and this is a negligible 0.4% ABV. We think it’s really good for BBQs, nights out and most beer o’clock moments.
Buy now £1.30, Waitrose
Good Living Brew Co binary botanical, 250ml
If you sometimes find beer a little too heavy to drink much of, then you might enjoy the lighter, fresher feel of Binary Botanical. It’s called a “table beer” and while it is certainly beer-like, it’s also… not. There are lots of herbaceous green flavours – it’s brewed using the leaves of the hops too – and the bitterness found in many beers is replaced by a gentle sparkling zing instead. Made for drinking with food, but equally as refreshing as an aperitif on a balmy evening when you’re driving – or not.
Buy now £2.00, Harvey Nichols
Unltd alcohol free lager, 12 x 330ml
A newcomer to the alcohol-free beer scene, Unltd is brewed for beer lovers who might want to abstain for health and fitness reasons. It tastes like many popular German lagers with a balanced easy-drinking mix of citrus, hops and malt, and it also uses the increasingly popular process of brewing with the low ABV rather than brewing then extracting the alcohol, so the flavour is better.
Buy now £24.99, Unltd
Krombacher Weizen alcohol free beer, 500ml
We tried this alongside the Krombacher Weizen alcoholic counterpart for interest and found this 0.5% ABV version offers many of the same yeasty, banana aromas and flavours you’d expect from this well-known wheat beer. It’s incredibly refreshing, has a lovely rounded mouth feel and ticks a lot of the alcohol-free beer boxes. The beer is brewed in the same way as the original and while the taste matches up, the way that the alcohol has then been removed afterwards has just taken the edge off a bit – we miss the tell-tale bitterness.
Buy now £2.19, Wise Bartender
Jump/Ship yardarm lager, 12 x 330ml
This one smells the business: lots of burnt caramel malt, citrus and bitterness bouncing around. The flavour is lighter than expected with more of the citrus and a welcome crispness to it, making it the ideal lager for drinking in the park on a sunny day. There’s a bitter tang to the aftertaste which is exactly what we’re looking for in a good “low or no” drink, too. We came across this beer as part of SoberSauce's new mixed discovery box, which aims to introduce new booze-avoiders to alcohol-free beers they’ll love. Explore the pack for yourself or purchase this excellent example as a case.
Buy now £32.50, SoberSauce
BRLO naked pale ale, 6 x 330ml
Close your eyes and this Berlin-made pale ale could be any well-made craft ale coming in at full ABV. Instead, this quirkily packaged beer is 0.5% ABV. We liked the distinctive hoppiness, with citrus-led mandarina Bavaria, citra, and lemondrop on the honours list, all matched against a sweet malt background and complex earthy notes. This is one to really savour.
Buy now £14.50, Dry Drinker
BrewDog punk IPA, 4 x 330ml
We like nanny state, the original BrewDog alcohol-free offering, but this punkier version is also up there. There’s so much pine and a hint of malt in there that it distracts from the lack of alcohol, while the discernible tropical notes (think pineapple and passionfruit but without the sweetness) keep things going on the palate. A worthy effort at an alcohol-free IPA and gratifyingly easy to get hold of too.
Buy now £4.45, BrewDog
Freestar alcohol free beer, 330ml
This has been our booze-free beer of choice all summer, and it continues to be a solid pick for relaxed sipping without the hangover. A light golden beer with an abundance of malted barley and subtle hops that make it a crowd-pleasing all-rounder, Freestar is made using the yeast-less method, so no alcohol is created in the brewing – hence the 0.0% volume – plus it’s a more sustainable method, creating 70 per cent less waste than other brewing processes. As well as tasting great, with refreshing herbal and zesty fruited notes, it’s also gluten-free, vegan and low in sugar. Win win all round.
Buy now £1.85, Ocado
Drynks smashed pale ale, 330ml
We liked smashed citrus a lot last time we tested the best alcohol-free beers, and this is the newest incarnation from low alcohol specialists Drynks. A pale ale bursting with hops and barley, with a fizzing tropical fruit layer that makes it perfect for drinking in the warmer months. We liked the caramel backnote and thought this could easily pass for a full-on pale ale, though it is 0.0%. Another smasher, smashed.
Buy now £1.99, Wise Bartender
Lucky Saint unfiltered low alcohol lager, 330ml
Lucky Saint is another alcohol-free option that has never let us down. It’s unfiltered in its processing, which means it is absolutely full of recognisable Bavarian pilsner flavours. Plus, the expertise behind the brewing gives this beer a satisfying blend of sweetly mature malt, yeast and a strong hopped flavour that makes it a great beer whatever the occasion and genuinely makes moderation easy. You can’t go wrong.
Buy now £1.80, Sainsbury's
The verdict: Alcohol-free beer
We’ve plumped for Insel-Brauerei snorkeler’s sea salted IPA as it really took us aback how refreshingly different it was; it’s great to see so much innovation, expertise – and fun! – going into brewing non-alcoholic beers today. We thought the sea salt flavour was just right for now, and it manages to bring a sense of occasion and expectation that opening a beer on a hot summer’s day should do.
Having said that, Lucky Saint is probably the best everyday all-rounder beer; we’ve never met anyone who wasn’t convinced by it. SoberSauce and DryDrinker also offer brilliant ways to try a series of new and interesting alcohol-free beers for those just starting out on the hangover-free journey, so do check them out. Right, time for a pint.
If you're looking for more low ABV tipples, read our review of the best alcohol-free drinks
