I Tried 30 Nonalcoholic Beers to Find the Best Ones I'd Happily Drink Any Day

Like many Americans of a certain age, my early experiences with beer revolved around the inexpensive, readily available varieties found in convenience stores. Then, I left Florida for Portland, Oregon, in the mid-1980s and fell into a burgeoning craft beer revolution. I was shocked that beer existed in so many nuanced forms rather than the fairly homogenous lager spectrum I’d experienced. Not too long after, one of my friends went sober and rewarded themselves for their newfound obsession with doing 1,000 sit-ups a day with a nonalcoholic (NA) beer or two. It was the same big-brand lager with even less flavor—basically water—and I wondered why they would punish themselves with such a horrible reward.

Like the craft beer industry, the nonalcoholic beer market has since evolved, allowing beer drinkers to crack open a well-crafted beer without the alcohol. Well, mostly; nonalcoholic beer may legally contain up to 0.5% alcohol by volume (ABV), which is negligible but good to note for those totally teetotaling. To see where the current market offerings lie, I put my palate to work and tasted 30 top-rated nonalcoholic beers with wide distribution in the US. Here are 20 favorites from that selection.

The Tests

• Aroma Test: I smelled and noted the aroma of each beer, both when the can or bottle was opened and after it was poured into a glass.
• Taste Test: I tried 30 nonalcoholic beers, including ales, lagers, and more. I noted their mouthfeel, taste, and any lingering flavor notes.

What We Learned

How Long Has Nonalcoholic Beer Been Around?

Nonalcoholic or low-alcohol beer is an ancient beverage, with origins possibly dating to 5,000 BCE. If we fast-forward to Europe during the Middle Ages, “small beer”—typically with an ABV of 2 to 3%—became popular.

Small beer gained popularity in the US alongside the temperance movement. Major brewers such as Anheuser-Busch, Pabst, Miller, and Coors brewed “near beer" containing 0.5% ABV, during Prohibition both to provide a nonalcoholic beverage and to survive the Volstead Act. These beers faded as Prohibition ended, but renewed interest swayed major brewers to bring NA products to market in the 1990s.

Personal tastes vary, but many of these early nonalcoholic brews weren’t as rich and complex as the originals. They were the diner coffee of the beer world. However, the changing consumer tastes that drove the craft beer industry inevitably led to innovation in the nonalcoholic beer scene too.

What’s Driving the Nonalcoholic Beer Market?

Mindfulness, intentionality, and health and wellness are some of the major drivers for grabbing an NA beer versus its alcoholic counterpart. There are also generational preferences and a new era of online accountability in play. Drinking habits between generations have changed, too. To get further into these ideas, I spoke with Chris Furnari, senior communications manager at Athletic Brewing Company, as well as John Walker, chief product officer and co-founder of the nonalcoholic brewing brand. I also chatted with mindful drinking expert and founder of Positive Damage, Inc., Derek Brown. 

Brown explains that the Boomer and Silent generations had a mindset that leaned more toward staying home and hosting dinner parties, with the occasional big night out. “But it was never this perpetual youth that Gen X seems to embody,” he says, regarding Gen X’s preference for going out. “I have friends who are anywhere between 40 and 60 or so, going out to see bands every single weekend."

What’s changed is what they’re drinking when they’re out. Instead of going hard like they did in their younger years, Xers may have one good drink or no alcohol at all. Millennials and Gen Z are statistically drinking less, too, with Millennials drinking less than Gen X, and Gen Z drinking another 20% less than Millennials. Younger drinkers value quality over quantity and may order one well-made alcoholic drink before switching to something nonalcoholic. The reasons vary, but as I mentioned, many want to make healthier decisions about what they imbibe or just don't want to rely on a buzz to socialize.

Does Nonalcoholic Beer Truly Have No Alcohol?

The short of it: Most nonalcoholic beer does have a tiny bit of alcohol unless it’s explicitly labeled “alcohol free” per the Code of Federal Regulations. So the question is, is nonalcoholic beer for everyone, given that most of it still contains alcohol? Even people in recovery? Brown is quite diplomatic in explaining that everyone’s recovery journey is personal and that doing what is comfortable for them is essential. “I think that it really depends on the person, because the nature of memory and the things that propel us to think about alcohol and to make us want to drink or not are not always uniform,” he says. “Some people can't even walk into a bar, right? Some people can walk into a bar and share a nonalcoholic beer. Some people in their long-term recovery might even find eventually…they can return to drinking alcohol. It’s not something I recommend, just something that happens.” 

How Is Nonalcoholic Beer Made?

It’s safe to say that brewing technology has significantly changed over the past thousand years. New methodologies constantly evolve, and older technologies find new uses. “Who thought that we'd be cooking chicken in a plastic bag and a 150-degree bath for two hours 20 years ago?” Walker says. The same innovative mentality goes for brewing nonalcoholic beer.

Nonalcoholic beer typically (we’ll get to the exceptions, I promise) starts as the full-strength version with the alcohol removed after brewing. The two most common methods to remove the alcohol are vacuum distillation and reverse osmosis. Put simply, distilling the beer under lower pressure drops the boiling point of ethanol, which evaporates before the flavors and volatile compounds in the beer do. Reverse osmosis passes the beer through a membrane that removes the alcohol (and some water) while preventing the larger molecules of the flavor compounds from doing the same. Cold fermentation is another way of controlling the alcohol content. In this instance, the beer is brewed at temperatures of or below 60°F. That lower temperature prevents the yeast from producing ethanol, resulting in a beer with very low to no alcohol content. There are also yeast strains that only ferment simple sugars like sucrose, glucose, and fructose, leaving complex sugars like maltose untouched, resulting in a low-alcohol beer with higher residual sugar in the brew.

The Criteria: What to Look for in a Nonalcoholic Beer

It’s never been easier to find a very drinkable version of your favorite style that forgoes the alcohol. If you want a beer that truly has no alcohol in it, look for the “alcohol free” label, which per the Code of Federal Regulations, may only be used on “malt beverages containing no alcohol. No tolerances are permitted for ‘alcohol free’ malt beverages.” Beyond that, the beer should get pretty darn close to replicating the style it's mimicking, and it shouldn't have any off flavors (read: sulfurous stink or unpleasant dankness).

Our Favorite Nonalcoholic Beers

The Best Nonalcoholic Traditional Lite Beer

Athletic Brewing Company Light Craft Non-Alcoholic Beer

View on Athleticbrewing.com View on Proofnomore.com

For those who want the classic “light beer” flavor without the alcohol, Athletic Lite is a great place to start. Walker explained that Athletic’s goal is to appeal to a broad sector of beer drinkers, not just beer nerds, and this is an excellent representation of those efforts. It’s a clean-drinking, crisp beer with a slight lemon-lime flavor and very light maltiness that lays easy on the palate.

Key Specs

• Ingredients: Water, malt, rice, wheat, hops, yeast
• Hops: Noble
• Pack size: 6

The Best Nonalcoholic Golden Ale

Bravus Brewing Co. Non-Alcoholic Golden Light

View on Bravus.com View on Proofnomore.com

Bravus’ light beer offering is a bit more complex than the average light beer, but just as easy to drink. It’s a crisp, clean sip that leads with a bit of tart sweetness before settling into a biscuity maltiness.

Key Specs

• Ingredients: Water, malted barley, hops, yeast
• Hops: NA
• Pack size: 6, 12, 24

Another Great Nonalcoholic Golden Ale

Sierra Nevada Trail Pass

View on Totalwine.com View on Proofnomore.com

Scene stalwart Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. has moved into the nonalcoholic space. This easy-drinking golden ale is an excellent representation of the style in a nonalcoholic form. This beer starts with restrained citrus and pine hop notes that transition to a smooth maltiness, finishing with clean, hoppy bitterness and a lingering hint of citrus.

Key Specs

• Ingredients: Hops, yeast, malt
• Hops: Amarillo, CTZ
• Pack size: Single, 4, 6, 12

The Best Nonalcoholic Golden Lager

Samuel Adams Golden Lager

View on Samueladams.com View on Proofnomore.com

Samuel Adams isn’t a brewery to be left behind, and this offering is a great example of a golden ale. A classic golden is a lager-adjacent beer with a light but full malty flavor and mild hoppy tartness, and this beer fits that picture. It leads with floral and kiwi hop notes and moves into a medium malt body that finishes with a light, crisp, melony flavor.

Key Specs

• Ingredients: Hops, yeast, malt
• Hops: Hellertau, Tettnang
• Pack size: 6

The Best Crushable Nonalcoholic Lager

Al's Classic Non-Alcoholic Lager - 12oz

View on Proofnomore.com

If you like crushing a cold brewski on a hot summer day (or if you know what a “shower beer” is), then this is the lager for you. It tastes like Bud Light or Narragansett, but more bitter than the former and lighter than the latter (you got that?). There’s a malty, toasty note on the finish that gives it enough body to make it more than just fizzy water.

The Best Nonalcoholic Hazy IPA

Best Day Hazy IPA

$57 at Amazon View on Totalwine.com View on Bestdaybrewing.com

IPAs rule the craft beer world, so it’s only natural that the style gets equal time in all its forms in the nonalcoholic space. Best Day’s Hazy IPA shows the best aspects of the style, with fruity hops and notes of pine and grapefruit leading the way. This hop bomb is followed by a gentle malt fullness and light sweetness, finishing with a slightly bitter melon note.

Key Specs

• Ingredients: Water, barley, hops, yeast
• Hops: NA
• Pack size: 6

Another Great Nonalcoholic Hazy IPA

Samuel Adams Non-Alcoholic Just The Haze

$25 at Amazon $20 at Walmart View on Totalwine.com

Just the Haze by Samuel Adams is another great representation of the hazy New England-style IPA. Grapefruit, pineapple, and melon on the nose lead this full-bodied but not significantly malty ale that finishes with crisp, hoppy notes. It's rich and heady but without that smoothie-like heaviness that a hazy New England IPA can possess.

Key Specs

• Ingredients: Hops, yeast, malt, water
• Hops: Citra, Mosaic, Sabro, Cascade
• Pack size: 6

A Great Juicy Nonalcoholic IPA

Untitled Art Juicy IPA

View on Totalwine.com View on Proofnomore.com

The difference between a hazy and juicy IPA is nebulous, at best. The best explanation sounds like a question on a college-prep test: not all hazy IPAs are juicy, and not all juicy IPAs are hazy. I’m too tired to solve for X in that equation, but I’ll say this offering from Untitled Art lives up to the name. I got a tropical fruity, hard candy sweetness that followed a thick, heady hop nose that’s classic for an IPA. The maltiness was well-balanced, and lingering hints of vanilla stood out above the other flavors.

Key Specs

• Ingredients: NA
• Hops: Citra, Mosaic
• Pack size: 6

The Best Nonalcoholic West Coast IPA

Bravus Brewing Co. West Coast IPA

$30 at Amazon View on Bravus.com

Bravus’ West Coast IPA is a fairly restrained beer for such a “big” style. Citrus, pine, and floral hop notes hit your nose immediately, but the medium body from the malt mellows those tones without lingering sweetness, followed by a clean finish.

Key Specs

• Ingredients: Water, malted barley, hops, yeast
• Hops: Simcoe, Citra
• Pack size: 6, 12, 24

The Best Crushable Nonalcoholic IPA

Athletic Brewing Company Run Wild Non-Alcoholic IPA

$30 at Amazon View on Athleticbrewing.com View on Totalwine.com

Run Wild is a good candidate for those who want to imbibe a few (or more) IPAs. It drinks like a muted West Coast style, with plenty of piney, citrusy hops and a mild tropical fruit nose. Subtle medium maltiness gives just enough body to complement the hoppiness, and the beer ends with a crisp, hoppy aftertaste.

Key Specs

• Ingredients: Water, malted barley, oats, hops, wheat, yeast
• Hops: Five northwest hops including Citra and Mosaic
• Pack size: 6

Another Great Crushable Nonalcoholic IPA

Flying Dog Brewery Deep Fake NA IPA Beer

View on Proofnomore.com

This IPA led with aromas of ripe pineapple and mango on the nose and finished with just a touch of hoppy bitterness. It doesn’t have the super dense, juicy flavor of say, a hazy, but it nailed it as a light, crushable IPA. If you didn’t know it was non-alcoholic, you’d likely never guess. 

The Best Nonalcoholic Wheat Beer If You Like Blue Moon

BERO NOON WHEAT Non-Alcoholic Wheat Style Beer - 12oz

$30 $24 at Amazon View on Proofnomore.com View on Totalwine.com

This refreshing wheat beer leans into the style’s frequent fruity garnish (read: a wedge of orange or a slice of lemon). But in this case, it’s all about stonefruit—apricot and peach, specifically. It’s really hard to nail these flavors since they are incredibly subtle, but they shine, though not blindingly, in this crisp beer. The only negative was a faint metallic aftertaste. Other than that, it’s a smooth, pleasant sipper.

The Best Nonalcoholic Italian Lager

Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0%

$29 $20 at Amazon $12 at Walmart View on Proofnomore.com

I’ve had mixed feelings about Peroni. I hated it when I was younger, but it seems there’s been a change in my palate since then—I quite enjoy it now. Peroni makes a crisp, clean, classic lager, and Nastro Azzurro is no different from its alcoholic counterpart. Try it with Neapolitan-style pizza or a light pasta dish.

Key Specs

• Ingredients: NA
• Hops: NA
• Pack size: 6

The Best Nonalcoholic Italian Pilsner

Untitled Art Italian Pils

View on Drinkuntitled.com

Italian Pils is a hoppier version of the classic Pilsner.  Untitled Art’s offering has dominant citrus and floral hoppy bitterness that rides on top of a crisp Italian Pilsner body and finish.

Key Specs

• Ingredients: NA
• Hops: Hallertau Mittelfruh, Strata
• Pack size: 6

The Best Nonalcoholic Kölsch

Best Day Non-Alcoholic Kölsch

$30 at Amazon View on Bestdaybrewing.com View on Proofnomore.com

I have no ground to stand on when saying this, but I think the first folks to make session IPAs drew from the crisp lightness of a classic Kölsch for inspiration. A Kölsch is a “drink it all afternoon” type of beer, and Best Day’s version serves that idea well. It’s got a medium caramel maltiness without a “feedbaggy” aftertaste and a slightly citrusy hoppiness that finishes clean without weighing you down. It's one of Serious Eats senior editor Grace Kelly's favorites. "It's incredibly refreshing when chilled, and tastes just like a non, nonalcoholic Kolsch, with a tinge of bitterness on the finish," she says.

Key Specs

• Ingredients: Water, barley, hops, yeast
• Hops: Hallertau
• Pack size: 6

The Best Nonalcoholic Mexican-Style Lager

Athletic Brewing Company Cerveza Atletica

$11 at Walmart View on Athleticbrewing.com

Athletic is serious about providing a beer for every taste. This Mexican-style copper is for fans of Negra Modelo and other Mexican lagers. It’s a great beach beer with lightly toasted malt and a bready, wheaty body complimented by spicy floral notes.

Key Specs

• Ingredients: Water, malted barley, wheat, hops, yeast
• Hops: NA
• Pack size: 6

The Best Nonalcoholic Dark Beer

Guinness 0

$9 at Walmart View on Proofnomore.com

There’s not a lot I can say about Guinness 0. If you like the alcoholic version (which I do), you will not notice much of a difference in this alcohol-free version of its classic stout, with notes of bitter chocolate and coffee, a full body, and a creamy head. It's perhaps slightly more watery than the original, but that's me trying to find a bone to pick.

Key Specs

• Ingredients: Water, malted barley, barley, roasted barley, fructose, natural flavorings, hops, yeast
• Hops: NA
• Pack size: 4

The Best Flavored Nonalcoholic Dark Beer

Bravus Peanut Butter Dark

$43 at Amazon $30 at Walmart View on Bravus.com

I’d place Bravus’ Peanut Butter Dark as straddling the line between a stout and a porter when considering its mouth-coating body. It’s creamy on the tongue, with light touches of dark malt that provide a chocolatey flavor, accented by strong yet balanced notes of roasted peanuts and hazelnuts. This beer isn’t a pastry stout by any standards—there’s deep maltiness that never veers into the sweet realm.

Key Specs

• Ingredients: water, malted barley, natural peanut butter extract, natural hazelnut extract, natural chocolate extract, hops, yeast
• Hops: NA
• Pack size: 6. 12, 24

The Best Nonalcoholic Fruited Ale

Untitled Art Mango Dragonfruit Sour

View on Proofnomore.com

Given the popularity of fruited sour ales, it only makes sense that someone would make a nonalcoholic version. It’s a little thick on the tongue for a sour, giving off fruit juice vibes, but it’s nicely carbonated and strikes a nice balance between sweet and tart, although it’s a little light on the sourness for my taste buds.

Key Specs

• Ingredients: NA
• Hops: NA
• Pack size: 4, 6

The Best Gluten-Removed Nonalcoholic Beer

Athletic Brewing Co. Upside Dawn NA Golden Non-Alcoholic Beer

$30 at Amazon View on Totalwine.com View on Proofnomore.com

Golden ales are well represented in the nonalcoholic space, and this offering from Athletic is good, with citrus aromas and finish and an earthy, vaguely spicy body. It also has its gluten removed. That said, the brand notes on its website: "This product is fermented from grains containing gluten and crafted to remove gluten. The gluten content of this product cannot be verified, and this product may contain gluten."

Key Specs

• Ingredients: Water, malted barley, Oats, hops, wheat, yeast
• Hops: NA
• Pack size: 4, 6, 12, 24

The Competition

Also Good

• Sierra Nevada Trail Pass IPA: IPAs dominate the craft beer market, and that rings true for the nonalcoholic space, too. Sierra Nevada built the road map for modern IPA, and there is nothing wrong with this beer at all. In fact, it’s every bit as well-crafted as Sierra Nevada’s flagship pale ale. At some point, I had to truncate the IPA listings, lest they dominate our ratings, so this IPA was cut sheerly due to space and variety constraints.
• Industrial Arts Safety Glasses White Non-Alcoholic Wheat Brew: This wheat has a yeasty smell followed by a bright, lemony citrus note. It’s lightly malty and there’s a hint of hops, but other than that, it’s all lemon. While it was pleasant enough, the lemon flavor did verge dangerously close to citrus-scented cleaning spray.
• Best Day Yuzu Ginger Shandy: This was a top pick, but it's no longer available.
• Bravus Strawberry Blonde: Another favorite that's no longer available.

Not Our Favorites

• Best Day Electro-Lime: This Mexican-style lager adds lime and salt to create a pre-mixed chelada. Taste is subjective, so all I can say with certainty is that the base beer is a good lager, but I didn’t care for the salty-lime addition, preferring to add that myself.
• Bravus Blood Orange IPA: Again, taste is subjective, but I’ve never been a fan of adding citrus to a beer that leads with heavy grapefruit on the nose. Doubling down doesn’t always yield double the payoff.
• Industrial Arts Safety Glasses Non-Alcoholic IPA: If you’re like Pooh Bear, then maybe you’ll drink this stuff by the tub. But the heady honey note was unpleasant and gummed up the nostrils after a quick whiff. There was an odd tartness, too, so drinking it tasted like sipping honey water gone sour. While there was a faint pineapple/mango taste, the honey flavor overwhelmed it.
• Good Time Non-Alcoholic Pils: This had a dank stink on the nose and, upon first sip, burst with an overripe, dusky, fruity flavor followed by extreme bitterness. There was a faint tang that was off-putting, and the head dissipated very quickly.
• Sober Carpenter Organic Blonde Pilsner: This beer struggled to live up to its Pilsner designation. There was a sweet, candy-like pineapple fragrance on the nose that dissipated, revealing a light beer with a faint bitterness and maybe even a little hop burn at the back of the throat.
• Wolters WinterStern Non-Alcoholic Dark Brew: If you like malt, that’s pretty much the only flavor in this overly sweet, thin beer.

Why We’re the Experts

• Greg Baker is a multi-time James Beard-nominated chef and former restaurateur from Tampa, Florida. 
• He’s reviewed knife sharpeners, charcoal starter chimneys, and more for Serious Eats.
• Greg built and maintained a constantly rotating craft beer list in his restaurants for almost ten years, featuring tried and true standards, local upstarts, and unique offerings from lesser-known regional breweries.