The alcohol-free beer shelf in your local supermarket looks nothing like it did two years ago. Where you once had Becks Blue and a prayer, there are now entire aisles of craft lagers, hop-forward IPAs, rich stouts, and wheat beers that genuinely taste like the real thing. The UK market is stacked, and picking the right ones can feel like a full-time job.
We've done the legwork. These are the AF beers actually worth your money right now, based on what's available in UK shops, what tastes good, and what gives you decent value for your hard-earned cash.
The Big Names Getting It Right
Lucky Saint has become the default AF beer in pubs across the country, and for good reason. Their Unfiltered Lager (0.5%) is a proper Bavarian-style brew with biscuity malt, lemon zest, and a clean hop bitterness that holds up to any session. At around 16 calories per 100ml, it's one of the lighter options too. They've expanded the range with a Hazy IPA (mango, stone fruit, restrained bitterness) and a German Weissbier (banana, clove, soft wheat). All three are solid.
Athletic Brewing crossed the Atlantic and landed hard. Their Run Wild IPA is the one that started it all for many people: citrus, pine, orange peel, and a properly balanced bitterness. But the range goes deep. Upside Dawn is a gorgeous golden ale (peach, grapefruit, 14 cal/100ml), and if you want something darker, All Out is a stout with cocoa, coffee, and roasted nut notes that'll make you forget it's alcohol-free. They've picked up over 185 awards globally, including multiple Golds at the World Beer Awards.
Guinness 0.0 deserves a mention purely for accessibility. It's the AF beer you'll find on draught in your local, and it does the job. Roasted barley, dark chocolate, coffee, and a familiar creamy head. At 17 calories per 100ml and genuinely 0.0%, it's a reliable pint when you're out and don't want to explain your drink choices.
Craft Breweries Worth Knowing
Big Drop Brewing might be the most interesting AF brewery operating in the UK right now. They brew everything specifically as alcohol-free from the start, rather than stripping the alcohol out afterwards. Their Reef Point Craft Lager (0.5%) won "UK's Best Non-Alcoholic Beer" at the World Beer Awards, and it's a crisp, clean thing at just 12 cal/100ml. The Galactic Milk Stout is where they really show off though: dark chocolate, coffee, cacao, and proper roasted barley depth at 31 cal/100ml. The Paradiso Citra IPA brings citrus and tropical fruit with balanced bitterness. They've got 12 beers in the range and not a dud among them.
Nirvana Brewery out of London has quietly built one of the deepest AF lineups in the country. Their range spans everything from a Bavarian Hefeweizen (banana, clove, vanilla) to a West Coast IPA (pine resin, grapefruit pith, mango) to a Mocha Porter (dark chocolate, roasted coffee, hazelnut). The IPA and Stout are particularly good. If you haven't tried them yet, start with the Blossom Hazy Pale Ale: tropical citrus, peach, and mango with a soft oat body.
BrewDog was early to the AF game and their range keeps growing. Punk AF remains the gateway beer for a lot of people: grapefruit, orange oils, and candied citrus with a wispy cereal grain. Nanny State (6 cal/100ml!) is absurdly light on calories while still delivering caramel malt and grapefruit. For something heftier, Wake Up Call is their coffee stout: roasted malt, cocoa, and a subtle lactic sourness. Lost AF (10 cal/100ml) is the low-calorie hazy that actually tastes of something, with passionfruit, lychee, and pine.
The Ones You Might Have Missed
St Austell Proper Job 0.5% is a Cornish IPA that punches hard on flavour: bittersweet grapefruit, pineapple, and zesty citrus with Cascade, Chinook, and Willamette hops. It's available at ASDA from around £1.46 for a 500ml can, which makes it one of the best value AF beers going. Sainsbury's and Waitrose stock it too.
Beavertown Lazer Crush (0.3%) is an IPA brewed with a specialist yeast that ferments glucose rather than maltose. The result is ripe peach, passion fruit, and lemon zest with a clean bitterness. Around £2.80 from specialist retailers.
Samuel Smith's Brown Ale (0.5%) is one for the traditionalists. A proper brown ale from Tadcaster with hazelnut, cocoa, raisin, and dried fruit. It has notably full body for the category and a dry, malt-forward character. Around £3.27 for a 550ml bottle from The Alcohol Free Co.
Sharp's Doom Bar Zero (0.0%) translates the original's amber ale character into alcohol-free territory. Dried fruit sweetness, lightly roasted malt, and subtle caramel at just 13 cal/100ml. ASDA has it at £1.79 for a 500ml can.
Thornbridge Zero Five is a 0.5% pale ale hopped with Amarillo and Cascade, brewed with a touch of orange peel. Lemon, peach, apricot, and a moderate bitter finish. One of the more underrated options out there.
Where to Buy and What to Pay
Supermarkets are your best bet for the mainstream picks. ASDA, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Waitrose, and Morrisons all carry increasingly good AF beer selections. Expect to pay between £1.50 and £2.50 per bottle or can for brands like Lucky Saint, BrewDog, Guinness 0.0, Doom Bar Zero, and Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0%.
For the craft stuff, specialist AF retailers are where you want to be. Wise Bartender, The Alcohol Free Co, and Dry Drinker all stock extensive ranges. Single bottles typically run £2.50 to £3.50, though you'll get better value buying cases. Dry Drinker sells multipacks and mixed cases, which is a good way to try a few brands without committing.
Athletic Brewing and Big Drop are worth buying direct from their websites too, especially for limited editions and seasonal releases.
Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0% is worth a specific mention for the lager drinkers: malty sweetness, citrus, lemon, and a crisp cereal grain finish at 22 cal/100ml. It's widely stocked and usually sits around the £1.50-2.00 mark in supermarkets.
What to Try First
If you're just starting out with AF beer, here's the shortlist:
- Best all-rounder: Lucky Saint Unfiltered Lager. Clean, balanced, and available everywhere.
- Best IPA: Athletic Brewing Run Wild. The benchmark that others are measured against.
- Best stout: Big Drop Galactic Milk Stout. Dark chocolate and coffee with proper body.
- Best value: St Austell Proper Job 0.5% at ASDA (£1.46/500ml). A hop-forward IPA at supermarket prices.
- Best for pub drinkers: Guinness 0.0. You'll find it on draught, and it tastes like Guinness.
- Best low-calorie: BrewDog Nanny State at 6 cal/100ml. Almost nothing in it, and yet it works.
The AF beer category is moving fast. New releases land every month, prices are coming down, and the quality gap between AF and full-strength is getting smaller all the time. The best way to find your favourites is to try a few. Pick up a mixed case from one of the specialist retailers, or grab a couple of different cans next time you're doing the weekly shop. You won't be disappointed.