Grolsch

The brewery's origins trace to Willem Neerfeldt, who established it in Groenlo (then called Grolle, the origin of the brand name) in May 1615. The city's Dutch name gave the brand its identity. Production today is centred at a purpose-built facility in Boekelo, near Enschede, which opened in 2004. Asahi Breweries has owned Grolsch since 2016, when it acquired the brand from AB InBev for approximately €2.55 billion.

Two things make Grolsch instantly recognisable in the UK: the crisp Premium Pilsner and the swing-top bottle, a design decision retained when crown caps became standard elsewhere and now among the most distinctive bottles on any supermarket shelf. The same attention to brewing specifics carries into the alcohol-free range. Grolsch 0.0% uses a specialist yeast through a full fermentation process that naturally produces no alcohol, rather than fermenting at full strength and stripping the alcohol out afterwards. The distinction matters: the resulting beer is a fresh, hoppy 0.0% pilsner with a naturally green hop aroma and a clean, crisp finish. It won Gold in the non-alcoholic category at the European Beer Star Awards in 2018, and was voted Netherlands' Best Light Beer at the World Beer Awards.

In 2020, Grolsch extended the AF range with Herfstbier 0.0%, a dark autumn beer developed with master brewer Guy Evers using a natural chilli extract for warmth, making Grolsch the first Dutch brewer to launch an alcohol-free dark beer.

For moderators and zebra-stripers who want a recognisable European pilsner without the alcohol, Grolsch 0.0% competes directly alongside Heineken 0.0 and Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0% in the mainstream AF lager bracket on supermarket shelves. The AF range stays lean by design: one or two products rather than a full parallel lineup, backed by over 400 years of Dutch brewing history.