#1 Guide for Alcohol Free & Non Alcoholic Beer

Alcohol free beverages are getting more and more popular these days which really does show how society's attitude towards drinking has changed. Nowadays you will see plenty of alcohol-free drinks on shop shelves and most importantly in pubs, bars, and clubs.

So, if you want to stay off alcohol you now have plenty of options many of which have even been designed to emulate the traditional taste of classic alcoholic drinks. However, what if you don’t want to stay off alcohol completely but would still like to cut down?

Well, you actually have options there as well because there are now low-alcohol beverages as well. In fact, when we examine the options there are actually a few terms that most people might not know about. Alcohol-free and low-alcohol aren’t the only two terms, let’s take a look at them in more detail to see what they all mean. 

Alcohol Free

In the UK an alcohol free beer isn’t exactly alcohol-free! Yes I know that might seem like quite a surprise but the good news is an alcohol-free drink can only have 0.05% of alcohol at maximum. In the UK the term alcohol free can be used interchangeably with the non alcoholic label.

So, to sum it up if you live in the UK both alcohol free beer and non alcoholic beer basically, mean the same thing. However, in other countries, non-alcoholic beverages can actually have no alcoholic content at all!

They also won’t typically be as high as the 0.05% found in alcohol-free beverages either. Although when you think about it 0.05% is incredibly low isn’t it? So, let’s be honest how many people will tell the difference?

De-Alcoholised

If you haven’t heard this term don’t worry de-alcoholised isn’t exactly very common when compared to terms like alcohol-free or non-alcoholic. This is especially ironic when you consider the term is actually the official one in the UK for drinks that have at least 0.5% alcohol. 

However, some beverages will use the term alcohol-free or non alcoholic even if it goes over 0.05% because of other European countries' laws. So, yes it is all a little confusing but if you do see a beverage labelled de-alcoholised it will likely only have a maximum alcohol content of 0.5% at most.

Non Alcoholic

We already talked about the non alcoholic beer label above in the UK, it means the same thing as alcohol free beer. However, it’s important to make the distinction that in other European countries the rule might not be as strict. But in most cases, if a beverage in labelled non-alcoholic the total alcohol content will still be incredibly low.

Low Alcohol

Low alcohol beer is often only used to refer to beer and ciders although some other beverages might use it as well. So, what does low alcohol mean exactly? While it might seem pretty self-explanatory you’ve already seen how confusing all the different terms can be in this list.

Low alcohol beverages will usually be drinks that have a total alcohol of up to 1.2%. It might seem like an odd cut off point but the majority of low alcohol beverages do stick to it and some can even be lower.

So, that is a look at all the different "alcohol-free" terms. Yes, there is some crossover between them and it all might be a little confusing at first but the good thing to remember is if you see any of these terms it will mean your drink as a lot less alcohol in it.

Note: These are rules for the UK.

Alcohol Free Breweries To Try

It's now 2021, and the choice of non alcoholic beer to choose from has grown tremendously. Below, we have a list of alcohol free breweries to try.

Big Drop Brewing

Founded in 2016, by Rob Fink. Big Drop Brewing boast a range of 16 alcohol free/non alcoholic beers.

Nirvana Brewery

Nirvana Brewery was launched in 2017. The team had a simple mission; dedicated itself entirely to the creation of quality alcohol free craft beers.

Mikkeller

Danish microbrewery Mikkeller was founded in Copenhagen, the year 2006. They're one of leading microbreweries for non alcoholic beers.

Lowtide Brewing

A new brewery on the block - Lowtide Brewing. The guys at Lowtide Brewing felt the world was being shortchanged; there wasn’t a brewery that emanated truly craft alcohol free beer.

Where to buy Alcohol Free & Non Alcoholic Beer, Cider, Wine & Spirits

Here at LightDrinks, we offer a wide range of beverages, which can be filtered by ABV, to make things easier. Check out our alcohol free & non alcoholic beer, cider, wine & spirits.