I tried 19 non-alcoholic beers – Tesco’s was perfect at £1.25 a can

Gone are the days where a visit to the pub would be fraught for those looking for a zero per cent option. The alcohol-free beer market has boomed. Over the past decade, a wide variety of beers, from lagers to IPAs and stouts, have become available, whether versions of beloved originals or completely new beers by dedicated alcohol-free breweries. And our supermarkets are now stacked with options, too. According to the International Wine and Spirits Record, the no/low market doubled between 2024 and 2025, following on from years of growth, and things show no sign of slowing down. At Ocado, searches for “alcohol-free beers” are up 176 per cent year on year, with sales rising 15 per cent. While the de-alcoholisation process can result in overly sweet beers lacking bitterness and hoppiness (and that is certainly still the case with many alcohol-free beers) the overall quality is vastly improving. Many of the new crop of alcohol-free beers are barely distinguishable from a good alcoholic beer. Here, we taste 19 varieties to find the best lagers and IPAs (and one stout) for when you’re looking to cut down on your alcohol without missing the pleasure. Shorts Bero Kingston Golden Pils £6.25 for four 330ml cans, Ocado An amber, almost dark larger that packs a suitable punch in flavour. Those who prefer an ale or even Guinness will find plenty to enjoy in this golden pils, which has a bitter hoppiness and nice toasty, malty flavour. Unlike some mainstream alcohol-free lagers, there is no cloying sweetness. An excellent drink. 5/5 M&S low-alcohol Czech lager £5 for four 300ml cans, M&S Czech lagers tend towards rich and malty, often with a hoppy finish. This 0.5 per cent version gives up none of the full-bodiedness. It’s well-rounded, elegant and punchy, although there is a touch too much sweetness to the finish. Very drinkable, but not quite as good as the top-level beers. 4/5 Heineken 0.05 alcohol-free lager £5 for six 330ml cans, Sainsbury’s A very pale lager, almost like a Corona. There is little beer flavour – it could be flavoured sparkling water. It’s not unpleasant, per se, and would go down easily if drinking a few over a long, sunny afternoon, but if you are after a replacement for a proper beer, this might be underwhelming. 3/5 Nirvana Best amber ale £2.94 for one 500ml bottle, The Alcohol Free Co Real ale fans may enjoy this golden-coloured drink that has a very floral finish. It’s complex, with nutty, malty and spicy notes of coriander and cumin. Evokes cosy country pubs and warm fires. Though nice, the mishmash of flavours veered slightly towards pot-pourri for me. 3/5 Jiddler’s Tipple All Day Pale Ale £1.90 for one 300ml can, Ocado A fruity pale ale with all the notes of citrus (grapefruit and lemon) that has come to be expected of the craft beer movement. Hoppy and tropical, this is delightful when ice cold, perfect for a sunny barbecue, and at 0 per cent is almost like a grown-up soft drink. Delicious. 4.5/5 Sainte Etienne alcohol free lager 89p for one 500ml bottle, Aldi A light-straw coloured lager, there is a hint of maltiness and spicy, bitter backnotes. Very good value, but, unfortunately, let down by being too sweet. 3/5 Lucky Saint low-alcohol lager £6 for four 330ml cans, Sainsbury’s From one of Britain’s leading alcohol-free breweries, this pale yellow lager is drinkable if a touch middle of the road. It is crisp and refreshing, but could pack a little more punch, flavourwise, with a bit more hoppy, bitter notes. 2.5/5 Rheinbacher pilsner 0 per cent £3.29 for six 330ml bottles, Aldi A crisp, refreshing German-style pilsner with a straw colour. There’s nice bitterness and hoppy notes, but like many alcohol-free beers, also an unwelcome sweetness. Not bad, but there are better out there, even if it is very affordable. 2.5/5 M&S 0.5 per cent low alcohol pale ale £1.65 for one 330ml bottle, M&S Very pale, lemonade-coloured. Brewed in conjunction with Adnams in Suffolk. This is nice and fruity, with notes of passionfruit and pineapple, but a little thin overall, lacking the heft of an alcohol drink (which some zero percent options do manage to reproduce well). 2.5/5 Daura Damm 0.0 per cent gluten free £5 for four 330ml, Ocado A rare gluten-free option, this is very fizzy, with thin bubbles, and tastes of little more than sweetness – almost like a sparkling juice. Those after something more grown-up, with a hoppy, malty, bitter taste, should look elsewhere. 2/5 M&S 0.5 per cent low-alcohol British craft lager £1.65 for one 330ml can, M&S A light, drinkable lager which happily avoids the cloying sugariness of many alcohol-free beers. It is a little one-note, and could do with more malty, hoppy flavours. A decent replacement for alcoholic lager. 3.5/5 Mash Gang alcohol-free chug hazy IPA £5 for four 330ml cans, Waitrose With a funky can design and hoppy, tropical notes, this is the modern craft beer playbook, and the drink itself doesn’t disappoint. With hints of passionfruit, grapefruit and lemon, this will please those who like a fruity ale, while there is enough bitterness to (just about) forget you’re drinking alcohol-free. 4/5 Erdinger alkoholfrei wheat beer £2 for one 500ml bottle, Morrisons A stalwart of the alcohol-free beer scene, having first been introduced in 2001, this reworking of the iconic German beer is up there with the best non-alcoholic versions around. As a wheat beer it displays the spicy tasting notes typical of the genre (think clove and coriander). It is ever-so-slightly too sweet, but less so than some competitors. 4/5 Athletic Brewing Co Run Wild IPA £5 for four 355ml cans, Tesco A nice crisp IPA with a very decent balance of malt, hops and wheat. It’s not excessively fruity or citrussy, as some IPAs can be, making it a far more approachable drink. One of the best alcohol-free beers around, you could get through a few of these in an afternoon. 5/5 Guinness 0.0 per cent alcohol-free stout £5.45 for four 440ml cans, Sainsbury’s Guinness has taken the beer world by storm over the past few years, so it’s no surprise it swiftly released an alcohol-free version. It lacks some of the body and bitterness of the original, and is a touch on the sweet side, but it is a decent approximation and very drinkable. 4/5 Perlenbacher Pilsner 0.0 per cent £3.29 for six 330ml bottle, Lidl Surprisingly punchy in flavour, this light, German-style lager has plenty of wheaty, spicy notes common to beers of the region. There’s a little maltiness, too, and it avoids the overly sweet, caramelly notes of some similar alcohol-free beers. A great budget option. 4/5 Paulaner Weissbeer 0.0 per cent £2.20 for one 500ml bottle, Coop Far too sweet, its mix of sugar and wheat notes make it taste a little like muesli – great for breakfast, not ideal for a beer. 2/5 Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0% £13.25 for 12 330ml bottles, Tesco A light lager that is easy drinking if not standout in any way. Though not as sweet as some, its caramelly notes let it down a little, but it isn’t unpleasant. 3/5 Proper Job IPA 0.5 per cent £1.85 for one 500ml bottle, Ocado Proper Job is one of Britain’s best loved old-school IPAs, with a delicate hoppiness that’s much more subtle than the in-your-face American offerings that have come to dominate. This alcohol-free version is a competent copy, almost as good as the original. 4.5/5