The best alcohol free beers: low and non-alcohol IPAs, lagers and more

In the low and no world, Mash Gang draws the same level of hype as many full strength beers.

Look out for one-off collaborations with various well known breweries, but Chug is an exceptional core range option. An easy drinking Extra Pale Ale is hopped with Galaxy, Citra, El Dorado, Amarillo, Vic Secret and has an inspired touch of chili to jazz things up.

Another alcohol free version of a flagship beer, Cerveza is a straw coloured lager. It's gluten-free to boot and vegan-friendly.

Its backbone of bready crackers is met with a crisp and dry finish. Natural lime extract has been added to give it a Mexican twist. It’s super fresh and zingy, making it great on its own or with lots of food pairings.

LowKey is Unbarred’s first alcohol free beer and the Brighton-based brewery is off to a great start. This 0.5% beer is slightly hazy and very pale. It’s easygoing and smashable so makes for a perfect ‘fridge filler’. Lining up with a lot of popular hop profiles of citrus and tropical fruits without going over the top. Great with pizza, on its own or just with about anything.

Alcohol free versions of existing beers are becoming more regular in the craft world and Proper Job is one of the latest to get the designated-driver-friendly treatment.

It doesn’t have the unwanted qualities of AF ales of years gone by and is remarkably close to the real thing. It pours crystal clear and has a solid punch of grapefruit bitterness from the hops balanced by caramel biscuit undertones. 0.5% ABV.

Fresh is certainly the right name for this beer. It's bursting with vibrant hop aroma, as if you were nosing a handful of hops on a brewery tour.

Pouring hazy and pale, it caters to arguably the most popular style in craft beer right now and has a robust body while remaining suitably light. Flavours include pineapple, mango, citrus and stone fruits followed by a pleasant middling bitterness. An AF beer perfect for anytime, any place.

Easily one of the best versions of an existing beer but without the alcohol, Sonoma is a triumph, capturing the personality of this classic Pale Ale at 0.5%.

Sure, it’s not identical. It misses some body but it still has a lovely hazy profile with plenty of pithy zesty citrus zing and tropical fruit flavour. Its pillowy, low bitterness finish makes it very approachable and universal.

A sour pale is unusual in general, let alone in the AF world. Sleight of Hand is just that. Its delicate acidity is reminiscent of sour sweets and even newbies to sours should give it a whirl.

It’s a palette cleanser of a beer with lemon 'n' lime vibes and subtle tropical notes. Clean and slightly hazy, it’s refreshing and will make for a thirst-quencher in summer.

There are a number of AF sour beers out there but a Gose, brewed with added salt, is a rare find. That’s not a problem for dedicated alcohol free (and vegan-friendly) brewery Brulo.

The five fruits of the name are mango, passionfruit, guava, apricot, and orange. All get a say when sipping this beer. It’s refreshing and smooth, and though it doesn’t feature coriander which is traditional for a Gose, the addition of sea salt gives it a salt-rim margarita vibe.

It was a while coming but Thornbridge has expanded its alcohol free range to include a version of its popular New England Session IPA without the booze - as well as, more recently, its flagship beer, Jaipur.

As you’d expect from the style, it’s hazy with a soft and creamy body and packed with juicy tropical flavour. Low bitterness makes it approachable whereas those looking for more punch should opt for Jaipur.

Wiper & True’s first alcohol free beer being a lager is a bold move as you can’t hide behind mountains of juicy hops.

That doesn’t matter though, as this German style Helles is outstanding with an inviting soft, bready flavour and mellow bitterness. Wiper is using a first for an independent brewery where the beer is brewed to 5% then de-alcoholised with reverse osmosis.

After having to recall the first batch, Guinness 0.0 is back and we can safely say it’s one of the best AF beers we’ve ever tasted. Arriving in 440ml with the infamous nitro widget to give it that quintessential thick and creamy head.

Brewed using a new cold filtration process, Guinness really has made this taste just like the real deal only without the alcohol. We bet in a blind taste test, many people wouldn’t be able to pick out which was 0.0.

Added to our list of the best non-alcohol beers by popular demand, his UK-based brand (although it brews its beer in Germany) has been applauded for its quality taste. It's certainly a brand to watch.

Lucky Saint has a richer, maltier flavour than even a lot of alcoholic lagers and just the right amount of bitterness. It’s really one where you won’t notice the lack of booze.

53 calories per 330ml bottle

Also available from Amazon

With the Infinite Session Pils no longer being brewed, our next choice is this IPA from Infinite Session. There's a real citrus punch here, thanks to the Amarillo & Citra hops used.

You get a decent mouth feel as well, which is normally missing when the alcohol has been taken out.

As it says on the can, this is infinitely sessionable and the brewery also has a pale ale and helles in its repertoire.

36 calories per 300ml can

One of the newest AF lagers on this list and we're impressed with its taste. There are two different beers available: Days Lager and Days Pale Ale. We've tried them both and it's the Days Lager that gets our vote (the IPA has more of a wheat-like taste, if that's your thing). There's a crispness to the drink that's cut with citrus.

Lervig are craft beer producers that are based in Stavanger, Norway - they bought the brewery in their town when it was mass producing 'not great' beer - and its No Worries is an AF beer with real punch. It is lightly hopped which means that it is a refreshing pale ale with something of a floral note throughout.

A refreshing wheat beer which still has the zing of an ale with alcohol in it. It's packed with vitamins too, with both B12 and folic acid making an appearance and we really liked the sweetness of the beer. If you aren't a fan then adding a slice of lime really cuts through this.

If you fancy something fruity then North is on hand with its first alcohol free Pale Ale with added grapefruit puree. Full on aromas and flavours of the fruit dominate in this beer but a decent hit of Idaho 7 and Bru 1 in the whirlpool and dry hop stages of the brew bring underlying notes of tropical fruit, pine and more.

This Hazy Pale ale by Firebrand Brewing Co is billed as the "first truly Cornish alcohol-free craft beer" and it's one that passed our taste test with flying colours. There's a real richness to the flavour here, giving the beer a mouth feel normally missing from the AF category. Dry hopped with Simcoe, Citra and Cascade varieties, Shorebreak has a tropical fruit flavour and a decent amount of body. This is impressive as it's also lactose free, so suitable for vegans.

If you’re a big fan of Northern Monk’s flagship Hazy Pale Ale then this Holy version is the obvious choice for if or when you need it to be alcohol free.

Initially a one-off brew, it’s now readily available including in Morissons supermarkets and offers up delightfully fresh and zesty notes along with lashings of juicy stone fruit thanks to a combination of Citra, El Dorado and Simcoe hops.

The best-selling craft alcohol-free beer in the USA has reached the UK and there are a whole host of AF beer varieties to choose from - including witbier, golden ale and a dark ale, too. Our pick, though, is the (very) sessionable Run Wild IPA. It's got a slightly bitter taste with enough hops there to give the beer that all-important mouth feel. Each can is only 65 calories and there's no more than 0.5% alcohol in the beer.

Jupiler is Belgian's number one beer so we were excited to see an AF version of the popular lager. Flavour wise, it starts off sweet and ends a touch bitter but it is effortlessly drinkable. There isn't much carbonation in this one and we would have liked to have tasted the hops more, but if you are after a crisp-tasting lager then this one does the trick.

Ghost Ship is a good example of an alcohol free version of a flagship beer. It is great if you want something more on the traditional ale side of the beer spectrum.

This is a light and citrusy pale ale that will disappear in a flash. It really doesn’t taste far off the regular 4.5% version, partly thanks to some reverse osmosis kit which avoids the high temperatures often used to remove the alcohol, with flavour being a casualty.

The beer is available in 500ml bottles, and now in cans too.

105 calories per 500ml bottle

You’ll know this US brewery for its popular lager, and likely many other beers too. Special Effects recently made its debut in the UK and is well worth a try.

It has a solid malt base but is, unusually for a low alcohol beer, dry hopped giving it an aroma more common to an IPA. This makes is a nice middle ground, so will appeal to most drinkers and pairs with a wide range of food.

Brooklyn says it has developed a fermentation method that limits the amount of alcohol produced. Special Effects comes out at 0.4%.

96 calories per 330ml bottle

If you want a punchy IPA that's got all of the mouth feel of a craft ale with a higher ABV, then Lazer Crush is what you need. There are tropical notes with mango and peach hitting hardest. This isn't a sweet drink, though, as there's enough grapefruit on board to balance with bitterness. If you are looking for a bit more alcohol (but still in the low ABV range) then the 2.8% Nanobot, a super-session IPA, is also a favourite of ours.

Some breweries solely make alcohol free beers, and Big Drop leads the way.

Accompanying the attractive artwork on the label is a great range of beers including a sour. But this is the best stout in the low alcohol category as it stands. It’s on the sweet side thanks to the addition of lactose but also has a nice roasted malt and chocolate character.

Seek out the range and watch out for some collaboration brews.

91 calories per 330ml bottle