The 8 Best Non-Alcoholic Beers, According To Our Taste-Testing Panel
We tested 27 beers with a panel of Forbes Vetted staffers to find the best non-alcoholic beers ... More across a range of categories. Rebecca Isaacs for Forbes
We tried NA beers from big-name beer industry brands like Sam Adams and Coors, as well brews from newer players, like Untitled Art and Sober Carpenter. Across all beer types, from stouts to sours to hazy IPAs, we found at least one excellent NA beer that even aficionados of regular beer will be happy to sip. Since taste is subjective, we included runner-ups as well as notes on beers that didn't make our list, but that you may still enjoy.
Forbes Vetted
Forbes Vetted ratings are based on thorough evaluations by our editorial team to help you choose the best products with confidence.
Quantity: (6, 12) 12-ounce cans | Price: $13.99 and up | Tasting Notes: Hoppy, malt balance, light bitterness
If you had just one chance to convince a beer drinker that non-alcoholic beer can be great, the Athletic Brewing's celebrated Run Wild IPA is our top recommendation. I've been enjoying this hop-forward but balanced golden brew for years, and I was thrilled that it was met with universal approval from our blind tasting panel as well. One taster noted its 'classic hoppy IPA aroma' and called the mouthfeel 'the most carbonated and full of the [IPAs].' Another called it a 'very convincing IPA' and said it would pair well with a wide array of foods. One panelist went a bit father, saying in part: 'Now that's an IPA! My goodness, it's bitter, but it's not overpowering. It's… simply well-balanced and lovely. This is my new all-time favorite NA beer, hands down.'
Run Wild IPA is rated at 35 IBUs (international bitterness units—we'll get into that below), which is technically on the low side for an IPA-style beer. The exceptional balance achieved by the use of five different types of hops, a barley and oat grain bill (a grain bill simply being the types of grain used), and just the right yeast strain (yeast has a huge impact on a finished beer's flavor—Athletic keeps their yeast choices a proprietary secret, FYI) come together in sensational form here. Run Wild ran away with the lead in the NA IPA category.
Athletic Brewing's Run Wild IPA won as best non-alcoholic IPA. Panelists loved its hoppy, balanced ... More flavors. Rebecca Isaacs for Forbes
Best Runner-Up IPA: Best Day Brewing West Coast IPA
Crisp and hoppy, this NA beer is more fruit-forward than Athletic's Run Wild, thanks primarily to the generous use of Cascade hops. Maltiness keeps things balanced, and overall it was the clear runner-up. It's very good beer in its own right, just not quite as flavorful as our winner.
Forbes Vetted
Forbes Vetted ratings are based on thorough evaluations by our editorial team to help you choose the best products with confidence.
Quantity: (6, 12) 12-ounce cans | Price: $13.99 and up | Tasting Notes: Balanced, light malt, smooth
One of our Forbes Vetted NA beer tasters said of this lager-style brew: '[It] feels like a perfect balance of sour and bitter without feeling overpowering. It's got a hint of citrus or lemon [and while] some beers leave an unpleasant aftertaste in your mouth, this one turns almost into a slightly sweet aftertaste.' In classic lager style, the hops here are subtle and the malt profile is slightly sweet and slightly bready. It's a crisp and refreshing beer but not quite light, though it's certainly easy drinking (it has 98 calories, which is less than some beers we tried but also five times the caloric content of other NA beers we tested).
The words 'crisp' and 'refreshing' came up for at least three of our panelists. Asked about pairing ideas, one panelist said: 'I would honestly pair this with my parents' backyard patio and drink it without anything. It stands on its own.' There's not much higher praise than that.
Runner-Up Lager: Clausthaler NA Original
This brew will remind you why German beer is celebrated all around the globe: it's crisp, refreshing and balanced, and it has been around since the year 1979, so you know it's getting things right. If you're a fan of German classics like Beck's, you'll love a cold Clausthaler.
Forbes Vetted
Forbes Vetted ratings are based on thorough evaluations by our editorial team to help you choose the best products with confidence.
Quantity: (6) 12-ounce cans| Price: $15.99 and up | Tasting Notes: Chocolate, toasted bread, peanut butter
This wild mouth party of an NA beer is as dark as a cola and has an aroma our panelists described as having notes of caramel, syrup and bread. One tester described it as smelling like 'chocolate and happiness;' another exclaimed'Oh my god!' upon a first sip. This stout-style beer does indeed have notes of peanut butter, a potent but not overpowering sweetness, and a bedrock of malt flavor to anchor it. One taster said it was almost like a liquid beer milkshake and left hints of caramel, coffee and chocolate on the palate, while another said it tasted like 'cream soda meets coffee meets caramel' and added it was just 'so good.'
The carbonation in Bravus Brewing's Peanut Butter Dark is a bit on the low side, but that tracks with the mouthfeel of a regular stout, so that barely shaved half a point off of our rating. This is one of those rare beers that everyone liked well, some loved, and no one didn't finish. Bravus Brewing recommends an oddly specific pairing of 'chicken wings and risotto' on its site; we'd recommend anything from shellfish to grilled meats to dessert foods.
The Bravus Brewing Peanut Dark won as best stout in our tests, thanks to an aroma our panelists ... More described as having notes of caramel, syrup and bread, and a peanut butter and chocolate flavor profile. Rebecca Isaacs for Forbes
Runner-Up Stout: Guinness 0.0
This non-alcoholic brew from Guiness tastes an awful lot like the classic Irish stout. One panelist noted its 'lovely shade of chocolate brown color' while another called out 'hints of coffee and cola' in the flavor profile. And several remarked on how it tasted like Guinness.
Forbes Vetted
Forbes Vetted ratings are based on thorough evaluations by our editorial team to help you choose the best products with confidence.
Quantity: (6, 12, 24) 12-ounce cans | Price: $13.99 and up | Tasting Notes: Citrus, light hops, light malt
Also known as New England IPA, hazy IPAs are unfiltered, thus a cloudy appearance and a softer mouthfeel than traditional IPAs. Rather than a crispness, you get more of a smooth, almost creamy texture. Hazy IPAs are juicy and fruit-forward in flavor, with the malt nestling beneath the hops. I use all this time to describe the beer category generally because Athletic Brewing's Free Wave Hazy IPA embodies the beer type wonderfully well. It's golden and cloudy in color and has an aroma that's mildly sweet. It has what one tester described as 'almost like a grapefruit or citrus scent,' while another pointed out that it smelled more like fruit than hops.
This beer was universally enjoyed, though one panelist did feel it was 'not full flavored.' To that end, when you take the alcohol out of a beer, you do remove one of its main flavor components; the flavor of alcohol does play against the other notes in 'regular' beers. That said, Athletic Brewing has done a great job not only making a tasty beer, but making one that fits into a specific brew category.
The juicy, fruit-forward Athletic Brewing Free Wave Hazy IPA took the prize as best non-alcoholic ... More hazy IPA. Rebecca Isaacs for Forbes
Hazy IPA Runner Up: Sam Adams Just the Haze
Our tasters had much the same notes about the Sam Adams Just the Haze NA hazy IPA as they did about Free Wave, it's just that Free Wave has more flavor. Just the Haze has definite citrus notes—almost lemony notes—and it's definitely hazy.
Amazon Go Brewing Suspended in a Sunbeam Pils
Forbes Vetted
Forbes Vetted ratings are based on thorough evaluations by our editorial team to help you choose the best products with confidence.
Quantity: (6, 12) 12-ounce cans | Price: $14 and up | Tasting Notes: Refreshing, hoppy, bitter
This golden yellow pilsner flirts with the line of its category. It almost has some IPA-like qualities, despite having been aged at lager temperatures (which is to say, colder temperatures.) Why do I say that? It's the hops. 'This is a very, very bitter pilsner, but that's not bad,' said a Forbes Vetted panelist, adding that the hops stood out. Those are German hops, and this beer is made with German malt, too. Suspended In A Sunbeam follows the famed (and oft derided) Reinheitsgebot, or 'Purity Law,' a Bavarian law passed in 1516 stating that beer can be made of only four ingredients: water, barley, yeast and hops.
While most panelists very much enjoyed this crisp, hop-forward pilsner, palates differ: one found it to have an 'artificial maple syrup-like' aroma yet found the flavor profile not at all sweet and overall 'not great.' Palates differ.
Forbes Vetted
Forbes Vetted ratings are based on thorough evaluations by our editorial team to help you choose the best products with confidence.
Quantity: (6) 12-ounce cans | Price: $26 and up | Tasting Notes: Malty, citrus
Here was an example of one of the major breweries trying to recreate the success of a well-known beer in NA form and succeeding. This cloudy, pale yellow wheat beer has an aroma that's got a definite citrus edge, but it's quite complex. One taster said: 'The smell has sweet notes to it, but also a spicy, aromatic texture, which remind me almost of cinnamon or apples.' The flavor profile has a lemon hint and plenty of malty sweetness, and there's even a slight spice flavor.
Basically, what the panelists were describing it without knowing which beer they were drinking was a Blue Moon. I'll posit that, much like the Guinness 0.0 before it, the brewery has done a good job coming up with a non-alcoholic doppelganger of their much beloved (and sometimes derided) and easy-drinking Belgian-style wheat beer.
Wheat Runner Up: Weihenstephaner Hefeweisbier
This imported NA brew has the true flavor of a German wheat beer. Because it is. A rich amber color, this hefe is big on malt, with a bready aroma and flavor that begs for it to be paired with sausages, sauerkraut, and roasted potatoes.
Forbes Vetted
Forbes Vetted ratings are based on thorough evaluations by our editorial team to help you choose the best products with confidence.
Quantity: (12) 12-ounce cans | Price: $30 and up | Tasting Notes: Sour, fruit-forward
If you're looking to eat some bold, flavorful foods and you want a perfect counterbalance in a beverage, reach for Go Brewing's New School Sour Berry NA beer. One of our testers said of this pink-colored brew: 'This would be great for a warm summer night at a BBQ. I think the sour could nicely play off the sweetness of the BBQ.' I couldn't agree more. Made with water, barley, hops, yeast, and juice from blueberries and strawberries, it's a well balanced and tasty sour beer.
The sourness is potent enough here that at first some people might even think this beer has turned rancid. Live with it for a second, let your tastebuds calm down, and then begin to notice that behind that sharp, tart leading edge are hops and malt to balance it out.
Amazon Coors Edge Non-Alcoholic Brew
Forbes Vetted
Forbes Vetted ratings are based on thorough evaluations by our editorial team to help you choose the best products with confidence.
Quantity: (5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 24, 30) 12-ounce bottles | Price: $11 and up | Tasting Notes: Mild hops, light sweetness
There was little division among the Forbes Vetted tasting panel when it came to this brew. One Vetted staffer said of Coors Edge: 'This one is surprisingly refreshing. It has a sweet taste that's very, very light. It's not overpowering, and it's not too sickly sweet. It's very lovely.' She was shocked when she found out this wasn't the work of craft brew outfit, but a mega-brewery. Another praised the vivacious carbonation that led to an exciting mouthfeel.
A 12-ounce serving of Coors Edge contains 41 calories, thus us highlighting it as a low calorie NA beer. There are many NA beers with many fewer calories, but this one truly tastes like a beer, not like a lightly-hopped seltzer water, making it our winner in the category. It has a good hop/malt balance and is quite refreshing. Plus, you can get this beer in a variety of size packs at Amazon, making it a great choice for stocking a party or gathering.
The widely appealing Coors Edge Non-Alcoholic Brew won as best low-calorie non-alcoholic beer, and ... More as a bonus, it comes in a variety of size packs. Rebecca Isaacs for Forbes
Low Calorie Runner-Up: Athletic Lite
This has been one of my go-to lawnmower beers for years, so I was glad that some other panelists enjoyed it to, with one calling it 'bitter" ''real' beer tasting.' This is a 25-calorie NA brew that is as refreshing as Gatorade. Other Non-Alcoholic Beers We Tested
These are the other brews we tried that just didn't make the cut as winners or as runners-up. They may still have fans elsewhere, so we included some tasting notes in case you want to check the mout.
Athletic Brewing All Out Extra Dark (3.25/5 stars): This brew smells great with roasted chocolate notes, but most tasters found it a bit too bitter for the category.
Athletic Brewing Wit's Peak Belgian Style White (3/5 stars): While this is a refreshing brew with a bit of citrus to it, the mouthfeel is too thin for a wheat beer; some found it watery.
Best Day Brewing Hazy IPA (3/5 stars): While Best Day's Hazy IPA certainly looks right and smells good, it just doesn't have enough flavor compared to others we tried.
Hedlum Grapefruit Love (3/5 stars): Grapefruit Love tastes more like a lemonade than a beer. It's not bad, but may not be a fit for what your palate will be expecting.
Lagunitas IPNA (3.5/5 stars): This one was divisive. I personally love this brew, and think it fits the IPA category well, but many other tasters described it as medicinal and unpleasant.
Partake Brewing Pils (2.75/5 stars): Ironically, this pilsner brew almost had too much flavor for many tasters, being more bitter than they felt suited a pilsner.
Stella Artois 0.0 (3.25/5 stars): Another divisive brew, the feelings here were split between true beer flavor and bitterness without balance. Many did agree it tasted close to Stella once they knew the brewery, though.
Untitled Art Grapefruit Radler (3/5 stars): This radler was so fruity that it tastes more like juice than beer. This is a brew some people will love, others will pour out.
Woodland Farms Ruby Sour (3/5 stars): There's real fruit added to this beer, and you can tell upon sipping it. The tart finish will be welcomed by some, but others on our panel found it to be overpowering. How We Tested The Best Non-Alcoholic Beers
Let's take a moment to fully acknowledge that taste is subjective: You may loathe a beer I love, and love a beer I'd prefer to never sip again. We enlisted a taste-test panel of several people to arrive our top picks for each category of NA beer. Here's how we tested:
We conducted a blind taste with 26 brews to find the best non-alcoholic beers. Rebecca Isaacs for Forbes I considered a baseline of what an alcoholic beer should taste like, which is a balance of malt and hops tied together by yeast, and with a slight touch of heat from the alcohol (there are caveats based on category, as well as ingredients like added fruit). NA beers have extra work to do to tease flavor out of their grain bill, hops and yeast to compensate for the near total absence of alcohol. Tasters considered this while sampling beers.
I established different categories of beer types to consider popular NA brews. These categories included IPA, hazy IPA, Pilsner, lager, stout, wheat, sour and low-calorie.
I spoke to experts in the non-alcoholic beverage world to gain their insights into what makes the best non-alcoholic beers. I also sought suggestions of specific breweries and brews to include in our tests.
I did extensive research on popular non-alcoholic breweries and identified which of their NA beers might best fit into each slot described above.
I secured beers from at least three breweries that fit into each category and then gathered our panel. Each beer was served chilled to approximately 40 degrees Fahrenheit in a clear cup labeled simply 1, 2 or 3—only I knew which beer was in which cup. The panelists spent over three hours sipping NA beers and leaving detailed notes on each tasting experience, cleansing palates in between tasting with crackers and water.
I compiled all of the notes and ratings into one document and established winners (and in many cases runners-up) based on averaging ratings and on the praise or criticism of each beer. Why Trust Forbes Vetted
The Forbes Vetted staff has extensive experience testing and reviewing the best non-alcoholic drinks, and we brought the same level of scrutiny to testing the best non-alcoholic beers as we do to all of our product evaluations.
We spoke with three experts and pored over NA beer offerings to find 26 to test. Rebecca Isaacs for Forbes Forbes Vetted staff writer Steven John wrote this article. Not only has John worked as a journalist for more than 13 years, he is a hobbyist beer brewer, ran a (now defunct) beer review website for many years and has written scores of articles covering the food and beverage space.
This article was edited by Anna Perling, the senior reviews editor with Forbes Vetted. Perling has years of experience testing the best non-alcoholic drinks.
A team of Forbes Vetted staffers convened to conduct a blind taste test of nearly 30 different NA beers. They shared extensive notes and ratings for every brew they sipped.
Prior to selecting which non-alcoholic beers to test, John spoke to several experts in the non-alcoholic beer space, including Matthew Campion, the co-founder of Lunchbox Brewing Company, Alison Morris Roslyn, a level three sommelier and the founder and CEO of Francey Not Fancy and Richard Simm, owner of Fonthill Brewing Co.
As with any product category, we know new NA beers hit the market frequently and that breweries sometimes cease production of certain beers. We will update this article periodically to make sure it remains relevant. This version was last published in July 2025. How To Choose The Best Non-Alcoholic Beers
There was one view expressed by every taste-testing panelist and every expert to whom I spoke for this story: The best non-alcoholic beers 'actually tastes like real beer,' says Roslyn. It's a simple sentiment, but it's a truth for this NA beverage category—especially now that so many delicious brews are available after decades during which only a few subpar NA beers were available. Here are the factors to consider when looking for the best non-alcoholic beers, across a range of categories.
Consider factors like taste, aroma, style and more when choosing the best non-alcoholic beers for ... More you. Rebecca Isaacs for Forbes Appearance
Assuming you enjoy your beers in a glass, the first sensory experience you will have with an NA beer is visual. Does the beer meet your expectations in terms of color, clarity and head retention? An NA stout should be dark and hold that foam. A hazy IPA should be cloudy, as should a non-alcoholic wheat beer. Pilsners and lagers should golden. A beer's appearance should match its category. Aroma
You can tell a lot about a beer, non-alcoholic or regular, by its scent. Do you detect those wonderfully bitter hops in the aroma? Is there a citrus note? Or maybe pine forest? As with appearance, the aroma of an NA beer should match your expectations, with IPAs smelling hoppy, stouts smelling of chocolate, toast or coffee, and so on. Mouthfeel
Mouthfeel, in the context of NA beer and alcoholic beer, too, refers to the physical sensations a beer creates in your mouth and on your tongue. That goes beyond just taste and aroma. It's the sensation of the carbonation, and the thick and creamy or light and smooth feel of the liquid. It's also how the finish lingers on your tongue and palate after each sip. Taste
The way an NA beer tastes is what matters the most (given, of course, that taste depends on the drinker). That hazy IPA needs to be citrus fruit-forward, that IPA hoppy, that stout robust and toasty, and so forth. There's latitude in each style of beer as long as certain tasting note boxes are checked.
The best NA beers will match the taste of a beer style even without alcohol. 'Not all beer styles translate equally well to NA,' says Campion. 'Alcohol contributes significantly to aroma, mouthfeel and flavor perception. Without it, certain styles often fall flat.' That certainly wasn't the case with our winners and runners-up. Beer Style
As with regular beer, when choosing your favorite non-alcoholic beer, reach for the kind of brew you want to drink given the season, food pairing or the occasion. 'As NA alternatives have come along, there are a wide variety of NA equivalents to almost every style of beer,' says Simm. 'There are some great NA IPAs and darker beers which are becoming more popular.' Many beers will list suggested pairings or tasting notes; we've included these in our guide as well.
What Are Some Suggestions For Non-Alcoholic Beer Food Pairings?
Pale ales and IPAs 'pair well with grilled foods, tacos, spicy dishes and fried foods, where the bitterness helps cut through richness and elevate flavor,' says Campion. He adds that NA stouts and porters have a 'roasted malt character—think coffee, chocolate, dark toast' that adds body and complexity, creating a satisfying experience. He recommends enjoying these types of beers with 'BBQ, smoked meats or desserts like chocolate cake.'
Which Is The Best Non-Alcoholic Beer?
In our tests, Athletic Brewing Run Wild IPA won as the best non-alcoholic IPA, while the Sam Adams Golden Lager took the prize for best non-alcoholic lager. We included picks for a range of categories as well as tasting notes so you can choose the best non-alcoholic beer for your palate, mood or meal.
Why Has Non-Alcoholic Beer Gotten So Much Better?
Non-alcoholic beer is now taken seriously as a category instead of being treated as an afterthought, which has helped improve NA beer offerings. 'Mass produced non-alcoholic beers often taste quite sweet, either because the lack of alcohol makes the taste of these residual sugars more prominent, or the addition of ingredients to improve mouthfeel,' says Simm. While some large breweries do offer good NA brews, often it's smaller craft breweries focused on non-alcoholic beers that truly nail each style.
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