Non-alcoholic beer has gone from a sad, watery afterthought to one of the fastest-growing categories in British drinking, and the question we hear more than almost any other on tours these days is some version of "hang on, is this stuff actually good for you, or is it just marketing?" It's a fair thing to ask, because "alcohol-free" sounds virtuous by default, and drinks marketing is very good at borrowing that halo. The honest answer sits in the middle: non-alcoholic beer isn't a health drink, but for most people it isn't bad for you either — it's simply a different product, and it's worth understanding how it's made before deciding what it means for you.
What actually counts as "non-alcoholic" beer?
In the UK, the labelling is more precise than the marketing suggests. Alcohol-free beer must be 0.05% ABV or below — low enough that it's roughly in line with the trace alcohol you'd find naturally in a ripe banana or a loaf of bread. Low alcohol beer can run up to 1.2% ABV, noticeably higher than alcohol-free but still a fraction of a typical 4–6% craft beer. De-alcoholised beer describes the process rather than the strength — it means a full-strength beer was brewed first and then had its alcohol removed. None of these categories are interchangeable, so if the exact alcohol content matters to you, always check the can rather than assuming from the word "free" on the front.
How is non-alcoholic beer actually made?
There are two broad approaches. The first is restricted fermentation — using special low-alcohol-tolerant yeast strains, cooler fermentation temperatures, or stopping fermentation early, so very little alcohol is ever produced in the first place. The second is dealcoholisation: brewing a completely normal beer and then removing the alcohol afterwards, most commonly by vacuum distillation, which boils off the alcohol at a much lower temperature than normal (protecting delicate hop and malt flavours), or by reverse osmosis and cold filtration, which physically strip the alcohol out. Vacuum distillation is now the method of choice for most of the better modern alcohol-free craft beers, which is a big part of why the category tastes so much better than it did a decade ago — you're no longer just drinking a beer that never got the chance to ferment properly.
Is non-alcoholic beer bad for you?
For most healthy adults, no — an occasional 0.5% beer isn't something to worry about. Without meaningful alcohol, you avoid alcohol's calories (roughly 7 kcal per gram, on top of whatever's in the beer itself), its effect on sleep quality, and the various longer-term health risks associated with regular drinking. That said, "alcohol-free" doesn't automatically mean "low calorie" or "low sugar" — some brands are close to a soft drink nutritionally, while others, particularly stouts and richer styles, can carry a similar sugar and calorie load to a standard beer because the malt sugars that didn't ferment into alcohol are still sitting in the glass. If you're watching sugar or calories specifically rather than alcohol, it's worth checking the label rather than assuming "alcohol-free" does that job for you — much the same logic as our piece on how many calories are in a pint of beer.
Is alcohol-free beer actually healthier than regular beer?
In the specific, narrow sense of alcohol-related risk, yes — removing the alcohol removes the alcohol-related downsides, from the calories in pure ethanol to its effects on the liver, sleep and mood over time. But it isn't a wellness product, and it isn't correct to call it "healthy" in a general sense any more than you'd call a can of cola healthy just because it's non-alcoholic. Think of it as a genuinely useful lower-risk alternative for nights when you don't want the effects of alcohol, rather than something to drink for its health benefits. If you're curious how alcohol strength is actually measured and compares across styles, our guide to units in a pint of beer covers the maths.
Can you drink non-alcoholic beer when pregnant, or before driving?
UK guidance is to avoid alcohol entirely during pregnancy, and because "alcohol-free" beer can still legally contain trace alcohol up to 0.05%, some people choose to avoid the whole category to be completely safe, while others are comfortable with it given how small that trace amount is. This is a personal medical question rather than a beer question, so please take guidance from your GP or midwife rather than a blog post. For driving, 0.05% ABV beer is very unlikely to register on a breathalyser or affect you, but if you're drinking several in one sitting or you're at all unsure, it's sensible to check the specific product's ABV and use your own judgement.
Does it actually taste any good these days?
Considerably better than it used to. Vacuum-distilled and carefully brewed alcohol-free beers can now genuinely resemble the style they're imitating — hoppy pale ales with real aroma, stouts with proper roast character, even reasonable approximations of a session IPA. It's not universal; some budget alcohol-free lagers are still fairly thin, and dealcoholisation inevitably strips out some body and mouthfeel along with the alcohol. But the gap between a good alcohol-free craft beer and its full-strength equivalent has narrowed dramatically, which is exactly why the category has grown so fast rather than staying a niche for designated drivers.
Where to try good non-alcoholic beer in London
Dedicated low- and no-alcohol brands are now widely available in London bottle shops, supermarkets and an increasing number of bars, and it's becoming more common to see at least one alcohol-free option on a taproom menu, including some along the Bermondsey Beer Mile. Availability changes fast and varies venue to venue, so rather than naming specific beers that may or may not be on the bar that day, our honest advice is simple: check the current tap list or fridge when you arrive, or ask the person behind the bar what's pouring — most independent brewers are happy to talk you through it. If you want a wider sense of the area's brewing scene while you're at it, our roundup of London's best breweries, area by area is a good starting point.
Non-alcoholic beer on a Beer Mile day out
You don't need to drink full-strength at every stop to enjoy a guided crawl. Our Bermondsey Beer Tasting Tour runs for 2–3.5 hours, £49pp, with beer included at all four taprooms we visit, meeting at Southwark Brewing Co, 46 Druid St — and pacing yourself, alternating stronger pours with lower-alcohol or alcohol-free ones where available, is exactly the kind of thing our guides can help with on the day. It's a genuinely comfortable way to enjoy a full afternoon of tasting without needing to match everyone drink for drink, and works well whether you're teetotal, pregnant, driving later, or simply pacing yourself. We've been running the tour since 2014, for solo drinkers, friends and private groups from 6 up to 60+.
Related reading
If you're thinking about alcohol content more broadly, our explainer on lager vs ale covers the fermentation basics that also underpin how alcohol-free beer is brewed, and what is craft beer looks at how the independent scene — including the growing alcohol-free corner of it — actually works. For the maths on standard-strength beer, see our guides to units in a pint of beer and calories in a pint of beer.
Make a full day of it
Pair a Beer Mile afternoon with our free self-guided heritage walk through Southwark's brewing history, or bring the whole conversation to a private group with our private & group tours, ideal for mixed groups where not everyone wants to drink at full strength. A gift voucher is also a thoughtful present for a friend who's cutting back — delivered instantly by email and never expire, so there's no pressure on which date, or how much, they choose to drink.