We Tasted Dozens of Non-Alcoholic Beers — Here Are the Results

More and more people are socializing sober these days, and many bars and restaurants have taken note, offering N/A options for Dry January and beyond.

For beer drinkers who are taking a break from booze, permanently or temporarily, there are more options than ever on the market — but are any of them actually good?

To find out, I gathered a panel that included me, a married pair of certified beer judges, and a former beer drinker who has been sober for over a year and regularly drinks N/A brews. Together we blind-tasted over two dozen varieties available in the Colorado market.

If you haven't tried non-alcoholic beer in a few years, or if you've heard horror stories about terrible experiences, don't fret. N/A beer is better than ever thanks to higher demand and new technologies. "The progress made in advanced hop products and other raw materials has allowed N/A beer to really evolve in both complexity and flavor," says Chris O'Connor, vice president of brewery operations at Prost Brewing, whose N/A Pils made our final cut below. O'Connor also credits new technologies, such as RO membranes and vacuum stripping units, along with improvements in yeast strains for the rapid improvement in N/A beers.

The beers in this tasting were acquired from around the Denver metro area. Over half were purchased at Mile High Wine Cellars in Arvada, which offers virtually every canned beer it carries in singles — they don't just throw old or odd beers into the singles cooler, like many larger liquor stores.

Mile High is one of the many small shops that cater to craft beer fans. These stores have been struggling over the past couple of years as grocery store alcohol sales have led to a large decrease in foot traffic at small, independent liquor stores. The booming N/A market has helped these businesses boost sales in January, which is a historically slow month for breweries and liquor stores owing to holiday excesses and the Dry January movement.

If you're looking for an N/A beer option in Colorado, here are our recommendations:

Best Overall N/A Beer

Fremont Brewing
Dark
Fremont's beer was the unanimous top pick among all four tasters. "Chocolate goodness," said one, adding that it tasted like a porter. Another person mentioned that it was pleasantly roasty, while another said, "amazing." It's not a surprise that the tasting panel loved this beer — it won a gold medal at the 2024 Great American Beer Festival in the Amber to Dark Non-Alcohol Beer category.

Non-Alcoholic IPAs

The IPA category was a bit all over the place. Some beers leaned pretty heavily in one direction, while others were going for something else entirely. This isn't unexpected — IPAs tend to get generalized, but the number of flavors and substyles within the large umbrella of IPA is extensive. We've broken out our picks into various categories.

For those who like sweeter hopped hazy IPAs
Sam Adams Beer
Just the Haze IPA
Everyone agreed that this was among the sweetest beers of the night. "Cotton candy," said one taster, while another noted Sweet Tart-type flavors. "Lemon" and "sweet tea" were other descriptors used for this beer. Everyone agreed that if a drinker is used to some of the sweeter, less bitter variations of hazy IPAs out there, they'd probably be well served to reach for Just the Haze.

For fans of old-school IPAs
Athletic Brewing
Run Wild IPA
The panel felt this had some perfumey hop elements on the nose, but it drank very classic — bitter hops and caramel malt flavors. If you're one of those IPA drinkers who talks about how great classic IPAs were ten or twenty years ago, give this one a try.

For fans of bold IPAs
Fremont Brewing
IPA
While this wasn't the panel's favorite beer, it was the most pungent. With strong, grassy hop flavors and overripe flavors of citrus and pine with a firm bitterness, this one didn't hold back. If you're an IPA drinker who is after the strongest hop flavors and doesn't mind a bit of a grassy, almost "hop burn"-type sensation, Fremont is a good pick.

For fans of citrus-forward IPAs
Grüvi
Juicy Dayz IPA
One taster felt this had a strong lemon rind component, while another was getting watermelon. "Citrus" was mentioned by everyone. Plenty of popular IPAs are quite citrus-forward these days. If that sounds like your jam, Gruvi's Juicy Dayz should be in your wheelhouse.
For fans of flavorful but low-bittered IPAs
Montauk Brewing
IPA
Our tasters didn't find the Montauk IPA to be very bitter, but it had wonderful tropical hoppy notes as well as peaches and a slight breadiness. The tasting panel all felt it was lighter, but clean and refreshing.

Best N/A Copycats

Guinness
Guinness Zero
This was the easiest beer to pick out of the bunch. It pours with that thick, creamy foam that the full-strength beer is known for and tastes very much like a regular Guinness.
Station 26 Brewing
Tangerine Cream
Tangerine Cream was another dead ringer for the alcohol version. The creamsicle-like flavors found in the N/A version resonated with the tasters. For fans of Station 26's popular cream ale, this is a great pick.

Blue Moon Brewing
Blue Moon Non-alcoholic
Blue Moon's N/A version was quite refreshing. It may lean more on spices than its full-strength counterpart, but the panel enjoyed it across the board with notes like "lemon drop" and "complex spices that include clove and pepper." The beer did a good job of paying homage to the original.

Other Non-Alcoholic Beer Standouts

For fans of well-hopped pilsners
Prost Brewing
Pils
Prost's beer had more hop bitterness than many of the IPAs in this tasting. One taster said it was closer to a pale ale in their mind, while another said that hopping was "grippy." For drinkers who appreciate a bitter-forward German-style Pilsner, this Prost Pils is one to check out.

For those who like a clean, malt-forward beer
Deschutes Brewery
NA Kernza
This beer is not only a healthier alternative to the alcohol version, but it's also a superior choice for environmental impact. The beer uses Kernza, a grain that helps save soil and minimizes erosion, as well as organic rye and two-row malt plus organic hops. The result is a bready, doughy beer with a touch of earthy and citrus hop flavor.
A very easy-drinking beer
Grüvi
Golden Era
Grüvi has won a slew of medals with this beer, and it did not disappoint in the blind tasting. "Clean, crisp, very light," were repeated across the panel. If you're looking for something to replace a light-lager type beer, Golden Era will scratch that itch. It drinks smoothly, with a hint of noble hopping, but finishes very quickly.

Conclusion

While there were certainly some duds in the lineup — most of which had a husky, tea-like flavor that was tough to shake — the panelists who don't regularly drink N/A beer, including me, were pleasantly surprised at how far the quality has come, while our sober panelist found a few new picks to add to their regular rotation.