The best alcohol-free drinks

Alcohol-free drinks have massively improved over the last few years. We recommend the best to enjoy while staying sober and safe if driving.

Unlabelled beer bottles with a red background

by Chris Williams |
Updated on

Rules are clear when it comes to alcohol and driving in the UK:

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the drink driving alcohol limit for drivers is 35 micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath. In Scotland it’s 22mg per 100ml of breath.

This doesn’t translate into a certain number of drinks allowed, such as two pints of ale or glasses of wine because people vary as much in size and metabolism as alcoholic drinks do in volume, strength, and flavour. And therefore two glasses of wine affect each adult differently.

The rise of zero alcohol alcohol

The production of low and zero alcohol beer, wine, and other traditionally alcoholic drinks has really taken off in recent years. This is partly due to this desire for people to have a few drinks and still drive sober but mostly because ever-increasing numbers of people are quitting or minimising their alcohol intake.

This shift in customer demand has driven manufacturers to make big advancements in the quality and flavour of their produce. It's also allowed new names to pop up. Where low and zero alcohol wines and spirit-type drinks are still improving, low or zero percent beer is nailing it, the best of which you’d be doing well to tell apart from their alcoholic equivalents.

The best low and zero alcoholic drinks

Editoru2019s pick
BrewDog Punk AF 0.5% (24 Pack)
Price: £39.97

Description

Brewdogu2019s standard Punk IPA is a hoppy favourite for those who like a flavoursome beverage. It

Description

Alcohol-free hoppy lagers and malty ales have a reasonably easy job of disguising themselves as

Best alcohol-free lager
Heineken 0.0 (12 Pack)
Price: £19.99

Description

In a blind taste test weu2019re very confident you wouldnu2019t tell the difference between this

Best sample set

Description

This is a good option for those hunting around for low-alcohol and zero alcohol beers. It lets you

Best alcohol-free white wine

Description

Eisberg is one of the leading names in alcohol-free wine. Its Sparkling Blanc is light and fresh

Best alcohol-free red wine

Description

With alcohol-free red wines, itu2019s best to stick to the lighter ones, such as this merlot.

Best alcohol-free gin
Gordon's Alcohol Free 0.0% (70cl)

Rrp: £15.00

Price: £10.00

Description

Zero alcohol spirit substitutes are still a work in progress, but Gordonu2019s 0.0% is one of the

Best alcohol-free vodka

Description

This vodka substitute is rather impressive. Itu2019s a take on spiced apple vodka so itu2019s

How alcohol-free beer is made

It usually goes through the same process of mixing barley with hot water, then boiled with hops and fermented. The beer then needs to be dealcoholised, and this can be achieved by a number of methods, such as heating the beer to remove the alcohol.

Some producers will alter the fermentation process. For example, some may reduce the amount of sugar that is to be fermented in the wort (barley-water mixture).

How alcohol-free wine is made

Alcohol-free wine undergoes the same processes as regular wine, which is what separates it from mere grape juice. The most popular means of removing the alcohol from wine is by heating it gently, just like the process for beer mentioned above.

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