We felt it was high time to review our favourite non-alcoholic beers on the Australian market. We picked 10 of the most popular brands and put them through their paces.
Non-alcoholic or zero-alcohol beers used to be a bit of a punchline in Australia. No Aussie bloke would dare be caught drinking a beer without the alcohol — “What’s the point?” was the common refrain — and truthfully, many of the non-alcoholic beers on the market were pretty nasty.
But we’ve come a long way. These days, not only is it far more acceptable to drink a non-alcoholic beer as attitudes towards fitness, mental health, and all-round moderation have progressed but non-alcoholic beers themselves have got a damn sight better.
Still, there’s a lot of scepticism around non-alcoholic beers and with so many on the market, it’s hard to figure out which ones are worth drinking. Never fear: here at DMARGE we’ve wrapped our laughing gear around some of the most popular non-alcoholic beers in the country to find out which are worth your hard-earned dollars.
In This Zero Alcohol Beer Review
How Did We Choose The Zero-Alcohol Beers?
Some of the beers — like James Squire and Nort — were sent to us by the brands themselves or their designated PR teams. The remainder were purchased from Dan Murphy’s in Alexandria, Sydney.
We did our best to select as wide a range of non-alcoholic beers as we could find, giving equal weight to the non-alcoholic variants of well-established (and sometimes iconic) Aussie brands — XXXX, we’re looking at you — as well as newcomer challenger brands hoping to make their mark in the industry.
How Did We Rate The Zero-Alcohol Beers?
Jamie, Luc, Fin and Ben tasted the beers and gave each brand a score out of 5, taking into account the price, branding, look & feel of the bottle or can and, most importantly, the flavour profile of each. These individual scores were then added up to create a final score out of a maximum possible 20 points.
As an example: if a beer’s final score was 8 out of 20, then it averaged 2 out of a possible 5 points from each of our tasters and is decidedly not a drop we recommend.
Jamie went above and beyond the call of duty by deciding to give half points to a few of the beers. The others did not feel the beers warranted such granular scoring, but this should explain any decimal points you may run into.
Short For Time? Here Are The Quick Takeaways
| Overall winner: | Little Creatures Flying Low, $20 |
| Runner Up: | Heaps Normal Quiet XPA, $19 |
| Third Place: | Heineken Zero, $15 |
| Lowest Calories: | XXXX Zero, $12 |
| Highest calories: | Carlton Zero, $6 |
| Cheapest: | Carlton Zero, $6 |
| Most Expensive: | Little Creatures Flying Low, $20 |
Our Video Review
Our Full Ranking Of The Zero Alcohol Beers We Tried And Tested
Coopers Birell Ultra Light
1/10
Pros
- It's Coopers.
- Great bottle and label design.
- Good price point.
Cons
- Taste is lacking.
Price: $9.00 for a six-pack
Calories: 75
Origin: South Australia
Let’s kick things off with a classic, Coopers Birell Ultra Light. If you’ve grown up in Australia, you’ve probably seen this one in your local Coles or Woolies – it’s an absolute stalwart. It definitely wins points for a classic, clean bottle that feels good in the hand and has a suitably subtle label design should you want to keep its non-alcoholic status under wraps. The price point is appealing too.
Flavour-wise, however, it’s a pretty average non-alcoholic beer, coming in the middle of our ratings. It tastes similar to Cooper’s Pale Ale, so if you like those, you’ll like this… but it lacks the flair boasted by some of the other beers we tried.
DMARGE Score: 10.5 Points
Nort Non-Alcoholic Refreshing Ale
2/10
Pros
- We like that's it's a challenger brand.
- Good for people who don't like a hoppy taste.
- Low calorie.
- Sustainable.
Cons
- Very lacking on taste.
Price: $13.99 for a six-pack
Calories: 49
Origin: Australia (brewed at multiple locations)
Next up we have the new kid on the block: Nort. Billing itself as a low-calorie, plant-based, non-alcoholic beer, Nort claim to have “crafted beers full of flavour, without the fuzzies” and could, if the beer lives up to its claims, appeal to the growing corner of the market concerned with calories and sustainability in equal measure.
Sadly, their good vibes branding doesn’t live up to the hype. Not only did we find the label design to be decidedly ugly, but it tied last in our overall rankings thanks to a very watery and sweet flavour profile that Luc described as “like a soft drink”.
DMARGE Score: 8 Points
Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0%
3/10
Pros
- Looks cool because it's Italian.
- Still tastes like a classic Peroni.
Cons
- The flavour didn't land well with some.
Price: $10.80 for a six-pack
Calories: 78
Origin: Italy
Aussies love Peroni Nastro Azzurro, which is one of the most popular imported beers in the country. Nastro Azzurro 0.0% is the latest zero-alcohol take on the Italian beer (replacing Peroni Libera), so we were keen to try it. It earned respect for classic bottle and label design and, we suspect, for little more than carrying the Peroni name.
However, after a swift taste test and much debate it divided the team, with Ben giving it a full 5 out of 5 but Luc – a hitherto dyed-in-the-wool Peroni lover – coming down on it hard, scoring it a measly 1.
In an exciting little sideshow, Perioni has just announced that their Nastro Azzurro 0.0% brand has launched a multi-year partnership with Ferrari, aiming to bring together two undeniably iconic Italian brands. They even have plans to release a short film starring Scuderia Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, so keep an eye out for that one.
DMARGE Score: 12 Points
Little Creatures Flying Low
4/10
Pros
- Tastes great.
- Look great.
- Good on the calories.
Cons
- Punchy on the wallet.
Price: $20.00 for a six-pack
Calories: 69
Origin: Australia (brewed at multiple locations)
Created by Western Australian brewery Little Creatures, Flying Low was the clear winner of our non-alcoholic beer review, with all the boys scoring it highly and Luc going so far as to call it his standout favourite. The consensus was that it’s got a complex yet approachable flavour profile that really tastes like a real full-strength beer but that’s also quite ‘sessionable’ (i.e. it could be drunk quickly and at high volume should you so desire, though we don’t recommend this… obviously).
It also boasts a very contemporary design that makes it stand out next to slews of green and brown bottles, which we liked. However, Little Creatures Flying Low was also the most expensive non-alcoholic beer we reviewed by some distance, costing more than the average six-pack of ‘normal’ beer. We guess you get what you pay for.
DMARGE Score: 17 Points
Carlton Zero
5/10
Pros
- Cheap.
- Cool can.
- Tasted okay.
Cons
- High calories.
- High sugar content.
Price: $6.00 for a four-pack
Calories: 93
Origin: Australia (brewed at multiple locations)
Carlton Zero — hailing from Australia’s biggest and, debatably, most iconic brewery — is hard to miss with its distinctive black and white can design that was popular amongst the team. It also tastes very similar to Carlton Draught, so whether you like this non-alc variant will very much depend on how much you like the full alcohol version. Props to the brand for creating such an accurate replica regardless.
Carlton Zero was both the cheapest of the lot (good news) but it also had the highest calories of them all, too. We weren’t huge fans of the flavour profile but it certainly wasn’t the worst we tasted either. As you might expect, it scored a precise 50%.
DMARGE Score: 10 Points
Heaps Normal Quiet XPA
6/10
Pros
- A lovely drop.
- The OG zero beer.
- Looks cool if you're drinking it.
Cons
- Pricey!
Price: $16.00 for a six-pack
Calories: 63
Origin: New South Wales
Heaps Normal has become the non-alcoholic beer of choice for Sydney hipsters thanks in large part to its clever branding that positions it very much as a new-wave, young man’s beer and veers away from the Australian classics and any potentially unwanted associations with Boomers. However, it also delivers on taste, delivering fruity, complex and effervescent flavours. It’s a nice beer for sure.
Heaps Normal Quiet XPA was a close second in our rankings, with Jamie giving it the full 5 out of 5, saying “I’d be more than happy to take this to a party.”
DMARGE Score: 16 Points
Asahi 0.0%
7/10
Pros
- Cool can.
- The same crispness of Asahi proper.
Cons
- Punching on price.
- Vegemite vibes.
Price: $14.00 for a six-pack
Calories: 75
Origin: Italy
Contrary to popular belief — given that Asahi has been the beer of choice with Japan-obsessed weebs (this author included) for a number of years — Asahi 0.0% is actually brewed in Italy. As Asahi owns Peroni, there’s a good chance both Asahi 0.0% and Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0% are made in the same factory but, much to our surprise, they tasted markedly different.
We didn’t love this zero-alc take on the popular Japanese beer; it doesn’t taste like Asahi Super Dry – it’s almost Vegemite-y. However, Asahi does always deliver on cool can design, so we can’t knock them there.
DMARGE Score: 10 Points
James Squire Zero
8/10
Pros
- Classy bottle.
- Easy Summer drinking.
Cons
- Bit pricey for a sixer.
- Mixed reviews on taste.
Price: $16.00 for a six-pack
Calories: 75
Origin: Australia (brewed in multiple locations)
Often called Australia’s largest craft brewery (despite being owned by a foreign company… but that’s a conversation for another day), James Squire makes an impressive range of forward-thinking beers, including this new non-alcoholic drop. Definitely scoring some easy points through its stylish can design — ripped straight from the Brewdog playbook — it fell down when it was time for a taste test.
James Squire Zero came in at 5th out of 10 in our overall rankings; Ben was a big fan of the light, crisp flavour profile… but Luc wasn’t as convinced.
DMARGE Score: 11.5 Points
XXXX Zero
9/10
Pros
- Ultra low calories.
- Well-priced.
Cons
- Ultra low on taste.
Price: $12.00 for a six-pack
Calories: 46
Origin: Australia (brewed at multiple locations)
XXXX Zero proved to be the most divisive beer we reviewed, with Jamie absolutely loathing it in typical New South Welshmanstyle while Fin, feeling strongly otherwise, gave it full points, saying “it made him feel like a man” — is there any more ringing an endorsement?
The clear bottle keeps it true to XXXX’s longstanding branding, even if the graphic design leaves much to be desired. Interestingly, this non-alcoholic take on the iconic Queensland beer is also the lowest-calorie beer out of the 10 we reviewed. It’s a certified carbon-neutral product, which means it’s truly a guilt-free drink. Despite all these merits, the team were unconvinced when it came to tasting time.
DMARGE Score: 8 Points
Heineken 0.0
10/10
Pros
- Consistent Heikenen taste.
- Lowish calories which is good.
Cons
- Up there on price.
Price: $15.49 for a six-pack
Calories: 65
Origin: The Netherlands
Last but not least we have Heineken 0.0, which you’ll have seen a lot of ads for if you’ve watched any F1 lately. Heineken 0.0 came in third in our rankings, making it the highest-rated imported non-alcoholic beer we reviewed. It has that classic Heinekn look… but whether it had that “classic” Heineken taste was a source of fierce debate amongst the team…
Ben liked it, claiming it reminded him of his years living in Amsterdam, where it’s super popular. Jamie wasn’t as impressed, saying it didn’t taste like normal Heineken. However, this could be a good or bad thing, depending on your preferences.
DMARGE Score: 14 Points