The past couple of years has seen the ‘No and Low’ Alcohol Category come on leaps and bounds. Gone are the days of being stuck with a lime & soda or a disappointing drink that tastes more like cardboard than hops – what we’re seeing being produced at the moment makes not drinking not boring. So if you are looking to make some changes this month, cut down on your intake, or even if you’re considering cutting it out altogether - look no further!

Alcohol free beer has really pushed on in terms of quality – there’s dozens of brands and breweries out there now producing some great tasting drinks. Brewing techniques have changed when it comes to making these great tasting beers – a lot of alcohol free beer used to be brewed and then the alcohol cooked off (which ultimately left a bit of a ‘cooked’ flavour to it) or it would just end up being unfermented – which left them sweet and not really tasting like beer. Thankfully techniques and technology has moved on and now canny brewers are now using fantastic new specialist yeasts, a host of wonderful ingredients, modern technological innovations & some serious know how to ferment the beer properly – leaving us lucky drinkers with a great tasting drink to enjoy.

We’ve got a great range in for January at Fuggles – so here’s a few picks of our favourite low & no alcohol breweries and beers:

Mash Gang – Set up during lockdown, this group of friends wanted to experiment with how far they could push the boundaries of low & no alcohol free beer. Their first two ‘core’ releases are with us now – ‘Chug’, an Extra Pale Ale brewed with Norweigan Kveik yeast and grapefruit zest. Super refreshing and light with a lovely aroma. ‘Stoop’ is their alcohol free lager, hopped with New Zealand grown Nelson Sauvin hops which add a lovely tropical fruit note and carefully oak aged to add extra depth and complexity.

Low Tide – Another fantastic alcohol free brewery to pop up over the past couple of years. Their entire range is brilliant but our picks are the brilliantly named ‘Brune DMC’ – a nod to a Belgian Abbey beer, with loads of lovely malt character coming through, chocolate and a lovely fruity aroma. ‘The Cosmic Turtle’ is a great take on the New England IPA style – bags of fruitiness and really well rounded.

Pohjala ‘Tundra’ – Based out in Tallin, Pohjala are best known for their big flavour packed stouts. However, this hazy IPA packs bags of flavour for 0.5%, plenty of citrus and mango notes. They’ve brewed the beer using spruce tips as well to add some classic resinous dankness to the beer too.

Stiegl ‘Radler’ – If you’ve not tried a Radler before you’re missing out. Fresh grapefruit soda and lager – and only 2%. Perfect refreshment.

The Kernel ‘Table Beer’ – The Kernel have been brewing their fantastic low abv pale for years now and it’s a must have in any fridge. Great body and balance, with an ever changing hop bill so there’s always something new. At under 3% it’s something you can enjoy without any guilt!

Tegernseer ‘Leicht’ – As we all know, the Germans make some of the best beer in the world. ‘Leicht’ is Teg’s ‘light lager’ – at 2.8% it’s got classic Helles lager notes, bready malt and well rounded bitterness, but not the abv.

Looking to explore a bit more? All of these plus more are available at fugglesbottleshop.co.uk – or why not pick up one of our alcohol free mixed sets – starting at £14 for a selection of 6.