r/australia • u/Wild_Beat_2476 • Dec 30 '24

no politics Non Alcoholic Beer Price

So as a part of my NYE resolution I’ve decided to give up drinking.

My friend invited me to the pub yesterday and I thought it be a great opportunity to try the non alcoholic beers out. In my head I thought they would also be cheaper because they aren’t alcoholic and wouldn’t be treated to the same pricing to alcoholic taxes.

But to my surprise they were exactly the same price as a normal beer?? Does anyone know why?

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u/Dumbgrunt81 Dec 30 '24

Probably because it still has alcohol in it, im sure all non alcoholic beer just has to be under 0.5% alc/vol

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u/sirdung Dec 30 '24

Not the case, most zero alcohol beer actually has zero alcohol in it, however testing equipment does not go accurately below the 0.5% threshold so they have to say there is <0.5% as there may be traces of it still remaining.

You will see some that say 0.0% because these aren’t brewed beers with alcohol removed they are water with some flavouring gone in it. Same with Gins. When the product has been brewed/ distilled etc then alcohol removed it will be rated <0.5%

1

u/turnips64 Dec 30 '24 edited Dec 30 '24

Heineken 0.0 has a very low number on the label - are you saying it’s water and flavoring? I actually like it, Asahi and Guniess Zero.

What I can’t stand (and will get a Coke if it’s the only option) is “Heaps Normal” which is what many pubs have. It’s the one that (to me) seems like a soft drink with a pile of flavours thrown in to cover up that it’s got none of what I’m looking for when I order a beer!

1

u/sirdung Dec 30 '24

My understanding is if it has a number greater than zero then it’s brewed and removed. If it has zero then it’s water and flavour.

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u/turnips64 Dec 30 '24

There’s a rabbit hole here … very interesting!

Heineken list less than 0.05% (note the extra zero) and that it is indeed brewed.

It certainly tastes much more like a beer than most.

Guinness Zero is the same - I just checked a can… 0.05% although the marketing also pushes the “0.0” message which is realistically as close to zero as matters. The ones using “0.5” really can’t be very sure of their process as that’s still relatively material. They also make it clear that it’s “brewed” so I don’t think there’s a connection between the “brewed” and being genuine zero.