The Non Alcoholic Beer Market
Anheuser-Busch introduced Budweiser Zero Non Alcoholic Beer in 2020. The non alcoholic beer market has grown rapidly in recent years with the introduction of non alcoholic beers that taste more like regular beer. Non alcoholic beers have several health advantages over regular beers, including fewer calories, sugar, carbs and of course, alcohol. Non alcoholic means less than 0.5% alcohol, so non alcoholic beers can still have traces of alcohol.
Athletic Brewing is the current market leader in non alcoholic beers and is a top 10 craft brewer, but more and more specialty non alcoholic breweries are entering the market, as well as traditional breweries. Not a day goes by without some news story about the rise of non alcoholic beer and societal trends towards reducing alcohol intake.
Anheuser-Busch and Budweiser Zero
Anheuser-Busch refers to itself as “one of America’s most iconic companies and the undisputed leader of the U.S. beer industry” on its website. The company describes Budweiser Zero as “Budweiser Zero is an alcohol-free brew with only 50 calories and zero grams of sugar and is made for those who want to cut back on alcohol without missing out on the full flavor and refreshment of Budweiser.”
Bud Zero has 50 calories, 12g carbs, 0g fat, 0g sugar and 0g protein. There is no information on IBU. Anheuser-Busch says it is 0.0% alcohol and not just under 0.5%. It has an “Okay” rating on Beer Advocate, which is better than O’Doul’s.
Our Review of Budweiser Zero Non Alcoholic Beer
If you read our post about ProofNoMore, I bought 35 single non alcoholic beers to try. I decided to start at the bottom with O’Doul’s, one of the most well known and most reviled non alcoholic beers. It was not great but better than expected.
So next I decided to try Bud Zero, also brewed by Anheuser-Busch. I do not like regular Budweiser and have not had one in decades, but someone recently told me he liked Bud Zero with the caveat that he also liked regular Budweiser.
He was right. While I did not particularly like Bud Zero, it tasted just like regular Budweiser. I gave it a “3 beers” rating because the beer is exactly what it purports to be, a zero alcohol version of Budweiser.
So while I didn’t like Bud Zero, if you like Bud, you will like this. I do not plan to buy it again and don’t recommend it, but here are some purchasing options:
Bud Zero is available at Amazon at Budweiser Zero.
As an Amazon Associate and ProofNoMore affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
For better recommendations, try Athletic Brewing Cerveza Atletica and Best Day Brewing Kolsch.
For non alcoholic beer nutritional information for all NA beers we have reviewed and more, see NA Beer Nutritional Information.
