What Are Lower Alcohol Beers?

There are a lot of words flying around bar and restaurant drink menus, with emerging definitions challenging the concept of what alcohol can be classified as. ‘Low and No Pours’, ‘Light Drinks’, ‘Zero Proof’, ‘Sans List’ – it’s all much of the same yet still slightly confusing. So to lighten the load, we’ve outlined what on Earth is going on, as well as where Small Beer has pitched up camp in this delightful world of possibilities.

ABV stands for Alcohol By Volume and is used to determine how much alcohol is in a drink. Labels tend to depict ABV by using a number which indicates what percentage of the drink's liquid content is alcohol. What you do with that information is up to you.

Pub beer badges have played the numbers game since the start of time, with traditional low ABV ales at one end of the spectrum and ever-increasingly punchy craft beers pushing the boundaries with 7% IPAs and beyond. If you’re the observant type you may have spotted some no and low ABV beers lining the fridges behind your trusty bartender. With an ever increasing demand for 'adult' drinks that contain less alcohol, these once obscure beers are now leaping across the treacherous chasm of the backbar to appear proudly on draught.

Non-alcoholic beers can contain up to 0.5% alcohol content and there is no license required to sell them. The fact that they contain any alcohol at all might sound counterintuitive but in fact, most consumable goods that contain sugars go through a natural fermentation process, where a small alcohol is produced, including like bananas, fruit juices, vinegar and bread. With 0.5% ABV mirroring a naturally occurring level of alcohol, it’s seen as a negligible presence in beer and can therefore be considered alcohol-free or AF.

Many non-alcoholic beers are brewed in the same way as standard beers, but the alcohol is removed after fermentation. This dealcoholisation process can also strip away flavour, which is partly why for years non-alcoholic beers were often described as being flat, watery or thin.

Although brewing innovations have improved significantly and there is now much more choice when it comes to non-alcoholic beers, it's not uncommon for brewing companies to use additives like glucose, lactose and dextrins to artificial create the same body and mouthfeel of a standard beer. Not everyone is bothered by this, but it's worth checking the label, particularly if you follow a vegan diet, for example.

As the name suggests, a lower alcohol beer is brewed at a lower-strength than the standard beers which typically dominate pubs and supermarkets. Low ABV beers tend to sit below 3.5% ABV. This means that, compared to a non-alcohol beer, they are much more likely to deliver the natural body and mouthfeel that you expect from a ‘bigger beer,’ without the need for additives.

Much like an aperitif or spritz, low ABV beer promises the delicious frivolity of alcohol with an effortless level of moderation. Lower alcohol beers may also serve as a healthier beer option, due to their tendency to be lower in calories, carbohydrates and sugar. This is because around 60% of the calories in beer come from alcohol.

Low ABV beer is nothing new. As early as the 1600s, 'small beer' emerged as a drink to cater across British society as a nutritious and safe way to hydrate when drinking unpurified water was too dangerous.

Alcohol is a diuretic, which means that you lose water when you drink it. However, few people know that anything brewed below 3.0% ABV is technically more hydrating than it is dehydrating. This explains why a drinking a Small Beer still provides that warming buzz, without leaving you walking sideways.

Shadows of the everyday role small beer used to play still lie in the popularity of table beer, which is slightly higher in alcohol than Small Beer. Table beer typically contains between 2.8% and 3.8%, but still stands as a low ABV beer in comparison to big beer counterparts. While small beer has undergone a brief hiatus from UK drinking culture (until we reinvigorated the category), table beer is still brewed and enjoyed across the masses.

Different types of beer that contain less alcohol:

• Table beer (2.8-3.8%)
• Small beer (0.5-2.8%)
• Non-alcoholic beer (0-0.5%)

The above is not an exact science, but it is a rough lay of the beer-strength land.

At Small Beer, we truly believe that the future of the Low and No movement lies in Low ABV beer, as it bridges the gap between the extremes of ‘drinking’ and ‘not drinking,’ while promoting a culture of moderation without the need to compromise.

We are very proud to say that Small Beer is the world’s first brewery to specialise in the sole creation of classic beer styles below 2.8% ABV.

You can learn more about the stats that make up our beers below:

Words by Isabelle Gormezano Marks