Thankfully, things have changed.
Today there are some genuinely excellent alcohol-free and low-alcohol ciders, beers and lagers available. And that means pubs, hotels, restaurants, café bars and lounges really have no excuse for treating customers who aren't drinking alcohol as an afterthought.
People choose alcohol-free drinks for all sorts of reasons
The person ordering an alcohol-free beer isn't necessarily someone who has given up drinking permanently.
They might be driving. They might be working later. They could be taking medication, training for a sporting event, watching their alcohol intake or simply fancying an evening without alcohol.
Someone might even drink a couple of ordinary beers before deciding to switch to alcohol-free for the remainder of the evening.
The important point for hospitality businesses is simple: these people are still customers.
And they deserve something more interesting than being told: "We've got orange juice, cola or lemonade. Or some Barbican?"
The quality has improved enormously
Modern alcohol-free brewing has moved a very long way from some of the rather disappointing products available years ago.
There are now alcohol-free beers offering proper malt character, bitterness, hops, body and aroma. Major brewers and smaller craft producers alike have realised that people don't merely want a drink that contains little or no alcohol, they want something that actually tastes like a good beer.
Products such as Guinness 0.0 and Clear Head IPA have demonstrated just how seriously major drinks companies now take this market, while an increasingly impressive selection of alcohol-free lagers, pale ales, IPAs and other styles gives hospitality businesses plenty of choice.
So why do some establishments still offer just one rather uninspiring alcohol-free lager?
Don't hide it at the bottom of the fridge
If you stock good alcohol-free beer, tell people about it.
Put it on the drinks menu. Display it alongside your regular beers. If you have several varieties, consider giving alcohol-free drinks their own small section on the menu.
Staff should also know what is available.
If somebody asks for an alcohol-free beer, hearing "I'm not sure, I'll have a look in the fridge" doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
Being able to say, "We've got an alcohol-free lager, Guinness 0.0 and a very nice alcohol-free IPA" is a completely different experience.
It makes commercial sense
There is another important point: alcohol-free customers still spend money.
If a designated driver is accompanying three friends to your pub, making sure that driver has an enjoyable choice of drinks could help keep the whole group in your establishment.
The same applies to couples dining out when one person isn't drinking, families visiting a hotel, business lunches and groups meeting in café bars and lounges.
Offer poor alcohol-free choices and customers may decide to go somewhere else next time.
Offer good ones and they have another reason to return.
And please serve alcohol-free beer properly. A quality alcohol-free lager deserves a clean, appropriate glass and should be served at the correct temperature – not handed over as though it is somehow an inferior purchase.
Choice is the key
Ideally, larger hospitality venues should consider stocking more than one alcohol-free beer.
A crisp lager and a more characterful ale, stout or IPA would immediately give customers a meaningful choice. Venues could even ask their customers which alcohol-free beers they'd like to see stocked.
The alcohol-free customer of 2026 doesn't necessarily want to sit in the corner nursing a glass of fizzy water.
They might want a cold lager with their curry, a stout with Sunday lunch or a hoppy IPA while chatting with friends at the bar.
Hospitality is supposed to be about making people feel welcome.
Stocking decent-tasting alcohol-free beer is a very simple way of doing exactly that.
That's Food and Drink says: If you're proud of the beers behind your bar, make sure you can also be proud of the alcohol-free ones.










