24 Healthiest Beers To Enjoy This Football Season

There’s nothing better than an ice cold beer during a weekend of football. Although no one is naive enough to think that beer is good for you, dietitian Chris Mohr (speaking to USA Today) says you can make healthier choices by choosing a beer with a lower alcohol by volume.

“It doesn’t matter where the alcohol is coming from; what matters is the overall alcohol content, the ABV,” Mohr said. The average 12oz beer contains roughly 5% alcohol, and much lighter, low-calorie options are available that won’t have you waking up the following day feeling like goblins are using mining equipment on your frontal cortex.

The obvious choice for a healthier beer is one with a low ABV (alcohol by volume), as it also significantly cuts the calorie count down from about 150 calories per can in your average 5% brew to 25 calories or lower. After copious research performed where everybody knows my name (though they think I’m called Norm for some strange reason), we have gathered together the best low-alcohol beers you can enjoy in the summer sun.

Holy Faith

From monastic Leeds-based brewery Northern Monk, Holy Faith is a 0.5% ABV version of the English brewer’s award-winning pale ale Faith.

Vegan-friendly and at only 26 calories per can, Holy Faith is a hazy IPA that mixes zesty citrus notes with a slightly bitter aftertaste and a lovely head, perfect for a quick refreshment on a blazing summer day.

Pale

Made by low ABV beer specialists Partake, who claim to be “the official beer of adulting,” Pale is one of the Canadian brewery’s many styles of ale that contain less than 0.5% ABV.

What makes Pale unique is that it’s essentially diet beer; containing only ten calories per can, no sugar, and no carbs, it’s a perfect light pale ale for those who fancy a drink with dietary restrictions.

Oatmeal Dark

Californian-based Microbrewery Bravus specializes in low ABV and non-alcoholic beers, and Oatmeal Dark is one of their best dark beers.

An award-winning Guinness-style stout with a light mahogany body and good stout nose at only 0.5% ABV, Oatmeal Dark is a surprisingly smooth and creamy stout that blends coffee, chocolate, and caramel notes. It may be one of the more calorific brews on our list at 100 calories per can, but as the beer equivalent of a delicious chocolate milkshake, what do you expect?

Mango Dragon Fruit Sour

Untitled Art’s Mango Dragon Fruit Sour is one of the company’s fruitiest non-alcoholic beers. Brewed with Mango, Guava, and Dragonfruit puree, it’s an ale the brewery claims “welcomes warm weather with open arms and has the flavor to back it up”

A hazy yet juicy beer that pours pinkish-orange in the glass, with a fruit-forward nose, Mango Dragon Fruit Sour is a tart yet sweet ale with an excellent mouthfeel that is unlike any other low-alcohol beer on the market and only 0.5% ABV and 80 calories per can, half of your average beer, despite being far tastier than most.

Heavenly Body Golden Wheat

Heavenly Body Golden Wheat is a refreshing, light American-style wheat beer similar to Blue Moon. Its ABV is only 0.3%.

Advertised as a healthy beer by its brewer Wellbeing, Heavenly Body Golden Wheat is sugar-free, vegan, and has only 68 calories a can. It’s a healthier alternative for fans of smoother, lighter ales.

Nanny State

Sustainable Scottish brewery BrewDog may make low-ABV versions of its most popular beers. However, Nanny State is the company’s first attempt at creating a proper, healthier alternative to its regular beers.

A low-alcohol pale ale at only 0.5% ABV, with only 20 calories and 2.3 grams of carbs per can, Nanny State is a bubbly brew that pours with a large head and an intense citrus nose. It has a rich, hoppy taste and a bitter citrus finish.

Just the Haze

Samuel Adams advertises Just the Haze as a pacing beer to help drinkers not get drunk as quickly. It is a low-ABV session IPA almost indistinguishable from a regular IPA.

With an ABV of less than 0.5% and 98 calories per can, Just The Haze is a hoppy brew with a light bitter aftertaste.

Peach Gose

Peach Gose is a refreshing and sweet brew that’s the perfect reward after a hard day mowing the lawn or doing yard work in the blazing summer sun.

At less than 0.5% ABV, and only 25 calories per can, this light-bodied yellow pale ale from Canadian low-alcohol brewery Partake pours with a foamy white head and notes of sour peach and candy. It has a sweet, peachy taste, a tart, crisp finish, and a smooth mouthfeel.

Limbo Raspberry

Danish brewery Mikkeller’s low-alcohol Limbo Raspberry is a curious brew and one of the best non-alcoholic beers we’ve ever enjoyed drinking.

This primitive Flemish-style beer is dry, fruity, and refreshing. It is brewed with fresh raspberries and has a rich red color, is only 0.3% ABV, and though 112 calories a bottle, the fresh fruity taste is still less calorific than a can of Bud.

Tannenzäpfle Alkoholfrei

Brewed in the Black Forest by the renowned monastic German brewery Rothaus, Tannenzäpfle Alkoholfrei is made using a unique steam vacuum process that allows the beer to retain the same nose as its boozier older brother while only being 0.5% ABV and a mere 19 calories per bottle.

It’s so good at mimicking regular 5.1% ABV Tannenzäpfle that many online reviewers claim they cannot taste the difference.

Juicy IPA

Untitled Art’s Juicy IPA is a delightful, fruity, low-alcohol beer that looks like sunshine in a glass.

The orange-gold brew pours with a light, frothy head that is hoppy, bitter, and characterful. It has a light citrus nose with a touch of maltiness. It tastes and smells like an exceptional 5% beer but is only 0.5%ABV, and 12g of carbs per can, which is for the best as it is effortless to drink.

Special Effects Hoppy Amber

Brooklyn Brewery promises its Special Effects Hoppy Amber low-alcohol lager tastes like a typical beer without alcohol.

This 0.5% ABV lager achieves this illusion and then some. It tastes like a regular beer and is hoppy, flavourful, and refreshingly light, though it is 100 calories per bottle, something common among low ABV brews that accurately replicate their boozier brethren.

Galactic Milk Stout

A decadent tipple with notes of chocolate and honeycomb, Galactic Milk Stout is an award-winning stout by English low-ABV brewer Big Drop.

This flavourful but lighter alternative to a pint of the black stuff (with 102 calories per can compared to Guinness 125) has won over 20 awards since it was first released in 2017.

Bikini Beer

The booziest brew on our list at 2.7 % ABV from New York Craft brewery Evil Twin’s Bikini Beer is a light-bodied, well-balanced American IPA.

With fruity pops of lemon, mango, orange, pink grapefruit, and pineapple, This crisp, clean session ale is best drunk poolside, at a music festival, or during any other summer activity that requires a refreshing beer. As a session, Ale may not be the healthiest on the list at 120 calories per can, but your chances of remembering your entire weekend at the festival are greatly improved.

Lazer Crush IPA

Lazer Crush IPA from London-based Beavertown Brewery is the perfect alcohol-free alternative for any summer drinking session.

An IPA-style beer at 0.3% ABV, Lazer Crush is brewed using a “clever strain of yeast that fully ferments without producing alcohol,” resulting in a low-ABV brew that retains a boozier beer’s mouthfeel, body, and aroma with a fraction of the alcohol content, and half the calories at only 75 calories per can.

Irish Red

From Canadian brewery Sober Carpenter, Irish Red low ABV brew sports a deep cherry hue and bittersweet flavor.

It’s a decent attempt at a lighter, medium-bodied, non-alcoholic Irish Red-style beer with a toffee and wood nose and a similar earthy malt with notes of caramel that’s worth at least a swift half at only 0.5%ABV and less than 60 calories a can.

Sleight of Hand

Brewed in the Scottish borders, Tempest’s Sleight of Hand is a low-alcohol pale ale for people who don’t like low-ABV beer.

Tasting somewhere between a sour and a pale ale, Sleight of Hand is a cunning drink that tricks its drinkers into thinking they’re imbibing an entire session ale when it’s only 0.5% ABV, 28g of carbs, and 100 calories per tin.

Free Wave IPA

Free Wave IPA is Athletic Brewing’s award-winning, low-calorie, low-ABV session beer, perfect for a sunny Sunday afternoon.

This hazy straw yellow IPA with a good head contains plenty of citrus notes, including orange and grapefruit, and is a refreshing light beer with a slightly bitter aftertaste and only 0.5 ABV and 70 calories per can.

Dry-Hopped

According to its creator, this amber beer from the German low-ABV brewing subsidiary Clausthaler is “the first dry-hopped non-alcoholic beer in the world” that brings together German craftsmanship and Cascade Hops imported from the US to create an approachable 0.5% ABV beer.

Known as one of the best non-alcoholic brews around, Clausthaler’s Dry-Hopped has an excellent flavor profile, a fluffy head, a hoppy taste, and a rich aroma at only 5.6g of carbs and 76 calories per bottle.

Non Ale

The Non Ale is a no-nonsense low-ABV beer at only 0.3%.

Made by award-winning Japanese brewer Hitachino Nest at the Kiuchi brewery, the Non Ale is a refreshing, crisp, light ale with a thick white head and an adorable owl on the bottle that contains half the calories of your average bottled beer and only 14g of carbs.

17 Mile Porter

A dark, low-ABV (0.5%) porter-like beer from California, Surreal’s 17 Mile Porter mixes notes of dark chocolate, roasted coffee, and a hint of marshmallow in a beer that contains only 10.5 grams of carbs per can and 50 calories.

17 Mile Porter is an approachable dark beer, but as a porter, it’s heavier than your average IPA or Pilsner, so it’s better to drink while watching the sunset or sitting around a campfire than in the heat of the day.

Lemon Quest

Lemon Quest from Delaware-based craft brewery Dogfish Head is the award-winning beer maker’s non-alcoholic wheat brew.

With an ABV of less than 0.5% and under 100 calories per can, Lemon Head is an excellent summer beer brewed with lemon puree, blueberry juice, açaí berries, monk fruit, and sea salt. This combination creates a unique, peppy, perfectly balanced brew.

Grainwave

Brewed in Colorado at the family-run brewery founded by Keith Villa, the brewmaster of Blue Moon, Grainwave is a refreshing, medium-bodied Belgian-style white ale without alcohol.

With an ABV of less than 0.5% and only 77 calories a can, Grainwave balances citrus and spice to create a quality beer much better than many of its more boozy counterparts.

Hellraiser Dark Amber

Wellbeing’s Hellraiser Dark Amber may make you think of Clive Barker’s body horror classic, but it won’t make you feel like you’ve been dragged off by cenobites the day after.

A cloudy, dark amber ale, all the way from Wisconsin, goes down smooth and contains notes of honey and caramel, with a dry aftertaste that is surprisingly crisp yet bitter, and only 0.3% ABV and 70 calories per can.