Birra Moretti Zero Review: The Italian NA Lager
Published May 2026 · Updated October 2026 · 7-minute read · by Rich, founder of Unhopped
Birra Moretti is the Italian lager born in Udine in 1859, and its alcohol-free expression — Birra Moretti Zero — sits on UK supermarket shelves alongside Heineken 0.0 and Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0%.
Who are Birra Moretti?
Birra Moretti was founded in 1859 in Udine, north-east Italy, where Luigi Moretti founded it as a beer and ice factory. For more than a century it was a Friuli beer, sold across Italy only from the 1990s, the brand says, and it is now part of the Heineken group, which bought it in 1996. Brewing left Udine in 1992, and the Moretti sold in the UK is brewed in the UK; the Zero sold here is brewed in the Netherlands, its label says.
Moretti’s reputation is built on an easy-going Italian-style lager: clean, crisp and food-friendly, from what the brand calls “a blend of fine hops”. The full-strength Birra Moretti L’Autentica (4.6%) is one of the biggest lagers in the UK: in 2024 it overtook Carling as the country’s best-selling draught lager, the Morning Advertiser reported. The moustached man on the label, ‘Baffo’, comes from a photograph taken in a Udine trattoria in 1942, according to Birra Moretti, though a Udine professor has argued it was taken in the Tyrol.
Birra Moretti’s alcohol-free expression
Birra Moretti Zero launched in the UK in 2019, applying the same template to a non-alcoholic format. The challenge any heritage lager brand faces with alcohol-free is retaining recognisable character without the mouthfeel and flavour-carrying role of alcohol. Moretti’s answer, on the UK label: carbonated water, malted barley, natural flavouring and hop extract — a short ingredient list that includes natural flavouring, which Birra Moretti doesn’t identify.
Birra Moretti doesn’t say how it takes the alcohol out. It declares less than 0.05% ABV, within the UK’s guideline for calling a drink alcohol-free.
What makes Moretti Zero different
Italian-style lager, not craft-AF
Where craft alcohol-free brewers compete on hop expression and unusual styles, Moretti Zero competes on faithfulness to a specific lager tradition. Italian lager is its own thing — cleaner than German pilsner, softer than Czech, more obviously food-friendly than English bitter.
Heineken-group distribution
Birra Moretti shares Heineken’s mainstream distribution reach. That shows on the shelves: when we checked in October 2026, Tesco, Ocado and Morrisons all stocked Zero, and so did the alcohol-free specialists. It isn’t on draught, though: in November 2025 Heineken UK said Heineken 0.0 was its only zero-alcohol beer on tap.
Lower calorie than full-strength
19 kcal per 100ml, or about 63 kcal a 330ml bottle — around half the 38 kcal per 100ml on the UK label of full-strength Moretti L’Autentica.
Birra Moretti Zero: the beer itself
Pours pale amber with a thin white head that fades fast. The aroma leads with malt grain and a hint of lemon — recognisably similar to its alcoholic sibling. On the palate, crisp and slightly aromatic, with citrus and gentle bitterness over a smooth malt base. Lighter-bodied than the full-strength version (as you’d expect), but cleaner than many AF mainstream lagers. The finish is dry and reasonably balanced.
Alcohol Change UK’s reviewer found it “a little sweeter than standard-strength Moretti”. The label gives 2.4g of sugar per 100ml, where full-strength Moretti has under 0.1g.
How Birra Moretti Zero compares
Among Italian-style alcohol-free lagers, the comparison set is narrow: Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0% is the closest direct rival, and Menabrea Zero Zero is the third Italian option. Among mainstream AF lagers more broadly, Heineken 0.0 is the obvious comparison — same parent company, similar distribution, slightly different style emphasis. For Italian character specifically, Moretti is the pick.
Among craft alcohol-free lagers, Lucky Saint Unfiltered Lager and Jump Ship Yardarm compete on body and complexity rather than mainstream availability. Moretti Zero gives you accessible, consistent, mainstream Italian lager character; the craft alternatives give you depth at the cost of distribution.
Is Birra Moretti Zero worth drinking?
For drinkers ordering an alcohol-free beer in an Italian restaurant, with pizza, or alongside Mediterranean food generally, Moretti Zero is the obvious choice. The Italian-style lager template matches the food, the distribution means it’s actually available where you need it, and the calorie count is reasonable.
For drinkers seeking depth, craft character, or unusual styles, Moretti Zero is too clean and too mainstream. That’s the point of the product, not a flaw — but it does mean Zero is an accompaniment-to-food beer rather than a standalone craft experience.
Buy Birra Moretti Zero
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More on lager. How it’s brewed, where it came from and every type: what is lager? The real difference from ale: lager vs ale. Pils, helles and the rest: what is pilsner, and how it differs from lager. Munich’s pale lager: what is helles? Cologne’s top-fermented hybrid: what is Kölsch? And the nineteen we rank, with prices: the best alcohol-free lagers.