Mikkeller Alcohol-Free Beers Review: Danish Craft at Its Best
Published May 2026, updated October 2026 · 7-minute read · by Rich, founder of Unhopped
Mikkeller is what happens when one of the most respected craft brewers in the world turns their attention to alcohol-free. The Mikkellensis yeast is genuinely innovative — it makes very little alcohol, so nothing has to be removed afterwards. The result is AF beer that retains more aromatic character than dealcoholised beers can preserve.
Who are Mikkeller?
Mikkeller is one of the most influential craft breweries of the last twenty years. Co-founded in Copenhagen in 2006 by Mikkel Borg Bjergsø, a former maths and physics teacher and obsessive homebrewer, and Kristian Klarup Keller, Mikkeller became one of the brewers that popularised 'gypsy brewing' — brewing at partner facilities rather than owning one big brewery. That flexibility allowed them to experiment more aggressively than most breweries can afford to.
In the years since, Mikkeller has grown to more than 40 markets, it says, with bars in Copenhagen, Tokyo, London, Paris, Tallinn, Taipei and the Faroe Islands. Carlsberg bought a 20% stake in 2024; Bjergsø keeps control. They host one of Europe's most-respected beer festivals (MBCC). And they've turned that craft brewing pedigree to alcohol-free — using a proprietary yeast strain (Mikkellensis) to make AF beer that doesn't compromise on flavour the way dealcoholised beers often do.
Mikkeller's alcohol-free range is built around its own low-alcohol yeast, developed with De Proef, and now includes wheat ales, IPAs, hazy IPAs, sours and seasonals — most of them 0.3%, and brewed, as far as we can tell, in Belgium.
What makes Mikkeller different
The Mikkellensis yeast
Most major AF brewers use one of two approaches: brew full-strength then strip the alcohol (vacuum distillation, cold filtration), or use specialty yeasts that produce minimal alcohol. Mikkeller's Mikkellensis yeast is in the second category; Mikkeller developed it with De Proefbrouwerij. The result is AF beer that preserves more aromatic complexity than typical dealcoholisation methods can manage — particularly noticeable in the IPA and hazy IPA range.
Craft brewing pedigree
Many AF brewers come at the category from a wellness-and-fitness angle. Mikkeller comes at it from established craft brewing. The brewery's reputation in full-strength beer (Bjergsø has said its Beer Geek Breakfast was voted the best stout in the world in 2006; it has a ranked global craft beer presence and runs the celebrated MBCC festival) carries directly into how they approach alcohol-free.
Gypsy brewing flexibility
Brewing at multiple partner sites means Mikkeller can produce beer closer to its target market. Mikkeller's AF beers for the UK appear to be brewed in Belgium — the Swedish importer says so of Drink'in the Sun, though UK shops say Denmark — a short hop across the Channel either way.
The Mikkeller alcohol-free range: our top picks
Weird Weather Hazy IPA (0.3%)
Mikkeller's most-rated AF beer in our directory. A hazy IPA at 0.3% ABV — tropical fruit and citrus hop character, a full body, clean finish. The hop expression is meaningfully better than most dealcoholised hazy IPAs can manage.
Drink\'in The Sun (0.3%)
Mikkeller's top-selling alcohol-free beer in 2019, and still the most quoted. A wheat-pale ale at 0.3% — citrus, tropical fruit, soft wheat sweetness. Brewed using Mikkeller's special low-alcohol yeast (and the De Proefbrouwerij site that produces several other notable AF beers).
Racing Beer (0.3%)
A lager with tropical fruit aromas and a lightly acidic backbone, as described when it reached the UK in 2018; it's no longer in Mikkeller's range or UK shops. Lighter than Drink'in The Sun and meant as a refreshing drink rather than a full flavour experience.
How Mikkeller compares to the wider European alcohol-free category
Mikkeller's role in alcohol-free is part of a broader Danish craft beer reputation that includes Evil Twin (run by Bjergsø's twin brother), Ølfabrikken, To Øl (whose founders Bjergsø taught when he was still teaching school), and others. The Mikkeller alcohol-free range is consistently among the highest-rated AF beers from Europe. For UK-based comparisons, see our roundups of alcohol-free hazy IPAs and alcohol-free pale ales.
Beers to explore
Mikkeller's UK-distributed alcohol-free range:
