Peroni 0.0 vs Lucky Saint: Which Alcohol-Free Lager Wins?
Published July 2026 · 5-minute read · by Rich, founder of Unhopped
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The basic distinction
These are the two alcohol-free lagers most likely to be offered to you in a decent UK pub or supermarket aisle, and they come at the job from opposite directions. Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0 is the zero-alcohol version of an Italian style icon — the brand now sits within the Asahi group — and it’s engineered to feel like the original: light, precise, elegant, served very cold in a branded glass. Lucky Saint was never a copy of anything: London-founded in 2018 and brewed in Bavaria, it was built alcohol-free from day one, unfiltered for body, and it’s since become the UK’s definitive independent AF lager — on draught in over 1,000 pubs.
Our full reviews cover each in depth: Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0 review and the Lucky Saint review.
Head to head
| Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0 | Lucky Saint Unfiltered Lager | |
|---|---|---|
| ABV | 0.0% | 0.5% |
| Calories (330ml) | ~73 kcal | 53 kcal |
| Style | Italian-style premium lager | Unfiltered Bavarian-brewed lager |
| Body | Light, crisp, quick clean exit | Fuller, hazy, biscuity malt |
| Filtration | Filtered, polished | Unfiltered — cloudy on purpose |
| Where it shines | Aperitivo hour, celebrations, food | The pub, the fridge, the session |
| Unhopped Score | 7.3 | 8.7 |
How they actually taste
Peroni 0.0 pours bright gold and drinks the way Peroni drinkers hope: delicate grain, a whisper of hop, high carbonation and a quick, clean exit. There isn’t much mid-palate — by design. It’s a beer for clinking, for salted almonds, for the first fifteen minutes of a party. Scored 7.3 in our review.
Lucky Saint is a different animal: hazy gold from the unfiltered yeast, biscuity Pilsner malt, a gentle Hallertau bitterness and a dry finish. It has the one thing most AF lagers lack — texture — which is why it won the Which? 2025 blind taste test and why it scored 8.7 with us, one of the highest marks we’ve given a lager. Full notes in our review.
0.0% vs 0.5% — does it matter?
Peroni 0.0 is a true zero; Lucky Saint sits at 0.5% ABV — the international alcohol-free standard, and the UK’s “de-alcoholised” limit under voluntary guidance (the stricter UK “alcohol-free” ceiling is 0.05%) — a trace level comparable to what occurs naturally in foods like ripe bananas or bread. For most drinkers it’s a distinction without a difference; for some — personal rules, faith, or simply preferring a round number — only 0.0% will do, and that decides this whole comparison in Peroni’s favour. We’ve unpacked the labelling properly in alcohol-free vs low alcohol and 0.0% vs 0.5%: what’s the difference.
Calories
Lucky Saint’s 53 kcal per 330ml undercuts Peroni 0.0’s roughly 73 — both modest next to a full-strength lager, and close enough that we’d never choose between them on calories alone. If numbers are your thing, our calorie calculator compares every beer we’ve reviewed.
Where each one wins
Order the Peroni 0.0 when: you need a genuine zero; it’s aperitivo hour; you’re at a wedding or a summer party and want something that photographs as well as it drinks; the food is light — seafood, pizza bianca, olives.
Order the Lucky Saint when: you’re in the pub and it’s on draught; you want a beer that tastes like a beer, not a toast; it’s a session and you’ll have three; you’re stocking the fridge for the month.
The verdict
Pint against pint, Lucky Saint wins — the unfiltered body and biscuit-malt depth make it the better beer by a clear margin on our scoring, and it’s the one we reach for. But it can’t do the one thing Peroni 0.0 does effortlessly: be a true zero with Italian polish. Know which job you’re hiring for and you can’t really go wrong.
Buy Lucky Saint at Dry Drinker →Buy Peroni 0.0 at Dry Drinker →
Still browsing? Lucky Saint’s other big rival gets the same treatment in Lucky Saint vs Heineken 0.0, Peroni’s compatriots line up in our best Italian alcohol-free beers guide, and the full field is ranked in the best alcohol-free lagers of 2026.