Birra Moretti Alcohol-Free Beers

Birra Moretti is the Italian lager brand Luigi Moretti started in Udine in 1859. Heineken has owned it since 1996, and the Moretti sold in the UK is brewed in the UK; its alcohol-free version, Birra Moretti Zero, is brewed in the Netherlands.

The story of Birra Moretti

Luigi Moretti was 37 when he founded his “beer and ice factory” in Udine, in the Friuli region, in 1859; the first bottles were sold a year later. For more than a century it was a Friuli beer: only from the 1990s on, the brand says, was it sold across Italy. In 1992 brewing moved from Udine to a bigger brewery at San Giorgio di Nogaro.

Canada’s Labatt took a stake in the company, and Belgium’s Interbrew owned it briefly after buying Labatt in 1995, before Heineken bought Birra Moretti in 1996. After Italy’s competition authority looked into the deal, the San Giorgio brewery was sold in 1997.

Where is Birra Moretti brewed?

Not in Udine any more, and, for the UK, not in Italy. Birra Moretti’s UK website calls its lager an “original Italian recipe, now brewed in the UK”, Tesco and Waitrose list the UK as the country of origin, and press reports say it’s brewed in Manchester. The Birra Moretti Zero sold in the UK is brewed in the Netherlands, according to its label. In 2024 Birra Moretti overtook Carling as the UK’s best-selling draught lager, the Morning Advertiser reported, citing CGA data.

The man on the label

The moustached man is ‘Baffo’, Birra Moretti says. Its story is that in 1942 Luigi Moretti’s nephew saw a pleasant-looking man at a table in the Trattoria Boschetti in Udine and asked if he could take his picture. A Udine professor has since argued that the photo was taken by a German photographer, Erika Groth Schmachtenberger, at an inn in the Tyrol near Innsbruck, the Italian food site Dissapore reported in 2021.

The alcohol-free beer

Birra Moretti Zero came to the UK in 2019: Heineken said shops would stock it from March. Birra Moretti calls it “perfectly balanced with fresh, hoppy and citrus notes”, and declares less than 0.05% ABV, which is within the UK’s guideline for alcohol-free; it’s sold as 0.0%. The UK label lists carbonated water, malted barley, natural flavouring and hop extract, and gives 19 kcal and 2.4g of sugar per 100ml. Birra Moretti doesn’t say how it takes the alcohol out.

It isn’t on draught: in November 2025 Heineken UK said Heineken 0.0 was its only zero-alcohol beer on tap, and we found no later news. It’s the only alcohol-free Moretti we found on sale in the UK; the rest of the UK range, including L’Autentica at 4.6%, La Toscana and La Siciliana, is full strength.

The Birra Moretti beer in our directory

Nutrition from the UK label, as listed by Tesco, Ocado and Morrisons, checked October 2026. Scores are Unhopped ratings out of 10.

Where to buy Birra Moretti Zero

On 26 October 2026 Dry Drinker had cases of 6, 12 and 24 bottles in stock, from £14.26 for six, and Wise Bartender had single bottles at £2; those two links are affiliate links. Tesco, Ocado and Morrisons sold four-packs of 330ml bottles for about £5. To compare it with the other Italian zeros, read our guide to the best Italian alcohol-free beer.

Facts checked against Birra Moretti’s UK website, the Oxford Companion to Beer, Italy’s competition authority, Il Post, Time Out, the Morning Advertiser, Just Drinks, Dissapore, Barnivore, Tesco, Ocado, Morrisons, Waitrose, Dry Drinker and Wise Bartender, October 2026.