Budweiser Budvar Alcohol-Free Beers

Budweiser Budvar is the Czech state-owned brewery in České Budějovice, brewing since 1895; it isn’t AB InBev’s Budweiser. It has made an alcohol-free beer since 1992, the Czech press reported, and its Budvar Nealko is on sale in the UK; a separate Budvar 0.0% launched here in October 2026.

Who are Budweiser Budvar?

Budvar began brewing on 7 October 1895 as the Český akciový pivovar, the Czech joint stock brewery, in České Budějovice, known in German as Budweis, it says. In 1967 it became a national corporation, and on 1 January 1991 it “became physically independent”, its history says.

It’s still owned by the Czech state. “We are a national brewery”, it says, and Companies House lists the owner of its UK arm as “Company Owned By The State”. Forbes Česko reported in July 2025 that Budvar had paid CZK 550m to the state the year before. Its director is Petr Dvořák. No drinks group owns any of it, so we list it as independent.

Budvar and the Budweiser name

Beer called Budweiser from České Budějovice was reaching America from 1872, Budvar’s history says, and in 1876 “another Budweiser Bier saw the light of day”: Anheuser-Busch’s. Budvar has exported its beer to the USA since 1906; Anheuser-Busch registered the Budweiser brand there in 1907, and the first trademark agreement between them followed in 1911, with a new one in 1939, it says. So the two have been at odds over the name since the early 20th century. AB InBev’s alcohol-free Budweiser Zero is a different beer from a different company; see our Budweiser page.

What Budvar brews

Its flagship, Budweiser Budvar Original, is a 5% pale lager at 22 IBU, hopped with Žatec Red Semi-Early cone hops, and it carries the protected geographical indication for Budweis beer (“budějovické pivo”), which the European Commission awarded Budvar the right to use in 2004, it says. A Forbes Česko partner piece written with Budvar says Original makes up 70% of the brewery’s production and up to 95% of its exports.

Budvar pumps its water from artesian wells 300 metres deep, makes its malt from Moravian barley and uses its own yeast, which, “being a state-owned brewery”, it shares with microbreweries, it says. Primary fermentation takes about ten days at no more than 10°C, the hops go in in three batches, and the beer matures in horizontal tanks in the lager cellars. The rest of its list runs to Budvar 33, Budvar Dark lager, Budvar Reserve, Budvar Výčepní, an Old Gold IPA, a farmhouse ale and a fresh-hop Original, among others. Budvar says it won a gold medal at the Stuttgart food exhibition in 1897. We found no awards for its alcohol-free beers.

How big is Budvar?

It sold 1.946 million hectolitres of beer in 2025, Inside.beer reported, and exports to more than 70 countries. Newstream reported that 1.39 million hectolitres, 71.4% of the total, went abroad, that net profit fell 1.3% to CZK 356.3m, and that the average headcount fell from 617 to 605. On 11 February 2016 the beer brewed and shipped from the brewery passed 50 million hectolitres in all, it says. The Forbes Česko partner piece calls Budvar the largest Czech brand in important markets in Great Britain and Austria; Wikipedia calls it the best-selling Czech beer in the UK.

Budvar’s alcohol-free beers

Budvar has made non-alcoholic beer since 1992, the Czech newspaper Deník reported in April 2008, when Budvar first put Nealko in kegs on the Czech market; until then it came only in 0.5 l and 0.33 l bottles. Deník also reported that Budvar’s brewmaster, Josef Tolar, had been on the team that created “the first non-alcoholic beer” in 1975.

Budvar Nealko is up to 0.5%, Budvar says, brewed with Czech caramel malt and Žatec Red Semi-Early hops, at 23 IBU and 10 EBC; Budvar calls it the taste of “a proper lager from Budweis”. Budvar lists it in 0.33 l and 0.5 l bottles, a 0.5 l can, 20 l kegs and tanks. It launched in the UK in 2011 at 0.4%, The Caterer reported; in 2014 the Morning Advertiser called it 0.5%, made “with the same ingredients as Budvar Original”, “but the crucial difference takes place during primary fermentation”. The paper reported that the aim was to “challenge Beck’s to its ownership of this segment”. Budvar gives 60 kJ per 100ml, with 1.6g of sugars; The Alcohol Free Co gives 15 kcal.

Budvar 0.0% is a separate beer. Petr Dvořák told Seznam Zprávy in July 2026 that the technology Budvar uses starts from fully brewed beer, and that the alcohol is taken out of the finished lager at the end. He said it had already launched on export markets, with the Czech launch to come soon; Budvar’s Czech beer list still didn’t show it on 31 October 2026. Beer Today reported the UK launch on 27 October 2026: the same ingredients, techniques and maturation as Original, with the alcohol removed at the end by “cold membrane filtration with reverse osmosis”, in cans. “While we are by no means the first to market, we truly believe our beer is first for flavour”, Rich Sanna, managing director of Budweiser Budvar UK, told it. The Alcohol Free Co lists it, but it was unavailable when we checked on 29 October, so it isn’t in our directory yet.

How Budvar Nealko compares

Budvar Nealko, the Czech Staropramen 0.0, a UK-brewed Czech-style pils and AB InBev’s Budweiser Zero, all in our directory. Calories as published; checked 31 October 2026. Scores are Unhopped ratings out of 10.

The Budvar beer in our directory

Checked October 2026. Calories are from The Alcohol Free Co. Scores are Unhopped ratings out of 10.

Visiting Budvar

The brewery runs tours of about 70–80 minutes, through the visitor centre, the brewhouse, the lager cellars, at about 2°C, and the production line, with a tasting for over-18s, it says. They run in seven languages, including English, from Monday to Sunday, 9:00 to 17:00 (with some closed days), and cost CZK 290, or CZK 220 reduced. The brewery is at K. Světlé 512/4, České Budějovice.

Where to buy Budvar Nealko

On 29 October 2026 The Alcohol Free Co had single bottles at £1.94 and Wise Bartender at £2.20; those are affiliate links. For more, see our guide to the best Czech alcohol-free beer.

Facts checked against Budvar’s own website, Companies House, Forbes Česko, Inside.beer, Newstream, Deník, Seznam Zprávy, The Caterer, the Morning Advertiser, Beer Today, Wikipedia, The Alcohol Free Co and Wise Bartender, 31 October 2026.