Budweiser Alcohol-Free Beers

Budweiser is AB InBev’s American lager, “first introduced by Adolphus Busch in 1876”, it says. Its 0.0% version, Budweiser Zero, replaced Prohibition Brew in the UK in spring 2020, and the UK label says it’s brewed in Belgium. It has nothing to do with the Czech brewery Budweiser Budvar.

Who makes Budweiser?

Budweiser belongs to AB InBev. In the UK it’s sold by AB InBev UK Limited, which trades as Budweiser Brewing Group, a name AB InBev gave its UK business in 2019, City AM reported. The full-strength Budweiser sold here, 4.5%, is brewed at Magor in south Wales, AB InBev and the Morning Advertiser say. It isn’t independent.

Where Budweiser comes from

Budweiser says it was “first introduced by Adolphus Busch in 1876”. Historians add a second name. The beer historian Jay Brooks quotes Anheuser-Busch saying Busch and his friend Carl Conrad created it in 1876, and the historian Maureen Ogle says Conrad, an importer who “was no brewer”, named it after its place of origin, the Bohemian city of Budweis. Anheuser-Busch says Adolphus coined the name, so the sources differ. Conrad went bankrupt in 1883 and didn’t assign the trademark to Anheuser-Busch until 1891, according to research Brooks cites.

The name means “of Budweis”, the town now called České Budějovice in the Czech Republic, according to Wikipedia, which also says the recipe uses up to 30% rice alongside hops and barley malt. AB InBev says each batch is beechwood aged and follows a recipe used by five generations of Busch family brewmasters. The brewery in St Louis runs tours, including a chance to see the Clydesdales, its tours site says.

Budweiser Budvar is a different company: a state-owned Czech brewery, and “Budvar and Anheuser-Busch have been in a trademark dispute over the Budweiser brand since 1906”, the Associated Press reported in 2022. Budvar’s alcohol-free beer is Budvar Nealko, at 0.5%; it isn’t Budweiser Zero.

How big is Budweiser in the UK?

Budweiser Brewing Group runs three UK brewing hubs, at Magor, Samlesbury and Enfield, the Morning Advertiser reported in June 2026. Magor, its largest, was set up in 1979 and brews more than a billion pints a year of Budweiser, Corona and Stella Artois, according to the Welsh Government’s Trade & Invest Wales and AB InBev. The Grocer reported that the group would invest more than £115m in its UK breweries, £72m of it at Magor.

Budweiser’s alcohol-free beers

Budweiser’s first alcohol-free beer in the UK was Budweiser Prohibition Brew. It started in Canada in May 2016, BeverageDaily reported, and AB InBev announced it for the UK in September 2017, at first in 330ml cans, the Morning Advertiser reported. The Grocer’s headline called it a 0.0% beer, and The Grocer later reported that it launched in late 2017 at £3 for four cans.

Budweiser Zero replaced it in spring 2020: “Anheuser-Busch InBev is replacing non-alcoholic Budweiser Prohibition Brew with Budweiser Zero in the UK”, Just Drinks reported that April. It launched in four-packs of 330ml cans at a recommended £3, Convenience Store and Better Retailing reported, and the UK launch came before the US one, which Just Drinks reported in July 2020. The shops we checked sell it in 330ml bottles, and Tesco says it’s available in bottle or can. Tesco now calls it Budweiser 0.0% Alcohol Free Beer; Budweiser Brewing Group still calls it Budweiser Zero.

How is it made? At launch Budweiser Brewing Group said it was brewed with “premium Budweiser barley, hop and malt” using “the same expert beechwood ageing technique” and a four-times cold filtration process, The Grocer reported, and Elise Dickinson, Budweiser’s marketing manager, said it “was created using the latest developments in no-alcohol brewing”. Neither says whether the alcohol is removed after brewing or never made in the first place.

Where is it brewed? The UK label says “Brewed by: Inbev Belgium”, at a Brussels address that is InBev Belgium’s company address, so the brewery itself isn’t named; Morrisons gives Belgium as the country of origin. Budweiser Brewing Group’s own page gives the USA, which doesn’t match the label. So while the UK’s full-strength Budweiser comes from Wales, its Budweiser Zero comes from Belgium.

The label lists water, barley malt, rice, hops, natural flavours and carbon dioxide. Budweiser Brewing Group describes a “Crisp taste and a smooth finish”, and Alcohol Change UK gave it 3 out of 5: “light, golden and a little bit malty”. The UK label gives 14 kcal and 1.7g of sugars per 100ml, or 46 kcal and 5.6g of sugars a bottle; Budweiser Brewing Group’s own page says otherwise on sugar, but we go by the label. The Alcohol Free Co and Wise Bartender call it vegan-friendly; the label doesn’t say. We found no awards for it.

How Budweiser Zero compares

Alcohol-free lagers in our directory, including Budvar Nealko, from the separate Czech brewery Budweiser Budvar, and Corona Cero, another Budweiser Brewing Group brand. Calories per 100ml as listed on each beer’s page; checked 31 October 2026. Scores are Unhopped ratings out of 10.

The Budweiser beer in our directory

Checked October 2026. Calories are from the UK label. Scores are Unhopped ratings out of 10.

Where to buy Budweiser Zero

On 29 October 2026 The Alcohol Free Co and Dry Drinker each had six bottles for £9.44, and Wise Bartender single bottles at £1.50; those are affiliate links. The supermarkets were cheaper: four bottles for £3.75 at Morrisons, and £4.50 at Tesco (£3 with Clubcard).

Looking for something like full-strength Budweiser? Our Budweiser swap guide has more alcohol-free lagers, and our guide to alcohol-free lager has the wider picture.

Facts checked against Budweiser’s UK website, Budweiser Brewing Group, AB InBev, Brookston Beer Bulletin, Wikipedia, the Associated Press, City AM, Trade & Invest Wales, the Morning Advertiser, BeverageDaily, The Grocer, Just Drinks, Convenience Store, Better Retailing, Wholesale Manager, Alcohol Change UK, Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, The Alcohol Free Co, Dry Drinker and Wise Bartender, 31 October 2026.