Buxton Brewery Alcohol-Free Beers

Buxton Brewery is a Peak District craft brewery that began with a 40-litre brew in a family garage in Buxton, Derbyshire, on 1 January 2009. Its alcohol-free beer is Axed, a 0.5% version of its flagship IPA, Axe Edge. The original company went into administration in May 2024 and was sold the same day; the new owners still describe it as independent.

Who are Buxton Brewery?

“Buxton Brewery’s first ever brew was mashed-in on a cold, dark, January 1st, 2009,” the brewery says: about 40 litres, in a family garage. Full-time brewing began in January 2010 on a second-hand 800-litre plant, and the press names Geoff Quinn as the founder. Buxton now brews in a 7,000 square-foot building on Staden Lane, where its brewhouse makes around 3,500 litres a brew, eight to ten times a week, it says, and it opened the Buxton Tap House in the town in 2013.

Its range leans on hops, with many specials alongside core beers such as Axe Edge, a 6.8% IPA named after a moor close to England’s highest village. In 2014 it brewed with Omnipollo of Sweden as part of the Rainbow Project, Good Beer Hunting reported.

Who owns Buxton Brewery?

The company that started the brewery went into administration on 20 May 2024 and was sold the same day, in a pre-pack deal, to Happy Place Investors, reportedly for £120,000; about 50 staff moved across. That company is now Buxton Brewery Limited, and since October 2024 its main shareholders have been two companies, Snap Growth Limited, with more than half, and Set Visions Limited, Companies House shows. In June 2026 Buxton said sales had more than doubled since the takeover.

Buxton’s June 2026 announcement still called it “The Independent Peak District brewer”, and it isn’t owned by a brewing group, so we show it as independent.

Buxton’s alcohol-free beer

Axed is the 0.5% version of Axe Edge. Buxton’s description: “We took everything that’s great about Axe Edge, our hoppy, grapefruity, flagship IPA, then chopped the ABV down low to just 0.5%.” Its tasting notes are citrus, nectarine and refreshing. It comes in 440ml cans, it’s vegan, and it isn’t gluten-free: the allergens are barley, oats and wheat.

We used to say Buxton makes Axed with a yeast that produces very little alcohol. Buxton doesn’t say how Axed is made and we couldn’t find a source for that, so we’ve taken it out. Buxton doesn’t publish calories for Axed or name the hops, and we haven’t scored it yet. Its only other alcohol-free drink is a 0.0% hop water, which isn’t a beer.

The Buxton beer in our directory

Checked October 2026. Scores are Unhopped ratings out of 10.

Where to buy Axed

From Buxton’s own shop, which had it in stock on 27 October 2026 at £2.50 a can, £15 for six or £27 for 12. Dry Drinker lists it, but every case size was unavailable; that link is an affiliate link. We didn’t find it at Wise Bartender, Morrisons or Sainsbury’s. For other alcohol-free IPAs, see our ranking of the best alcohol-free IPAs.

Facts checked against Buxton Brewery’s website and shop, Companies House, The Gazette, Food Manufacture, The Grocer, TheBusinessDesk, Good Beer Hunting, Marketing Stockport, Dry Drinker and Wise Bartender, October 2026.