Sharp’s Alcohol-Free Beers

Sharp’s is the Cornish brewery behind Doom Bar, set up at Rock in 1994 and owned by Molson Coors since 2011. Molson Coors has confirmed that the Rock brewery will stop production in December 2026; when we checked, on 31 October 2026, it was still open. Doom Bar 0.0 is already brewed away from Rock, its labels say.

Who are Sharp’s?

Bill Sharp started the brewery in 1994, taking a four-year lease on a 1,000 sq ft unit on Pityme Industrial Estate, on the edge of Rock on the north Cornish coast, Sharp’s says. The first beers were Sharp’s Own, a best bitter, and Cornish Coaster, a pale ale. In 2003 the brewery was bought by Nick Baker and Joe Keohane, it says.

Molson Coors bought Sharp’s for £20m in 2011, the Morning Advertiser reported, when it was making about 70,000 barrels a year. Companies House lists Molson Coors Brewing Company (UK) Limited as holding 75% or more of the shares, so it isn’t independent.

Doom Bar, from Rock to Burton

Doom Bar dates from 1995, when Bill Sharp and his father blended Sharp’s Own and Coaster, the brewery says. It’s named after “the treacherous sandbar which sits nearby in the Camel Estuary”. Cask Doom Bar is 4%, and the keg, can and bottle are 4.3%. Sharp’s says it became the UK’s number one cask ale in 2013 and the number one premium bottled ale in 2015.

Bottled Doom Bar has been brewed in Burton since about 2013: Molson Coors confirmed it in 2015, saying “there’s no space for a bottling line” at Rock, SIBA reported, while cask was still brewed in Cornwall. Molson Coors says it has invested more than £20m at Rock since 2011, ITV reported.

The planned closure of the Rock brewery

On 25 February 2026 Molson Coors proposed closing the brewery at Rock by the end of 2026, subject to consultation, with around 50 redundancies there, The Post reported.

After a six-month consultation, Molson Coors confirmed the closure on 29 September 2026, with up to 40 roles at risk, the Morning Advertiser reported. “The brewery will cease production in December,” ITV reported, and Molson Coors was exploring a sale of the premises. Simon Kerry, Molson Coors’ managing director for the UK and Ireland, said “the brewery is no longer financially sustainable”. Production hadn’t stopped when we checked, on 31 October 2026.

Heads of terms, which aren’t a final contract, have been agreed for Sharp’s cask beers, including Doom Bar, Sea Fury and Atlantic Pale Ale, to be brewed by Camerons, an “independent, family-owned brewer”, the Morning Advertiser and Food Manufacture reported; Camerons is in Hartlepool, TheBusinessDesk reported. No date has been given for the move. Its keg and packaged beers are due to stay with Molson Coors, at its Burton and Tadcaster breweries. We found no sale of the Sharp’s brands. CAMRA’s Cornwall chairman, Dave Pedlar, called it “a betrayal of the founders of Sharp’s”.

Sharp’s alcohol-free beer

Doom Bar 0.0 launched as Doom Bar Zero in August 2020, billed in the trade press as the UK’s first widely available 0.0% amber ale. It was already in Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Amazon, with Tesco and Bookers to follow that September, Wholesale Manager reported, made with a “pioneering brewing method” developed over more than two years. Nobody has said what the method is, or mentioned removing alcohol. It isn’t on Sharp’s own list of beers.

It isn’t brewed at Rock. The labels at Tesco and Sainsbury’s say “Brewed in partnership with Sharp’s Brewery at Cameron’s, Hartlepool”; Morrisons’ says “Brewed in Burtonwood in Partnership with Molson Coors”. So if the cask move goes ahead, cask Doom Bar would join the alcohol-free version at Camerons. The label gives 13 kcal and 1.1g of sugars per 100ml, about 65 kcal a 500ml bottle (our sum), and lists sugar and oats among the ingredients but no sweetener.

Sharp’s says Doom Bar Zero won silver at the World Beer Awards 2020, and Business Cornwall reported it; we haven’t found it on the awards’ own site. Sharp’s makes no other alcohol-free beer that we found.

How Doom Bar 0.0 compares

Alcohol-free amber, brown and pale ales from UK breweries in our directory. Calories as published. Scores are Unhopped ratings out of 10.

The Sharp’s beer in our directory

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

Where to buy Doom Bar 0.0

On 29 October 2026 The Alcohol Free Co had six for £15.36 and Dry Drinker six for £14.99; those are affiliate links. Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose were out of stock, and Morrisons listed it at £1.75 a bottle.

Looking for something like full-strength Doom Bar? Our Doom Bar swap guide has more alcohol-free amber and toasted beers.

Facts checked against Sharp’s own website, Companies House, the Morning Advertiser, ITV, The Post, Food Manufacture, TheBusinessDesk, SIBA, CAMRA, Wholesale Manager, Business Cornwall, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, The Alcohol Free Co and Dry Drinker, 31 October 2026.