Alcohol-Free Beer News Round-Up – September 2026 | Modest Drinker
September has arrived, and the alcohol-free drinks world shows no sign of slowing down. From cruise ships expanding their 0% drinks menus to new research looking at how younger people view alcohol-free drinks, there’s plenty happening beyond the supermarket beer aisle.
And, of course, there’s been plenty happening here at Modest Drinker too, with a new Czech lager collaboration, a look at Big Drop’s Pine Trail Pale Ale and a guide to finding an alcohol-free beer you’ll actually enjoy.
Here are some of the stories that caught my eye this month.
Marella Cruises expands its alcohol-free drinks offering
Alcohol-free drinks are increasingly becoming part of the mainstream hospitality experience, and the latest example comes from Marella Cruises.
From August, Marella expanded its 0% drinks offering across its fleet, adding 18 alcohol-free cocktails, six 0% spirits and four alcohol-free wines, alongside alcohol-free beer and cider. The expanded All Inclusive range includes Heineken 0% and Somersby 0%, while Premium All Inclusive customers get access to a selection of alcohol-free spirits from Lyre’s.
The new cocktail menu includes alcohol-free versions of familiar favourites such as a Nojito and a Gentle Fashioned, as well as drinks designed specifically around the alcohol-free spirits.
What I find interesting here isn’t necessarily the number of drinks, but the fact that alcohol-free options are being treated as part of the main drinks experience rather than simply an alternative for people who don’t drink.
Marella says the expansion came partly from customer feedback and a desire to fill gaps in its existing drinks menu.
If you’re going on a cruise and don’t want alcohol, having a proper cocktail menu rather than being offered a soft drink or fruit juice makes a pretty big difference.
What do young people actually think about zero-alcohol drinks?
A new piece of research published this month has been looking at a slightly more complicated question: how do young people view zero-alcohol drinks?
Researchers in New Zealand spoke to 52 students aged 15 and 16 about what alcohol and zero-alcohol drinks mean to them socially. The findings suggest that alcohol-free drinks can provide some of the social benefits associated with drinking.
For example, participants felt that zero-alcohol drinks could help them fit in and communicate positive qualities such as being responsible. They could also imagine choosing them in social situations such as weddings, concerts and trips to the beach.
However, the research also highlighted an important limitation. The young people involved didn’t see alcohol-free drinks as providing the same emotional effects as alcohol, particularly in situations involving social anxiety or boredom.
That’s an interesting distinction. It suggests that alcohol-free drinks can replicate some of the social ritual of drinking, but obviously can’t replicate the intoxicating effects.
The researchers suggest that making alcohol-free drinks a normal part of social occasions could potentially help challenge the idea that alcohol is necessary for having fun or fitting in.
It’s a fascinating area, particularly as the alcohol-free market increasingly moves beyond simply recreating beer and wine and starts becoming part of a much wider change in drinking culture.
https://phys.org/news/2026-09-zeroalcohol-popularity-young-people.html#google_vignette
Man calls 999 after accidentally buying alcohol-free gin
And now for something a little more bizarre!
A BBC video highlighted the story of a man who apparently called 999 after accidentally purchasing 0% alcohol gin.
Yes, really.
It’s the sort of story that sounds ridiculous at first, but it also says something about how confusing the alcohol-free drinks market can sometimes be. With bottles and cans increasingly designed to look like their alcoholic counterparts, it’s possible to see how someone could pick up the wrong product.
Of course, checking the label before calling the emergency services is probably the better approach!
Still, it’s another example of how quickly alcohol-free products are becoming mainstream enough to appear in situations where people might not even expect them.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/ckgewe19nngo
What’s been happening on Modest Drinker?
It’s been another busy month on the blog, with a couple of new reviews and a guide designed to help navigate the ever-growing AF beer market.
Big Drop Pine Trail Pale Ale
First up was my review of Big Drop Pine Trail Pale Ale.
Big Drop has been producing alcohol-free beer for years, and Pine Trail is a pale ale aimed at delivering plenty of flavour while keeping the alcohol at 0.5% ABV.
The review takes a look at the aroma, appearance, flavour, mouthfeel and, most importantly, whether it deserves a place in your fridge.
We Can Be Friends x Ghost Czech Lager
September also saw the arrival of something particularly interesting: the We Can Be Friends x Ghost Czech Lagercollaboration.
We Can Be Friends is a collaborative project working with independent breweries to create alcohol-free beers inspired by classic styles. For this release, the team partnered with Ghost to produce a 0.5% Czech-style lager.
It’s a style that relies heavily on simplicity, balance and quality ingredients, making it an interesting challenge for an alcohol-free beer.
I found it to be crisp and refreshing, with a good malt backbone, gentle floral and spicy hop character and a surprisingly satisfying mouthfeel. It scored 4.3/5 in my review.
How to Choose an Alcohol-Free Beer You’ll Actually Enjoy
With the number of alcohol-free beers continuing to grow, choosing what to buy can sometimes be harder rather than easier.
That’s why I put together a guide looking at how to choose an alcohol-free beer based on the styles and flavours you already enjoy.
Whether you’re a lager drinker, IPA fan, stout lover or simply someone looking for something refreshing, the aim is to make finding your next AF beer a little easier.
It’s particularly useful if you’re relatively new to alcohol-free beer and don’t know where to start.
The alcohol-free market keeps moving
One thing that stands out from this month’s stories is just how much bigger the alcohol-free market has become.
It’s no longer just about a handful of specialist beers sitting in the corner of the supermarket. We’re seeing alcohol-free options appearing on cruise ships, in cocktail menus and across mainstream hospitality.
At the same time, research is beginning to look at what these drinks actually mean to consumers and how they might change our relationship with alcohol.
And for those of us who simply enjoy a good beer without the alcohol, the most important part is that the choice keeps getting better.
There are more styles, more breweries and more genuinely interesting beers to try than ever before.
And that’s certainly something worth raising a glass to.
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