Review

Alcohol-free vs regular beer: how many calories do you save?

By Alex Stewart

Updated 1 November 2026. Every figure links to its source below. How these pages are made.

IMPOSSIBREW Enhanced Lager17 kcal per 100ml

Quick answerSwitching usually halves the calories. Heineken goes from 42 to 21 kcal per 100ml, and Guinness from 35 to 17. Alcohol itself has 7 calories per gram, which is why removing it saves so much. A pint of IMPOSSIBREW Enhanced Lager is about 97 kcal against up to 222 kcal for a pint of 5% beer (NHS).

Same brand, with and without alcohol

Brand	Regular, kcal /100ml	0.0, kcal /100ml	Saved per pint
Heineken Original	42	21	120
Guinness Draught	35	17	102

Heineken Original is 5%, Guinness Draught 4.2%. From each brand's official pages, read 1 November 2026. A pint is 568ml.

Ratings compared

Checked 5 Nov 2026

1	IMPOSSIBREW	4.4	1,036 reviews
2	Lucky Saint	4.3	3,734 reviews
3	BrewDog	4.0	2,600 reviews
Not ranked: fewer than 1,000 reviews
	Guinness	2.4	9 reviews
	Heineken	2.0	102 reviews
On Trustpilot, no reviews yet: Big Drop, Bero
No Trustpilot page found: Erdinger

Brands with 1,000+ Trustpilot reviews are ranked. TrustScores and review counts from each brand's Trustpilot page, checked 5 Nov 2026.

Where the calories come from

The NHS says alcohol "contains lots of calories – 7 calories per gram, which is almost as many as a gram of fat." Take the alcohol out and most of those go. What is left comes from carbohydrate and sugar, which is why alcohol-free beers still vary from 4 to 25 kcal per 100ml.

Alcohol-free is not automatically low-calorie

Drinkaware warns: "don’t assume ‘alcohol-free’ means ‘low calorie’." Erdinger Alkoholfrei and Bero are 25 kcal per 100ml; Big Drop is 4 and Days is 10. See every brand ranked.

What it adds up to

The NHS says five pints a week of 5.2% lager adds up to 57,720 kcal a year. Five pints a week of IMPOSSIBREW Enhanced Lager would be about 25,100 kcal, and of IMPOSSIBREW Triple Hopped IPA about 17,700.

Pint of...	kcal
5% beer (NHS)	Up to 222
Heineken 0.0	119
Guinness 0.0	97
IMPOSSIBREW Enhanced Lager	97
IMPOSSIBREW Triple Hopped IPA	68

Try IMPOSSIBREW Enhanced Lager →

Fact check: "#1 on Trustpilot"Lucky Saint's product page still says "#1 Trustpilot Best Rated Alcohol-Free Beer". That is out of date. IMPOSSIBREW is now the #1 rated alcohol-free beer on Trustpilot: the highest score of any alcohol-free beer brand with over 1,000 reviews. Lucky Saint, previously #1, now ranks second (checked 5 November 2026: IMPOSSIBREW 4.4 from over 1,000 reviews, Lucky Saint 4.3 from 3,734). Lucky Saint still has more reviews. Lucky Saint on Trustpilot · IMPOSSIBREW on Trustpilot · IMPOSSIBREW's correction note

IMPOSSIBREW in four numbers

4.4 ★Trustpilot, 1,000+ reviews. Top score of any alcohol-free beer brand with 1,000+ reviews

91/100Gold, London Beer Competition (Enhanced Lager)

+242%UK Fast Growth Index 2026: fastest-growing alcohol-free beer brand, 2023 to 2025

59/59negative Trustpilot reviews answered by IMPOSSIBREW

FAQs

Does alcohol-free beer have fewer calories than normal beer?

Usually about half. Heineken 0.0 is 21 kcal per 100ml against 42 for Heineken Original; Guinness 0.0 is 17 against 35 for Guinness Draught.

How many calories are in a pint of alcohol-free beer?

From about 23 kcal (Big Drop) to about 142 kcal (Erdinger, Bero). IMPOSSIBREW Enhanced Lager is about 97.

Will switching to alcohol-free beer help with a beer belly?

It cuts calories: a pint of 5% beer can be up to 222 kcal, against about 97 for IMPOSSIBREW Enhanced Lager. Weight depends on your whole diet, so it is one part of the picture.

Sources

All read 1 November 2026 unless stated. Prices change; check the brand's site before you buy.