Non-alcoholic beer contains anywhere from 0 to 30+ grams of sugar per 12-ounce serving, depending on the brand and style. That range is enormous, and it matters because some NA beers rival a can of soda in sugar content while others contain none at all. The difference comes down to how the beer is brewed and whether alcohol was removed after the fact.
Why the Sugar Range Is So Wide
Regular beer with alcohol typically has close to zero grams of sugar per serving. That seems counterintuitive, but yeast consumes nearly all the sugar during fermentation, converting it into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The 12 or 13 grams of carbohydrates in a standard lager come mostly from residual starches and dextrins, not sugar.
Non-alcoholic beer disrupts that process. Some brands stop fermentation early, before yeast can eat through the sugars. Others let fermentation finish normally, then strip out the alcohol using heat or membrane filtration. Both approaches can leave more sugar behind than you’d find in regular beer, but the exact amount varies dramatically by method and recipe. Beers dealcoholized through vacuum distillation or evaporation tend to end up with higher sugar concentrations than the original product, because removing alcohol and water effectively concentrates what remains.
Sugar in Popular NA Beer Brands
The nutrition labels on widely available NA beers tell a very different story depending on which one you pick up:
- Budweiser Zero: 50 calories, 12.1 g carbohydrates, 0 g sugar per 12 oz
- Heineken 0.0: 69 calories, 16 g carbohydrates, 0 g sugar per 12 oz
- Athletic Brewing Run Wild IPA: 65 calories, 14 g carbohydrates per 12 oz
These popular options are on the low end. But USDA averages paint a different picture for the category overall: a generic non-alcoholic beer clocks in at 28.5 grams of carbohydrates and 28.5 grams of sugar per 12-ounce serving. That’s nearly as much sugar as a can of Coca-Cola (39 grams). The gap between brand-name craft NA beers and cheaper or older-style NA beers can be staggering.
If sugar content matters to you, checking the nutrition label is essential. Two NA beers sitting next to each other on the shelf can differ by 25 or more grams of sugar per can.
How NA Beer Compares to Soda and Juice
A 12-ounce can of regular cola contains roughly 39 grams of sugar. Orange juice runs about 33 grams per 12 ounces. The lowest-sugar NA beers (Heineken 0.0, Budweiser Zero) come in at zero grams, making them more comparable to sparkling water in terms of sugar. But a high-sugar NA beer at 28 to 32 grams per serving lands squarely in soda territory.
Calorie counts follow a similar pattern. Low-sugar NA beers sit between 50 and 70 calories per can. High-sugar versions can push well above 100. For context, a regular 5% ABV lager runs about 150 calories, with most of those calories coming from alcohol rather than sugar.
NA Beer Style Affects Sugar Content
A 2025 study in the journal Nutrients measured the sugar content of three styles of non-alcoholic beer and tracked what happened when healthy young men drank about two cans (660 mL) daily for four weeks. The sugar differences between styles were notable:
- Mixed beer (beer blended with fruit or lemonade): 32.3 g sugar per 660 mL
- Wheat beer: 23.8 g sugar per 660 mL
- Pilsener: 18.5 g sugar per 660 mL
The metabolic effects tracked with the sugar content. Participants drinking the mixed beer and wheat beer saw increases in fasting blood sugar, insulin levels, and triglycerides over the four-week period. The pilsener group and the water-only control group did not show these changes. The researchers concluded that the metabolic effects were driven by the caloric and sugar content of the beers rather than other compounds like polyphenols.
The takeaway: pilsener-style NA beers tend to be the lowest in sugar, while wheat beers, fruit-flavored beers, and mixed-style drinks carry substantially more.
What to Look for on the Label
NA beer labeling in the United States falls into a regulatory gray zone. Products with less than 0.5% alcohol by volume are regulated by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), which has historically not required the same detailed nutrition panels that the FDA mandates for food and soft drinks. Some NA beer brands voluntarily include full nutrition facts, but others don’t. If there’s no sugar information on the can, check the brand’s website or look up the product in the USDA’s FoodData Central database.
When a label lists carbohydrates but not sugar separately, keep in mind that carbs and sugar are not the same thing. A beer with 16 grams of carbohydrates and 0 grams of sugar gets those carbs from starches and dextrins that don’t taste sweet and behave differently in your body than simple sugars. A beer where the carbohydrate and sugar numbers are nearly identical (like the 28.5 g carbs / 28.5 g sugar generic average) is essentially sugar water with beer flavor.
If you’re watching your sugar intake, the safest picks are major craft NA brands that display full nutrition facts and show sugar at or near zero. Avoid mixed or flavored NA beers unless you’ve confirmed the sugar content, and be cautious with wheat-style NA beers, which tend to run higher even without added flavoring.