Best Non-Alcoholic Beers 2025: U.S. Open Gold Medal Winners

Forbes

5 days ago

With over 8,000 beers submitted, these NA standouts prove the category's not just growing—it's ... More competing.
Non-alcoholic beer has come a long way from watery lagers and one-note options. At the 2025 U.S. Open Beer Championship—one of the most competitive blind tastings in the country—several non-alcoholic beers took home medals alongside barrel-aged stouts, wild sours, and experimental IPAs.
Announced July 16, this year's competition saw more than 8,000 entries across 170-plus categories, submitted by breweries in all 50 states and beyond. And while the Grand National Champion title went to Bull & Bush Brewery of Denver, Colorado, a handful of non-alcoholic beers also walked away with top honors. These are the gold medal winners in the NA categories, and why they stood out.
Non-Alcoholic IPA: Hazy DDH IPA — Sober Carpenter (Quebec)
This Canadian brewery took gold in the NA IPA category with its Hazy DDH IPA, a juicy, hop-forward beer made using double dry-hopping techniques. The result is full-bodied and tropical, with a soft mouthfeel and no harsh bitterness. It's one of several international entries that show the global bar for alcohol-free IPAs is only getting higher.
Non-Alcoholic Stout: Black Butte Non-Alcoholic — Deschutes Brewery (Oregon)
A no-alcohol version of one of Deschutes' most recognizable beers, Black Butte Non-Alcoholic nails the same roasted malt character and smooth body that made the original a craft classic. The brewery uses a proprietary brewing process to retain flavor while keeping ABV under 0.5%. For drinkers looking for something darker in the zero-proof space, this one doesn't pull its punches.
Non-Alcoholic Fruit/Spice Beer: Ripe Pursuit — Athletic Brewing Co. (Connecticut)
Athletic Brewing's Ripe Pursuit continues the brand's run of competition wins. Described as a lemon-radler-style wheat beer, it offers bright citrus notes, a clean finish, and just enough ginger to round things out. The Connecticut-based brewery, which specializes in non-alcoholic craft beer, has racked up wins at the World Beer Awards and Great American Beer Festival—and this medal keeps the momentum going.
Non-Alcoholic Lager (Malt Beverage): Daura Non-Alcoholic — Damm S.A. (Spain)
Barcelona's Damm S.A., best known for Estrella Damm, earned top honors in the malt-based NA lager category. Daura Non-Alcoholic offers a crisp, refreshing lager body and is brewed to be gluten-reduced as well as under 0.5% ABV. Clean, easy-drinking, and balanced, it's a reminder that big-name European brewers are still in the game.
Why This Matters
Non-alcoholic beer isn't just holding its own; it continues to gain momentum. The category is growing, and breweries continue to devote resources to flavor and process, and competitions are starting to reflect that shift. At the 2025 U.S. Open Beer Championship, NA entries weren't tucked into a single catchall—they showed up across multiple style categories and earned gold. There was dedicated space for non-alcoholic beers across multiple categories, reflecting growing consumer interest and rising product quality.
And that growth isn't anecdotal. According to the Beer Institute, U.S. production of non-alcoholic beer has more than doubled over the past five years, reaching nearly 2 million barrels in 2023—up from under 900,000 barrels in 2018. With retailers expanding shelf space and brewers doubling down on R&D, non-alcoholic beer is moving from niche to normalized. These medal winners show why that shift is being taken seriously.