Can You Get Drunk on Non-Alcoholic Beer?

For a healthy adult drinking a few cans over an evening, the practical answer is no. A non-alcoholic beer has 0.5% ABV or less, which is at most a tenth of the alcohol in a regular beer, and the body processes a small amount like that steadily. The answer is not an absolute no, however, because the trace of alcohol is real, and this post explains why.

How much alcohol is in one can?

India's food regulator, FSSAI, treats a drink as an alcoholic beverage when it has more than 0.5% ABV (FSSAI's alcoholic beverage regulations). A 250ml can at 0.5% ABV holds at most 1.25ml of alcohol (250 × 0.005). One millilitre of alcohol weighs about 0.789 grams (PubChem), so that is just under 1 gram (1.25 × 0.789 = 0.99). A 500ml can holds at most 2.5ml, which is just under 2 grams (2.5 × 0.789 = 1.97). The legal facts behind the 0.5% line are on our numbers page.

A regular beer is about 5% ABV (NIAAA). A 500ml regular beer therefore holds 25ml of alcohol (500 × 0.05), which is about 19.7 grams (25 × 0.789), and a 250ml one holds 12.5ml (250 × 0.05), which is about 9.9 grams (12.5 × 0.789). That is at least ten times as much as a non-alcoholic beer of the same size. The same FSSAI regulations define one standard drink as the amount that contains 12.7ml of alcohol. By that measure, a 500ml can at 0.5% ABV holds about a fifth of a standard drink (2.5 ÷ 12.7 = 0.2), and a 500ml regular beer holds about two (25 ÷ 12.7 = 1.97).

How the body handles a small amount of alcohol

Most of the alcohol a person drinks is broken down in the liver (a 2020 review in the journal Biomedicines). The NHS says that one UK unit, which is 10ml or 8 grams of pure alcohol, is around the amount the average adult can process in an hour, and that this varies from person to person (NHS). On that average, the 2.5ml in a 500ml can at the top of the range is a quarter of a unit, which is about 15 minutes of processing (2.5 ÷ 10 × 60 = 15). A 500ml regular beer at 5% ABV is 2.5 units, which is about two and a half hours. Four 500ml cans at the top of the range add up to one unit between them (4 × 2.5ml = 10ml).

What a study measured

In a study published in 2010 in the journal Forensic Science International, volunteers each drank 2.5 litres of non-alcoholic beer, which is the same as five 500ml cans. The researchers did not detect alcohol in the volunteers' blood. They did find breakdown products of alcohol in their urine, at levels above a cut-off that abstinence tests often use (the study on PubMed).

Why the answer is not an absolute no

The arithmetic, the NHS figure and that study together are why the practical answer for a healthy adult drinking a few cans is no. The alcohol is still there, though, and three things affect the answer. The first is the amount. The figures above are per can, and alcohol that is drunk faster than the body can process it stays in the blood for longer. The second is the person. The rate of processing varies from person to person, and the liver does most of the work. A case report published in 1999 in the Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine describes a patient with end-stage liver disease whose blood alcohol rose to a measurable level after drinking non-alcoholic beer (the report on PubMed). The third is the beer. The 0.5% figure is an upper limit, and a brand should test every batch to show that its beer stays below it. Every batch of SOMA is lab-tested to confirm that it is under 0.5% ABV, as we explain in how we keep the alcohol under 0.5%.

Who should not drink it at all?

If you avoid all alcohol for medical or personal reasons, treat non-alcoholic beer as a drink that contains a trace of alcohol. Whether that trace matters for you is a decision for you and your doctor, not for a beer company. If your reason is religious, SOMA is under 0.5% ABV, which is a trace and not zero, and it is not halal-certified, so that judgement belongs to you and your scholar. Our page on non-alcoholic beer rules in Asia and the Middle East sets out what official halal bodies have published. SOMA is also only for adults aged 18 and over. We explain the trace in everyday terms in how much alcohol is in non-alcoholic beer.

What about driving?

This post does not cover driving. Section 185 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 makes it an offence to drive with alcohol exceeding 30 mg per 100 ml of blood, detected by a breath analyser or a laboratory test, and a first offence carries up to six months' imprisonment, a fine of ten thousand rupees, or both (the text on Indian Kanoon). Our guide, can you drive after a non-alcoholic beer in India?, explains the law, and it is general information, not legal advice.

SOMA makes five non-alcoholic beers, and all of them are under 0.5% ABV. You can see them on our products page, and our questions and answers page covers other common questions.