How Much Alcohol Is Actually in Non-Alcoholic Beer?

The question we get more than any other: is it really alcohol-free?

The honest answer: almost, but not absolutely. SOMA is dealcoholized to below 0.5% ABV — the legal definition of non-alcoholic in India, the US, and most of Europe. Every batch is lab-tested before it goes anywhere.

What does 0.5% actually mean? For scale: a 500ml can of SOMA at 0.5% ABV contains at most 2.5ml of alcohol. A regular 5% lager contains ten times that. Your body metabolizes trace alcohol at this level roughly as fast as you consume it — which is why studies consistently show NA beer does not produce measurable intoxication.

The comparison that surprises people: trace alcohol is everywhere in food. Very ripe bananas, fresh orange juice, kombucha, some breads and yogurts — fermentation happens in nature, and many everyday foods carry comparable trace levels to an NA beer. Nobody calls a banana a drink.

Why not zero-zero? Because flavor lives in fermentation. We brew SOMA full-strength — real malt, real hops, real yeast — then remove the alcohol by vacuum distillation at around 35-40°C, low enough to keep the aroma compounds that make beer taste like beer. Chasing the last 0.5% costs more flavor than it is worth, and the body cannot tell the difference.

Who should still skip it? We are straight about this: if you avoid alcohol entirely for medical, religious, or personal reasons — including pregnancy or recovery — the call belongs to you and your doctor, not to a beer company. <0.5% is trace-level, but it is not absolute zero, and we will never pretend otherwise.

And the 18+ thing? SOMA is non-alcoholic, but it is brewed as a beer and tastes like one. We ask that buyers be 18 or older. That is a brand decision about who we are for, not a legal requirement.

Real beer, trace alcohol, zero hangover, full transparency. That is the whole deal.