Best Non-Alcoholic Beers to Try First
Start with the beer style you already like. A hazy IPA drinker, a light-lager drinker, and a Guinness drinker should not buy the same first six-pack.
How I would start
If you are trying non-alcoholic beer for the first time, do not start with one full case. Try one IPA, one lager or pilsner, one German wheat beer, and one mainstream grocery-store option. You will learn more from four different cans or packs than from doubling down on one brand too early.
The gap between good and bad NA beer is still wide. The best cans now have real malt, hops, foam, bitterness, and a finish that makes you want another sip. The weaker ones taste sweet, flat, cereal-like, or unfinished after the first few mouthfuls.
Where to buy
For beer, I would compare a few cans or packs before buying a case. ProofNoMore is good for mixed NA beer orders; Amazon can be fine for familiar brands.
For IPA drinkers
Start with Athletic Free Wave if you want citrus and a softer hazy IPA profile. Start with Athletic Run Wild if you want more bitterness and a drier finish. Sierra Nevada Trail Pass IPA and Best Day West Coast IPA are the next cans I would compare.
For lager drinkers
Bitburger 0.0 is the first German pilsner-style beer I would try because it is crisp and dry enough for food. Heineken 0.0, Corona NA, Athletic Lite, and Budweiser Zero are easier grocery-store picks, but they are more about familiarity than beer-geek flavor.
For darker beer
Guinness 0 is the mainstream dark beer pick because the roast, coffee, and creamy foam give it a shape most pale NA beers do not have. Athletic All Out is the craft-dark comparison if you want more chocolate and roasted malt.
What I would buy first
My first beer order would include Athletic Free Wave, Athletic Run Wild, Bitburger 0.0, one German wheat beer such as Erdinger or Weihenstephaner, and one light or mainstream can. That tells you quickly whether you want hops, crispness, wheat-beer body, roast, or simple refreshment.
Bottom line
The best NA beer depends on what you already like: Free Wave for hazy IPA, Run Wild for drier IPA, Bitburger for crisp lager, Erdinger or Weihenstephaner for wheat beer, Guinness 0 for stout, and Athletic Lite or Heineken 0.0 for an easy cold can.