Athletic Brewing: A Real NA Game-Changer or Occasional Gimmick?

Athletic Brewing provides non-alcoholic craft beer options that might help you cut down on alcohol without giving up the taste of a well-made brew. Its product range includes options like IPAs, stouts, golden ales, and rotating seasonal releases.

Athletic Brewing offers beers with low alcohol content and also features seasonal and limited-edition non-alcoholic flavors such as Raspberry Sour, Layback Lime & Salt, and Chelada Amada, adding variety to its core selection.

This review explores what Athletic Brewing focuses on and takes a closer look at the products it offers. You’ll find an overview of its non-alcoholic beer range and subscription options. It also highlights possible drawbacks and real consumer feedback to help you decide if this brand fits your lifestyle.

About Athletic Brewing

Athletic Brewing makes non-alcoholic beer alternatives, mentioning that their beer are brewed to contain less than 0.5% alcohol by volume.

Founded in the year 2017 by John Walker and Bill Shufelt, Athletic Brewing is a Certified B Corporation and aims to fill a gap in the market for flavorful beers that don’t contain alcohol.

Athletic Brewing claims to use a proprietary brewing method, which doesn’t rely on traditional alcohol removal techniques like heating or filtration. Instead, the company has developed a custom process that allows it to create beers that start with low alcohol content while still delivering full craft flavor.

As per the official website, Athletic Brewing operates two major facilities, one in Milford, Connecticut, and another in San Diego, California.

The brand’s product lineup is diverse, and its non alcoholic beer options include flavors like Run Wild (IPA), Upside Dawn (Golden Ale), Free Wave (Hazy IPA), All Out (Stout), and Athletic Lite (Light Lager).

Athletic Brewing Best Selling Products

1. Non Alcoholic Beverages by Athletic Brewing

   As per the official site, Athletic Brewing’s non-alcoholic beverage is brewed to contain less than 0.5% alcohol by volume. This beer is not de-alcoholized after brewing.

   Athletic uses a proprietary fermentation process that limits yeast activity to minimize ethanol production, allowing the beer to develop naturally with minimal alcohol while maintaining the characteristics of full-strength craft beer.

   This process enables yeast to convert sugars mainly into flavor compounds and metabolites, balancing flavor development and alcohol suppression. The result is a beer that retains aroma, mouthfeel, and complexity without significant ethanol levels.

   Non-alcoholic beverage’s product range includes Run Wild, Upside Dawn, Free Wave, Athletic Lite, Atlética, and All Out. Seasonal and limited releases include Ripe Pursuit, Layback Lime & Salt, NZ IPA, and Spritz.

   Additional offerings by Athletic Brewing include Tucker’s West Coast IPA (members only), Downwinder, Wit’s Peak, Sunset Stoke, First Ride, Mango Sour, Tropical Sour, Blackberry Berliner Weisse, and Raspberry Sour.

2. Athletic Brewing Sparkling Water

   Athletic Brewing’s Sparkling Water combines natural fruit flavors with the refreshing bitterness of hops. Currently, four distinct flavor profiles are available in Athletic Brewing’s sparkling water section, such as Blood Orange, Mango, Lemon Lime, and Black Cherry.

   The official website also offers a Daypack variety pack, which combines all four flavors. All four sparkling water options are available exclusively online, with individual 6-packs and 24-packs with the DayPack Variety Pack option.

Athletic Brewing Advantages

1. Allergen Transparency

   Athletic Brewing provides detailed information about its ingredients and allergen handling for its core product line, including beers such as Run Wild IPA and Upside Dawn Golden Ale. The brand lists these beers as vegan and shares consistent ingredient details like water, malted barley, oats, hops, wheat, and yeast. While its products are not certified gluten-free, some, like Upside Dawn, are tested to remain below 20 ppm gluten, with a federal disclaimer about gluten content due to fermentation. Athletic Brewing follows FDA Good Manufacturing Practices, including staff training on allergen handling, segregated storage of allergenic ingredients, scheduled production runs to limit cross-contact, and validated cleaning procedures reviewed by a Food Safety & Compliance Specialist.

   Competitive brands like Partake Brewing list gluten levels below 5 ppm in most beers and below 20 ppm in its Blonde Ale, but it does not specify if these levels are verified through testing or describe allergen-handling protocols. Partake’s beers are labeled vegan-friendly, but batch-level allergen data is not disclosed.

   Meanwhile, brands like Best Day Brewing use non-GMO, vegan ingredients like barley, hops, water, and yeast, but do not provide information on gluten content, allergen testing, or production practices related to allergen safety. The level of detail in allergen management and quality control varies across these brands.

   This means that brands like Athletic Brewing may comparatively provide more transparency around ingredient lists, testing procedures, and quality controls, which may be useful if you are monitoring allergen or gluten content.

2. B Corporation Certification

   Athletic Brewing is a Certified B Corporation, which means it meets specific standards for social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.

   The company received its certification in April 2022 and earned a B Impact Score of 81.8. This score reflects its activity across areas like governance, worker treatment, community engagement, and environmental practices. The company also reports using renewable energy at its facilities, reducing plastic use in packaging, and repurposing brewing byproducts.

   Meanwhile, Partake Brewing was certified as a B Corporation in November 2023 with a slightly lower overall score. On the other hand, Best Day Brewing does not currently hold B Corp certification, and there is no available third-party assessment of its business practices in these categories.

   While all three brands offer non-alcoholic beer options, only Athletic and Partake provide measurable data related to broader impact. Athletic’s reported scores are higher in certain categories connected to environmental and community outcomes.

Athletic Brewing Limitation

1. Not Truly Alcohol-Free

   Athletic Brewing labels its beers as non-alcoholic, but they aren’t completely alcohol-free. The brand mentions that its brew contains up to 0.5% alcohol by volume (ABV), which is within the U.S. legal limit for non-alcoholic beverages. This trace amount comes from the brewing process. If you’re avoiding alcohol entirely, whether for fitness, recovery, or personal reasons,  this small amount might still matter. While the brand does disclose the ABV on its site, the term “non-alcoholic” might lead you to assume it’s zero, which can be a limitation depending on your needs.

Athletic Brewing Alternative Brands

1. Partake Brewing

   Partake Brewing and Athletic Brewing take distinct approaches within the non-alcoholic beer space, starting with their origins and target audience.

   As per its official website, Partake focuses on simplicity, low-calorie content, and accessibility. It’s beers, like the flagship IPA with just 10 calories and 53 IBU, if you want a light, non-alcoholic option that fits dietary needs, being vegan, non-GMO, kosher, and gluten-friendly (with beers like the Pale, IPA, and Pilsner testing under 5 ppm gluten).

   Meanwhile, Athletic Brewing emphasizes full-bodied craft experiences. Its flagship Run Wild IPA and popular Free Wave Hazy IPA are more aligned with traditional craft beer in taste and complexity, and it also offers styles like All Out (Stout), Upside Dawn (Golden Ale), and Athletic Lite, a lower-calorie lager priced at $11.99 for a 6-pack.

   Pricing and product bundling also differ notably. Partake’s 6-can Discovery Pack sells for $20, while its 12-packs of core styles like IPA, Pale, and Blonde are available for $29.99. Larger 24-can mixed bundles, such as the Golden Hop Mixed Pack, are priced at $56.99, with subscriptions offering 15% off and free shipping on orders over $50.

   Athletic Brewing, on the other hand, prices its 6-packs of most core beers like Free Wave and All Out at $13.99, with variety cases of 24 cans around $52.99 and options to build custom packs.

   While both offer multi-pack discounts, Athletic’s pricing reflects its broader selection, which includes limited editions such as Sunset Stoke (IPA), Tucker’s West Coast IPA (members only), and sours like Mango Sour and Ripe Pursuit Radler.

   In terms of certifications and positioning, both brands are officially Certified B Corporations. Partake earned its certification in November 2023 with a B Impact Score of 81.1, while Athletic Brewing received its certification earlier, in April 2022, with a score of 81.8. This confirms that both companies meet B Lab’s standards, highlighting social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability.

   Athletic Brewing also supports long-term conservation efforts through its “Two for the Trails” initiative, donating 2% of revenue to trail and nature preservation.

   While Partake Brewing prioritizes calorie-conscious, gluten-sensitive, everyday options, Athletic offers a better variety with seasonal options and environmental engagement.

2. Best Day Brewing

   Athletic Brewing and Best Day Brewing both focus on delivering full-flavored non-alcoholic beers, but they take distinctly different paths in how they brew, what they offer, and how they position themselves.

   Best Day Brewing brews its beer to full strength and then gently removes the alcohol using a process that maintains fermentation temperatures to preserve aroma and complexity. The brand claims to follow a clean ingredient list like water, barley, hops, and yeast, and avoids additives.

   As per its official website, Best Day mentions that all its products are vegan, non-GMO, kosher-certified, and come in recyclable cans. The brand’s core lineup includes Kölsch-Style, West Coast IPA, Hazy IPA, and Electro-Lime (a sea salt and lime-infused lager with natural electrolytes).

   Best Day Brewing states that each beer comes in around 55 calories per 12 oz can and is priced at $13.99 per 6-pack. However, the brand does not offer sparkling waters or low-alcohol alternatives. Their focus is tightly curated around beer styles only.

   Athletic Brewing, on the other hand, takes a different approach. Instead of removing alcohol after fermentation, they use a proprietary brewing method that minimizes alcohol formation from the start. This lets them preserve flavor while avoiding post-brew manipulation. Their range is more expansive and includes not just beer but hop-infused sparkling water under the DayPack label, something Best Day doesn’t currently offer.

   Athletic’s flagship beers include Run Wild (IPA), Upside Dawn (Golden Ale), Free Wave (Hazy IPA), Atlética (Copper Ale), All Out (Dark Ale), and Athletic Lite. They also rotate seasonal and limited-edition brews like Tucker’s West Coast IPA and several fruited sours.

   While Best Day sticks to a minimalist, clean-label beer lineup, Athletic Brewing expands into multiple styles, brewing innovations, and even non-beer options like sparkling waters, offering more variety.

How Did We Evaluate Athletic Brewing?

1. Consumer Feedback

   To evaluate Athletic Brewing, we analyzed real customer feedback from Reddit, focusing on how perceptions of the brand have changed over time, especially between 2019 and 2025.

   Many long-time drinkers who tried Athletic’s non-alcoholic beers back in 2019 or 2020 described them as overly “worty” or unfinished, with a sugary malt taste that overshadowed the hops.

   However, those same users revisited the brand in 2024 and 2025 and found a noticeable improvement. Beers that once felt unbalanced are now described as drier, cleaner, and more convincingly “beer-like.” This shift suggests that the brand has quietly refined its brewing process, possibly moving to advanced techniques like crossflow membrane filtration to better preserve flavor while removing alcohol.

   Reddit feedback also revealed key strengths in Athletic Brewing’s approach. The brand’s decision to focus on hop-forward styles, especially IPAs, has clearly paid off.

   Popular options like Free Wave Hazy IPA and Run Wild IPA were praised in 2024 and early 2025 for delivering the bitterness and aromatic complexity expected in craft beer, even without the alcohol.

   Drinkers also appreciated the variety of styles offered and the regular release of experimental and seasonal brews, which adds a layer of discovery that’s often missing in the non-alcoholic space.

   We also weighed recurring criticisms. Some users still find certain Athletic beers lacking in flavor or body, with comments in 2024 noting “hop water” or metallic aftertastes.

   Price is another sticking point, as many users mentioned that a 12-pack in 2024 retailed around $15.99, which feels high given that it’s non-alcoholic. While a few users justified the cost due to quality ingredients and complex brewing steps, others felt the pricing placed it too close to full-strength craft beers.

2. Value for money

   We compared Athletic Brewing’s pricing with other non-alcoholic beer brands to assess its value for money offering similar products. Athletic Brewing sells options like the First Ride Dark at $14.99 for a 6-pack, which comes out to about $2.50 per can. That places it on the higher end of the pricing spectrum for non-alcoholic beer. The cost likely reflects its proprietary brewing process, broader flavor variety, and focus on creating craft-style brews without alcohol.

   Meanwhile, Partake Brewing offers a 12-pack of its Blonde brew for $27.99, or roughly $2.33 per can. While slightly more affordable than Athletic Brewing on a per-can basis, Partake tends to focus more on light, low-calorie options, and doesn’t match Athletic’s range in terms of flavor depth or variety.

   Best Day Brewing prices its White non-alcoholic beer at $13.99 for a 6-pack, also around $2.33 per can. It delivers a simple, clean-tasting option at a slightly lower price point than Athletic, but without the same emphasis on craft-style experimentation.

   Athletic Brewing is priced at the higher end of the non-alcoholic beer market. The value it offers varies based on what you prioritize, as some may focus on brewing methods or range of options, while others may be more concerned with cost. On the other hand, Partake and Best Day offer comparable non-alcoholic beers at slightly lower prices per can.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can you get a buzz or placebo effect from beers offered by Athletic Brewing?
   Athletic Brewing mentions that drinking their beer may not cause a buzz due to its lower alcohol content, but the act of drinking a cold beer in a social setting can create a psychological effect or relaxation response. This is more about context than chemistry.
2. Are Athletic Brewing products suitable for people in alcohol recovery programs?
   No, they’re generally not suitable. Athletic offers beers that contain up to 0.5% ABV and closely mimic traditional beer in taste and appearance, which can trigger relapse. Most recovery programs advise avoiding anything that resembles or contains alcohol.
3. Can drinking beer offered by Athletic Brewing affect hydration?
   Yes. Athletic Brewing offers beer options such as Run Wild IPA or Free Wave Hazy IPA, which feature bittering hops that can mildly dehydrate you. Carbonation and hop compounds may increase urination, even without alcohol. It’s best to alternate with water if you’re having more than one or two.

Conclusion

Athletic Brewing is known for its innovative approach to non-alcoholic beer, focusing on preserving flavor and consistency across a diverse range of styles, including hoppy IPAs, golden ales, stouts, and lighter options like Athletic Lite.

The brand highlights sustainability and environmental responsibility as part of its commitment to ethical practices. In addition to beer, Athletic Brewing also has options for hop-infused sparkling waters and small-batch releases.

The brand notes that some products, such as Upside Dawn, are brewed to reduce gluten levels, though they are not certified gluten-free. This may be an important consideration for strict gluten sensitivities. Some beers contain trace amounts of alcohol, which could be relevant depending on your preferences or restrictions. Flavor profiles vary and may not appeal to every taste.

Athletic Brewing presents a broad selection with a focus on quality and sustainability, but certain factors like gluten content and alcohol traces may influence whether its non-alcoholic beverages align with your specific fitness needs.