There's a specific kind of evening I'm talking about. Not Friday night with mates. Not a birthday. Not a barbecue. Just... Tuesday. You've had a day. The kids are finally quiet. You sit down and think "I'd really like a beer."

But you've got work tomorrow. And last time you had "just one" on a Tuesday it turned into three and Wednesday morning was rough.

That's the exact situation AF beer was made for. And some of them are actually good now. Not all of them. But enough that you've got real options.

I've been testing AF beers for a while. Here's what works for a midweek evening, ranked by someone who's actually sat on the sofa with each of them.

What you actually want from a midweek beer

Let's be specific about the brief. A midweek beer needs to:

1. Taste like a proper beer. Not "nearly beer" or "beer-adjacent." Actual beer taste.
2. Help you switch off. The whole point is decompression. If it doesn't help you relax, it's just expensive fizzy water.
3. Not wreck tomorrow. Zero hangover. Zero brain fog. Zero "why did I do that."
4. Be worth the calories. Even AF beers have some calories. If I'm drinking one, I want it to earn its place.

Most AF beers nail point 1 and 3 but completely miss point 2. They taste like beer and they don't give you a hangover. Great. But they don't do anything for the unwinding part. You're basically drinking a Coke that looks like beer.

One exception. I'll get to it.

The rankings

Best overall midweek beer: IMPOSSIBREW Triple Hopped IPA

This is the one that changed what I expect from AF beer.

The taste is genuinely good. Properly hoppy IPA. Bitter finish. You wouldn't guess it's 0.0% in a blind test. But taste isn't why it's top of this list.

IMPOSSIBREW puts L-theanine and ashwagandha in their beer. L-theanine is the calming amino acid in green tea. Ashwagandha is an adaptogen that's been used for stress reduction for thousands of years. Together they create what IMPOSSIBREW calls their Social Blend.

And it actually works. About 20-30 minutes after drinking one, there's a noticeable settling effect. Not drunk. Not buzzed. Just... the day stops pressing on you. My shoulders drop. I stop mentally replying to emails. The evening starts.

For a midweek beer specifically, this matters more than it does on a Friday or Saturday. On a Tuesday, you're not trying to party. You're trying to transition from work mode to rest mode. IMPOSSIBREW does that. Regular AF beer doesn't.

Price: £18.90 for a 10-pack (£1.89/can). Order online from their site.

Best for: The actual unwinding part. Tuesday/Wednesday evenings where you need to switch off.

I've been buying the IPA in 10-packs for a while now. This link gets you £10 off your first order - referral link, full disclosure.

Best for taste purists: Lucky Saint

If you just want the best-tasting AF lager, this is it. Unfiltered. Bavarian hops. Proper malt body. Lucky Saint is the one I hand to people who say AF beer is rubbish. It usually changes their mind.

The problem for midweek specifically: it doesn't help you unwind. It tastes great but twenty minutes later you feel exactly the same as before you opened it. For a Saturday BBQ, that's fine. For a Tuesday evening when you're trying to decompress, the gap between "holding a nice beer" and "actually relaxing" is noticeable.

Price: ~£1.80-£2.00 per bottle. Available in most supermarkets.

Best for: When taste is the priority and you don't need help switching off.

Best budget option: Heineken 0.0

It's not exciting. It's not going to win any craft beer awards. But Heineken 0.0 tastes like a perfectly serviceable lager and it's cheap.

For a Tuesday where you just want something cold and beery while you watch telly, it does the job. No pretensions. No fancy ingredients. Just beer-flavoured liquid that doesn't cost much and doesn't give you a hangover.

The taste is decent. Slight metallic note if it's too warm. Keep it cold and it's fine. Not amazing. Fine.

Price: ~£1.00-£1.30 per can. Everywhere.

Best for: When you want something cheap and easy without thinking about it.

Best for Guinness people: Guinness 0.0

If you're a stout person, nothing else on this list will scratch that itch. Guinness 0.0 is dark, creamy, roasted. It's genuinely impressive how close it gets to the real thing.

Slight sweetness that regular Guinness doesn't have. You notice it more after the second can. But for a single midweek pint, it's excellent. The nitro widget does its thing. The pour looks right. The first sip is convincing.

Price: ~£1.20-£1.60 per can. Most supermarkets and many pubs.

Best for: Stout lovers. People who want that dark, roasted flavour on a weeknight.

Best craft option: Big Drop

Big Drop are one of the only AF-only breweries in the UK. They don't make alcoholic beer at all. Everything they do is 0.5% or under.

Their Pale Ale is good. Their Stout has won actual awards. The range is wide enough that you can find something for most tastes. And because AF is all they do, they're not treating it as an afterthought.

Downside: harder to find in shops than Guinness or Heineken. You'll probably need to order online or find a good off-licence.

Price: ~£1.80-£2.20 per can. Online or specialist shops.

Best for: Craft beer people who want variety and quality.

The midweek comparison table

Beer	Taste	Helps unwind?	Price/can	Availability
IMPOSSIBREW IPA	Excellent	Yes (L-theanine + ashwagandha)	£1.89	Online
Lucky Saint	Excellent	No	£1.80-£2.00	Supermarkets
Heineken 0.0	Good	No	£1.00-£1.30	Everywhere
Guinness 0.0	Very good	No	£1.20-£1.60	Supermarkets
Big Drop Pale Ale	Very good	No	£1.80-£2.20	Online/specialist

The stuff nobody tells you about midweek AF beer

The ritual matters more than you think. Half the value of a midweek beer isn't the beer. It's the crack of the can. The pour. The sitting down. The signal to your brain that says "work is done." Any AF beer gives you this. Don't underestimate it.

Temperature is everything. AF beer that's slightly warm tastes terrible. Way worse than regular beer at the same temperature. Get it properly cold. This is non-negotiable.

One is enough. With real beer, one becomes two becomes four. With AF beer, one is actually satisfying. Especially if it's a good one. You don't get that "just one more" pull because there's nothing chemical driving it (unless you count the IMPOSSIBREW ingredients, which drive relaxation rather than consumption).

Your Wednesday will be different. Not dramatically. But that slight background fuzz from even two regular beers is gone. You'll sleep better. Wake up clearer. Get to work without that micro-headache. It adds up over a month.

My actual midweek routine now

I keep a mixed fridge. IMPOSSIBREW IPAs for Tuesday and Wednesday evenings when I actually want to decompress. A few Lucky Saints for when I just want something tasty with dinner. Some Heinekens for the "I just want a cold beer and I'm not thinking about it" moments.

The game-changer was finding something that actually helps with the unwinding part. For months I was drinking AF beer that tasted fine but left me feeling exactly the same. Nice to hold, nice to drink, but no real shift. IMPOSSIBREW filled that gap. I'm not going to pretend it's the same as four pints of Peroni. It's not. But it's closer to that "first beer of the evening" feeling than anything else I've tried.

Tuesday nights are better now. Not perfect. But better. And Wednesday mornings are definitely better.

If you want to try the IMPOSSIBREW IPA that I keep going on about - 10-pack for £18.90. This link saves you £10 off your first order.

Related: Guinness 0.0 vs IMPOSSIBREW | I Tried the Ashwagandha Beer for a Month | Lucky Saint vs IMPOSSIBREW | I Tried 6 AF Beers So You Don't Have To