I stopped drinking properly about three years ago. Not a dramatic story - no rock bottom, no intervention, no particular epiphany. I just noticed I felt better when I didn't, and felt worse when I did, and at 46 the maths on that gets pretty easy to do.¹

What I didn't stop was wanting a beer. That itch doesn't go anywhere. The ritual of cracking something open at seven on a Tuesday, watching whatever nonsense is on telly, and feeling like the working day has officially ended - that's not about alcohol. That's just being a person.

So I've spent an embarrassing amount of time and money working out which alcohol-free beers are actually worth drinking. And then a subset of those - the "functional" ones that claim to do something to your brain chemistry - became their own rabbit hole entirely.

This is that rabbit hole, written down.

The five brands I'm comparing: IMPOSSIBREW, Collider, ON Beer, NuWave, and BRULO. These are the main players in the UK enhanced/functional AF beer space right now. I've bought all of them with my own money², drunk far more than was scientifically necessary, and I have views.

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The Quick Answer (For People Who Won't Read All This)

If you're in a hurry:

Brand	Taste	Range	Functional?	Value	Availability	Overall
IMPOSSIBREW	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐	9.2/10
Collider	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐	7.4/10
ON Beer	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐	7.0/10
BRULO	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐ (N/A)	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐	7.0/10
NuWave	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐	5.8/10

IMPOSSIBREW wins. If you want to know why, keep reading. If you're already convinced, there's a referral link near the end that gets you £10 off.

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What Even Is "Functional Beer"?

Before we start, a quick note on terminology because it's gotten a bit muddy.

"Functional beer" has come to mean AF beer with added ingredients that are supposed to do something beyond hydrating you. Usually adaptogens, nootropics, or both. Ashwagandha, L-theanine, magnesium, GABA - these are the ones that come up most often.

BRULO is the outlier in this list. They don't do any of that. They just brew excellent alcohol-free beer and leave it there. I've included them because they're often mentioned alongside the functional brands and because it's a useful contrast - sometimes "does the beer itself taste great" is a fair question to separate from "does it have ingredients that might calm your nervous system."

The functional ingredient claims in this space are... varied in their evidence base. I'm not going to pretend otherwise. But I can tell you what I notice, and I'll be clear about the difference between "I felt this" and "science says this definitely happens."

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The Functional Ingredients: What's Actually in Each Brand

Brand	Key Functional Ingredients	Claimed Effect
IMPOSSIBREW	Ashwagandha, L-theanine, magnesium, proprietary GABA tech	Relaxation, cognitive clarity, social ease
Collider	L-theanine, ashwagandha, magnesium	Focus, calm, stress reduction
ON Beer	Botanicals (undisclosed blend), 0.5% ABV	"Tipsy AF" - mild relaxation
NuWave	Adaptogens, biotics (gut health focus)	Gut health, stress, recovery
BRULO	None - just beer	Tastes good. That's it.

IMPOSSIBREW's edge here is the combination of ashwagandha, L-theanine, and magnesium in their patent-pending blend. These are well-researched ingredients - ashwagandha is an adaptogen with solid clinical evidence for stress reduction, L-theanine promotes calm focus, and magnesium supports relaxation. I can't verify the exact mechanism but I can tell you I notice something, which I don't with every functional product I try.³

Collider uses a broadly similar nootropic stack. ON Beer leans on 0.5% ABV doing some actual work plus their botanical blend. NuWave comes at it from a gut health angle, which is interesting but doesn't address what most people are looking for when they want "something" from their Friday evening beer.

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IMPOSSIBREW: The Full Picture

IMPOSSIBREW is the one I keep coming back to. I want to be clear that this isn't because I've got some deal with them - I'll explain the referral situation later, and I was buying these before I had any link at all.

Their range covers Lager, Pale Ale, and Triple Hopped IPA, plus seasonal additions. The range question matters a lot if you're planning to use AF beer as a genuine replacement for your pub habit rather than an occasional treat - you need variety.

The Triple Hopped IPA. This is the one. I know "triple hopped" sounds like it's going to be aggressively bitter but it isn't - it's actually creamy, fruity, hazy. Think Vocation-level quality. It's more expensive than the rest of the range and it earns every penny. When I'm trying to convince a sceptic that AF beer has genuinely come a long way, this is the can I open for them. It's that good.

The Pale Ale. This has become my everyday pick. Really solid - the kind of beer you can crack open on a Tuesday without overthinking it, and it delivers every time. Better than most regular pale ales I've had, AF or otherwise.

The lager. Look, I'm not a lager connoisseur. Lager is lager. As long as it's not bad, it does the job, and IMPOSSIBREW's does the job fine. It's clean and drinkable and it's what I reach for when I want something uncomplicated.

Can sizes. IMPOSSIBREW comes in 440ml and 500ml. This matters more than it might sound. Collider's 330ml cans feel like a statement that you're Having A Drink rather than just having a drink. When you can crack a 500ml and settle in for the evening, it feels different. More normal, if that's what you're after.

The functional effect. I notice it. Mild but real - a gentle settling, particularly on evenings when I'm wound up from work. It's not a buzz, it's not sedation, it's more like the dial being turned down a notch. Whether that's the GABA tech, the L-theanine, the ashwagandha, or just the ritual of cracking a beer open, I genuinely don't know. But I keep choosing it on the evenings when I want it most, which is probably the truest test. The Triple Hopped IPA in particular has become my go-to for those evenings - it's both the nicest thing in the fridge and the one that actually helps me decompress.

They were on Dragons' Den and got investment, which means they've got funding to keep developing the range. That matters for longevity in what's still a small market.

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Collider: The Worthy Rival

Collider is the comparison everyone makes. You can see why - they're the other serious player in UK functional AF beer, they've got their act together on branding (space theme, nice cans), and their Session IPA is genuinely good.

The Session IPA is probably the best single product in this comparison. Hop-forward, bitter in the right way, satisfying. If that's what you're after and only that, Collider might win for you personally.

But here's the issue: Collider doesn't have a lager. Or a pale ale. At time of writing their range is more limited than IMPOSSIBREW's, which means you're either an IPA person or you're working around it. If you want variety - a lager for a hot day, a pale ale for a solid weeknight, a Triple Hopped IPA when you want something genuinely special - IMPOSSIBREW gives you that. Collider largely doesn't.

The 330ml cans are also a real value consideration. You're paying similar money per unit and getting a third less beer. The functional ingredient stack is similar to IMPOSSIBREW but without the GABA element.

I genuinely like Collider. It's good beer. But it finishes second here.

I've written a lot more about this particular matchup in my IMPOSSIBREW vs Collider head-to-head if you want the full detail.

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ON Beer: The Marketing Machine

ON Beer has the best marketing of any AF brand I've seen. Saturday Kitchen, Mo Gilligan, Dishoom - they've got proper cultural cachet. The Economist called them the best. That's not nothing.

The beer itself - and there is only one product, an IPA at 0.5% ABV - is nice. Properly nice. The "Tipsy AF" branding isn't wrong; that trace alcohol does take the edge off in a way that pure 0.0% doesn't always manage.

But one product. Just one. If you want an AF lager on a summer afternoon, ON Beer shrugs at you. If you want a pale ale on a weeknight, ON Beer has nothing to say. The functional botanicals are less clearly labelled than IMPOSSIBREW or Collider's ingredients, which makes it harder to evaluate the claims.

"When you've got the Economist calling you the best and Mo Gilligan on your team, you don't really need me. But I'm writing this anyway."

ON Beer is a good product for what it is. It's just that "what it is" covers a smaller amount of territory than the others.

More detail in my IMPOSSIBREW vs ON Beer comparison.

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NuWave: The Underdog with Ideas

NuWave is the one most people haven't heard of, which is a shame because the concept is interesting. They've gone hard on the gut health angle - biotics, which they describe as a world first for beer - combined with adaptogens. Gluten free too.

The problem is availability and traction. NuWave is harder to find, has fewer reviews to read, and has less of the word-of-mouth that builds confidence in a product when you're spending decent money on a case. The beer itself is decent but not exceptional, and the biotics angle - while genuinely interesting from a wellness-adjacent perspective⁴ - doesn't scratch the same itch as "I want something that makes my Tuesday evening feel less like Tuesday."

NuWave might get better and more available as they grow. I hope they do. But right now they're third-tier in terms of what you can actually get hold of and how much community exists around the brand.

Full comparison in my IMPOSSIBREW vs NuWave write-up.

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BRULO: The Honest One

BRULO is a Scottish craft brewery making excellent alcohol-free beer with absolutely no functional ingredient claims whatsoever. They have IPAs, stout, gose, lager, and they're available in some shops. Their beers have won awards. They're just... good beer. Nothing more promised, nothing less delivered.

I respect this enormously. The functional beer space can get a bit supplement-bro, and BRULO cutting through that by just saying "we make really good beer, that's the whole value proposition" is refreshing.

The beer is genuinely excellent. Their IPA in particular is up there with the best AF IPAs I've had. Their craft approach means more interesting styles than you get from most functional brands.

But they're in a slightly different category here. If you want the evening wind-down effect, BRULO doesn't offer that - they're making no such claim and delivering exactly what they promise. IMPOSSIBREW makes excellent beer that also sorts out your Tuesday evening. BRULO makes excellent beer. For some people and some occasions, the latter is all you want.

I keep more IMPOSSIBREW in the fridge than BRULO. But BRULO gets bought in this house, and that's a real compliment.

More in my IMPOSSIBREW vs BRULO comparison.

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Taste: Ranking All Five

Taste is subjective. Here's mine.

For a Triple Hopped IPA, IMPOSSIBREW wins outright. Creamy, fruity, hazy - it's not what you expect from a beer called "triple hopped" and it's better than most regular IPAs I've had, let alone AF ones. Collider's Session IPA is very good but it's a different kind of beast - drier, more bitter - and IMPOSSIBREW's version has an edge on sheer enjoyment. ON Beer's IPA is nice but the lack of transparency around the botanicals makes it harder to love unreservedly.

For pale ale, IMPOSSIBREW's is the everyday star - solid and reliable in a way that makes you reach for it without overthinking it.

For lager, it's a wash. IMPOSSIBREW's does what lager should do. NuWave's is fine. BRULO's is decent. None of them make me particularly emotional about lager, which is probably fine.

Overall taste verdict: IMPOSSIBREW, because the Triple Hopped IPA is genuinely exceptional and the range means you have options. You don't have to drink the same thing every night.

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Range and Variety

IMPOSSIBREW: Lager, Pale Ale, Triple Hopped IPA, plus seasonal additions. 440ml and 500ml cans. Clear winner.

BRULO: IPAs, Stout, Gose, Lager. Good variety if you can find it.

Collider: Session IPA, a couple of other styles. Limited range.

ON Beer: One product. One.

NuWave: Small range, not easily found.

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Price and Value

These are all premium products and none of them are cheap. You're paying £2-3 per can typically, which is more than most mainstream AF beer but less than craft AF beer from somewhere like Infinite Session or Nirvana Brewery.

On a per-ml basis, IMPOSSIBREW's 440ml/500ml cans win comfortably against Collider's 330ml. ON Beer and NuWave are priced similarly. BRULO is reasonable for the quality.

If you're buying a mixed case to get through a month, IMPOSSIBREW gives you the best combination of variety and volume for your money.

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Availability

IMPOSSIBREW: Direct from their website, also stocked in some retailers. After Dragons' Den, distribution improved.

ON Beer: Good retail presence for a premium AF brand - their marketing budget has helped.

BRULO: Some shops, direct from brewery. More limited than IB.

Collider: Mainly direct. Less retail presence than IMPOSSIBREW.

NuWave: Hardest to find. Mainly direct if you can find the website.

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The Verdict

Here's where I land after all of this.

If you want the best single IPA: IMPOSSIBREW's Triple Hopped IPA is the standout in this comparison - creamy, fruity, genuinely impressive. Collider and BRULO are both good but this one edges it.

If you want the best marketing and cultural cache: ON Beer.

If you want interesting gut health angles from a smaller brand: NuWave is worth investigating.

If you want consistently great beer across a proper range, with functional ingredients that I actually notice doing something, at a size that feels like a real beer: IMPOSSIBREW.

I keep coming back to IMPOSSIBREW. The Triple Hopped IPA is something I'd drink over most regular IPAs, and that's not something I say lightly. The Pale Ale is my Tuesday evening default. The range means I don't have to drink the same thing every night. And the functional effect - that gentle dial-turn-down on a wound-up evening - is real enough that I keep reaching for it when it matters.

That's the whole thing. Three years in, that's what I've got.

If you do want to give IMPOSSIBREW a try, I've got a refer-a-friend link - you get £10 off your first order and I get £10 credit. I'm not entirely sure I'm supposed to just stick that on a blog post but nobody's told me I can't. I have zero affiliation with IMPOSSIBREW. I just drink a lot of their beer and signed up for the referral thing like anyone can.^*

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Related Comparisons

• IMPOSSIBREW vs Collider: The Full Head-to-Head
• IMPOSSIBREW vs ON Beer: Is the Hype Real?
• IMPOSSIBREW vs NuWave: The Functional Beer Nobody Talks About
• IMPOSSIBREW vs BRULO: Functional vs Craft
• My Full AF Beer Comparison