MAR 17, 2026

IMPOSSIBREW vs ON Beer: Is the Hype Real?

Mo Gilligan, the Economist, Saturday Kitchen. ON Beer has friends in high places. Here's whether any of that should change your fridge decisions.

Dave Dave A Shaw - 8 min read

ON Beer is one of those products that arrived with a lot of noise. The Economist called it the best alcohol-free beer. Mo Gilligan's involved. Dishoom stocks it. Saturday Kitchen has featured it. For an AF beer brand, that's an impressive list of endorsements.

I'm a 46-year-old bloke from Huddersfield who stopped drinking and writes about the replacement options on a website nobody's heard of. I am not the target market for celebrity endorsements. I'm the person who opens a can at seven on a Tuesday and thinks "right, is this actually good."

So: is ON Beer actually good, and how does it compare to IMPOSSIBREW?

Short answer: yes, it's good. But the comparison isn't as straightforward as it might look, and IMPOSSIBREW wins for most people and most occasions. Here's why.

If you want to see how IMPOSSIBREW stacks up against all the functional AF brands including Collider and NuWave, there's a full five-brand showdown over here.

The Quick Comparison: IMPOSSIBREW vs ON Beer

IMPOSSIBREW ON Beer
ABV 0.0% 0.5%
Products Lager, Pale Ale, Triple Hopped IPA + seasonals IPA only
Functional ingredients Ashwagandha, L-theanine, magnesium Botanical blend (undisclosed)
Clinically tested? No published trials I can find Claims clinical testing
Celebrity endorsements Dragons' Den investment Mo Gilligan, Dishoom, Economist
Price range Similar Similar
Overall winner For range and versatility For this one specific IPA

What ON Beer Is

ON Beer launched with a single product: an IPA at 0.5% ABV. The "Tipsy AF" tagline leans into that trace alcohol - the suggestion being that 0.5% does actually do something, and their clinical testing supposedly backs this up. They position themselves around the idea that real relaxation needs something in the glass, even if it's just a trace.

The marketing is brilliant. I say that without sarcasm - whoever runs their PR has done a genuinely impressive job. Getting into Dishoom is not easy. Getting the Economist to call you the best AF beer is not a small thing. Mo Gilligan is not cheap. These things cost money and take genuine relationships and ON Beer has clearly made the investment.

"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."

And here's what I think when I actually drink it: it's nice. Genuinely nice. The IPA is well-made, the botanicals add something interesting without being weird, and the 0.5% does seem to take the edge off in a way that pure 0.0% doesn't always manage.1

So why isn't it my main AF beer?

The Problem with ON Beer: One Product

This is the whole thing. ON Beer has one product. One IPA.

If you're going to replace your drinking habit properly - not just occasionally have an AF beer but actually make this your normal thing - you need variety. I like IPAs. I probably drink more IPA-style beers than any other style. But I can't drink IPA every single night for the rest of my life. On a summer afternoon I want a lager. Sometimes I want something lighter, sometimes something more interesting, sometimes I just want a change. One product doesn't cover that.

IMPOSSIBREW does Lager, Pale Ale, and Triple Hopped IPA as their core range, plus seasonals. The Triple Hopped IPA in particular is in a different class - creamy, fruity, hazy, nothing like the aggressive bitterness the name suggests. It's the one I'd pit against ON Beer's IPA in a blind taste test, and I think it wins. The Pale Ale is the solid everyday pick. You can have a different beer every night for a week. The variety isn't just nice to have - it's the thing that makes this sustainable as an actual lifestyle choice rather than a phase.

ON Beer's answer to this is presumably that they'll expand their range. Maybe. But right now, one product is one product.

The 0.5% Question

ON Beer is 0.5% ABV. IMPOSSIBREW is 0.0%.

For some people this is irrelevant. For others it matters a lot. If you're not drinking for health reasons, 0.5% is genuinely negligible - you'd have to drink an enormous amount for it to have any meaningful effect, and a standard kombucha has more alcohol than that.

But if you're not drinking because of addiction recovery, religious reasons, or because you're driving, 0.0% is the actual line and 0.5% puts you on the wrong side of it. IMPOSSIBREW keeps you comfortably clear.

Neither position is better or worse universally. But it's worth knowing.

The Functional Ingredient Question

ON Beer's botanical blend is clinically tested, they say. I can't verify the trial methodology from the outside, but the claim is there and it's more than most brands say.

What I can't find is a clear list of exactly what's in the botanical blend. IMPOSSIBREW is transparent: ashwagandha, L-theanine, magnesium. You know what you're getting. With ON Beer's botanicals, you're taking their word for it that the blend does what they say.

I'm not suggesting they're lying. I'm just noting that "clinically tested botanical blend" and "here is exactly what we put in it and why" are different levels of transparency, and IMPOSSIBREW is at the second level.

The ashwagandha and L-theanine combination is IMPOSSIBREW's differentiator from everything else in this space. Ashwagandha is a well-researched adaptogen for stress reduction, and L-theanine promotes calm focus without drowsiness. Combined with magnesium, it's a solid stack. Whether I notice something with IMPOSSIBREW on a wound-up evening that I don't notice from just any AF beer, yes - I do.2

The Marketing vs the Beer

I want to be careful here because it's easy to dismiss ON Beer because of its marketing, and that would be unfair. The beer is good. The marketing is just successful.

But there's a version of this comparison where someone reads the Economist recommendation, tries ON Beer, enjoys it, and never looks further. And I think that person would be missing the better product for their actual needs if their actual needs include variety and a proper lager and a functional effect that goes beyond 0.5% ABV.

IMPOSSIBREW doesn't have Mo Gilligan. It has a Dragons' Den investment and a decent word-of-mouth community among people who've genuinely found it useful. That's a different kind of credibility and I find it more persuasive, personally.

My Verdict: IMPOSSIBREW vs ON Beer

ON Beer is a good IPA with great marketing and a genuine celebrity following. If you like IPAs and only IPAs and you're happy with 0.5% ABV, it might be the one for you.

But IMPOSSIBREW wins on:

ON Beer is a one-trick pony. A good one. But I can't just drink IPA forever, and IMPOSSIBREW doesn't make me have to - and when I do want an IPA, the Triple Hopped IPA is the one I actually reach for.

Right, and since I'm being transparent about everything else here - I've got a refer-a-friend link for IMPOSSIBREW. You get £10 off your first order, I get £10 credit. I feel a bit odd putting that in a comparison post but it's a public programme and not disclosing it would feel worse. I'm not affiliated with IMPOSSIBREW in any other way - just a customer who signed up for the referral scheme like anyone can.*

More Comparisons

  1. For context: 0.5% ABV is below the legal limit to be called "alcohol-free" in the UK. A very ripe banana has about 0.4% ABV. I am not being dismissive of the 0.5% - it does seem to do something in ON Beer's formulation. I'm just noting that it's genuinely trace levels.
  2. I'm aware that "I notice something" is the weakest possible evidence for a product claim. I also think it's the most honest thing I can say, and if you've tried enough functional products you know that most of them you notice nothing at all. Something is better than nothing. Something verifiable would be better still.
  3. * Referral link: I have one for IMPOSSIBREW, you get £10 off, I get £10 credit. Public programme, not a sponsorship. ON Beer doesn't have an equivalent as far as I can find.
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