Sweden is an interesting country when it comes to alcohol and non alcoholic craft beer. In Swedish grocery stores, you cannot buy alcohol with an ABV over 3.5%. So in normal grocery stores, only low-alcoholic beers are available.
I have seen similar things when buying craft beer in Finland. There you need to visit the alcohol monopoly store ALKO to buy alcoholic drinks over 5%. Previously you could not even buy drinks under 5% if they were blended with spirits.
Anyways, the low alcohol beers that are at 3.5% in Sweden are called folköl. This has made Sweden have quite an interesting relationship with low alcohol beers. They are readily available and this also applies to low alcohol craft beers.
All this has resulted in that Swedes are not unfamiliar with non-alcoholic beers. There is nothing odd, nor any stigma, associated with buying a non-alcoholic craft beer at a bar. If you are not drinking alcohol this is pretty amazing and unlike most countries in the world.
In this guide we will tell you more about some non alcoholic beers in Sweden and where you can drink them.
Where to find non-alcoholic beer in Sweden
Here we figure out how you can find non alcoholic craft beers in Sweden. We can already tell you – it doesn’t get easier than this.
Non-alcoholic craft beer bars
In Sweden, you need to have a kitchen to be able to sell beer over 3.5% in your bar. In Stockholm, there is a bottle shop and bar circumventing this rule by only selling craft beers under 3.5%. The bar is simply called Bottl3.5hop.
As you probably could imagine, they don’t only sell low-alcohol beers, they also have an amazing selection of alcohol free beers. It’s a cozy little bottle shop but you can also sit down to drink at the bar.
Their selection includes beers from some of the NA breweries we have reviewed before – for example, Funky Fluid. Of course, there are also plenty of other low alcohol and non-alcoholic beer options available. it’s a brilliant place and I wish every city would have a place like this.
I’m planning to visit Bottl3.5hop during 2023 and I will come back with a bar review then.
You can follow them on Instagram on the handle Bottl3.5hop.
Another place we recommend you to check out is either Mikkeller Stockholm or Omnipollo. Neither of these is only focusing on non-alcoholic craft beer. However, they have always been at the forefront of offering NA beer options to their customers. Apart from that, they’re some cool bars with some of the best craft beers in Stockholm.
Where to buy non-alcoholic beer in Sweden online?
It’s not difficult to find NA beers online In Sweden. I’m currently finding information about the best places and this section will be updated accordingly.
Other places to buy beer
The incredible thing about the odd alcohol laws that Sweden has is that you can find non-alcoholic beer everywhere. You can walk into any grocery store and have a really good selection of non-alcoholic beers. Not all of these are craft beers but I’m sure you’ll be extremely happy with the selection.
You can also walk into the government monopoly Systembolaget and find a shelf filled with alcohol free craft beers. It doesn’t really matter if you are looking for non alcoholic craft beer in Stockholm, Gothenburg, or Malmö, you will be impressed by the selection.
How much does non-alcoholic craft beer cost in Sweden?
Craft beer in general is much cheaper in Sweden than in nearby Finland. Craft Beer prices in grocery stores are almost half the price in Sweden. If you go to a bar the prices are somewhat similar.
Retail prices for non-alcoholic craft beer in Sweden are something between 15-25 Swedish krona which is $1.5-2.5. In the bars they are usually 50-80 krona which is $5-8.
History of Swedish craft beer
Gotlands Bryggeri which was founded in 1995 was one of the first craft beer breweries in Sweden. The second wave of craft brewers started somewhere around 2010.
Some of the most famous craft beer breweries from the latter era has been Omnipollo. With their unique designs and excellent beers, I have been able to drink their craft beers all the way from Thailand to the US.
Throughout the years they’ve garnered a reputation that is actually bigger with other brewers than beer drinkers. While not every craft beer drinker has heard of them, every craft beer professional definitely knows of Omnipollo. In that sense, they have gotten a bit of a cult following.
Other Swedish craft brewers, many of which brew non-alcoholic beers, are the following:
- Dugges Bryggeri
- Stockholm Brewing Company
- Närke Kulturbrygger
- Stigbergets
- Brewski
- Poppels
- Apex Brewing Company
Best Non-Alcoholic Beers in Sweden
- Easy Rider Bulldog by Gotlands Bryggeri
- NAPA by Sigtuna Brygghus
- Alkoholfri Brown Ale by Nils Oscars
- Reference Pale Ale by Omnipollo
- Aplace Passionfruit Non Alcoholic Pale by Omnipollo
Don´t forget to have a look at our Map of Non-Alcoholic Craft Beer Bars to see where you can find NA beers in Sweden.