Franziskaner

The brand built its reputation on Bavarian wheat beer. Their Hefe-Weissbier Naturtrüb remains the flagship: cloudy, unfiltered, brewed to the Reinheitsgebot purity law that German brewers have followed since 1516. The classic banana and clove character of a proper hefeweizen comes through clearly, backed by bready malt sweetness.

Franziskaner's alcohol-free offering, the Alkoholfrei, delivers that same wheat beer profile at 0.5% ABV. Pour it and you get the familiar hazy orange-straw appearance with a proper head. The aroma carries wheat malt and a hint of sourness, while the taste balances sweet grain with those signature banana and clove notes. Mouthfeel stays creamy rather than thin. It's an honest translation of the style rather than a stripped-back approximation.

The AF range has expanded beyond the straight wheat beer. Flavoured variants include Holunder (elderberry), Zitrone (lemon), and Blutorange (blood orange), aimed at the German radler market where mixing beer with fruit juice is standard practice.

Availability in the UK improved when AB InBev began distributing the Alkoholfrei here in 2017. You'll find it in supermarkets with decent German beer sections, specialist beer retailers, and online. It competes in the premium import segment rather than budget territory.

AB InBev ownership may disappoint craft purists, but the Munich brewing team still produces a wheat beer that tastes like wheat beer should. When the craving is specifically for a hefeweizen, this is one of the more convincing alcohol-free answers to it.