A beer arrives by DHL and we crack it open on mic: Lucky Saint Lime and Sea Salt Lager, zesty, lightly saline, and weirdly moreish in a way that makes you think about hydration as much as hops. From there, we go wide. I’m joined by award-winning beer commentator Martin Dixon, the man behind Alcohol Free World, who has tried well over 2,000 alcohol-free beers and helped shape how the UK talks about non-alcoholic beer.

We get into Martin’s story, starting with a 2009 Dry January that simply never ended, and the years where living in France meant “Red Bull and San Pellegrino” because decent alcohol-free beer was hard to find. That contrast makes today’s craft alcohol-free boom feel even bigger: more breweries, more releases, more experimentation, and more reasons to get excited about flavour rather than settling for a compromise.

We also talk about the community side of alcohol-free living, from group chats to real-world events like the King’s Cross alcohol-free weekender, where multiple alcohol-free beers on draught create the kind of choice that used to belong only to full-strength craft. Along the way we debate macro trends like fruited 0.0 lagers, the messy public understanding of 0.5% beer, and why some “0.0” options can feel like a brand trying too hard.

If you care about alcohol-free beer, low alcohol beer, craft brewing, tasting notes, and where the UK alcohol-free scene is heading next, this one is for you. Subscribe for more, share it with a mate who’s curious, and leave us a review, then tell us: what’s the best alcohol-free beer you’ve had this year?

For all of Martins reviews head over to Alcohol Free World on Instagram.

To find out more about the wonderful world of alcohol free beer and to check in with me head to www.instagram.com/sober_boozers_club

This episode is Sponsored by Chance Clean Cider.

He went out for a bike ride and woke up almost three weeks later in critical care. Tom’s story is frightening, funny in places, and deeply human: a craft beer lover with “Reinheitsgebot” on his helmet, forced into sobriety after a severe traumatic brain injury and a 19-day coma, then left to rebuild a life where alcohol is suddenly a risk he can’t ignore.

We talk about what that does to identity when beer has been your social glue, your hobby, and your language with friends. We get into craft beer culture and the lure of collectability, the quiet snobbery that can creep into the alcohol-free space, and the reality that routines and rituals don’t vanish just because the ABV does. There’s also the oddly specific stuff only drinkers will recognise: the “fake buzz” after a few AF pints, the fridge full of favourites, and the way a perfect pour can hit you with gratitude when you least expect it.

Tom shares the practical medical side too: depression risk after TBI, seizure warnings, why doctors draw hard lines around alcohol during recovery, and how support networks extend beyond family to community. If you’re sober curious, cutting down, zebra striping, or simply looking for the best non-alcoholic craft beer, this one offers both perspective and real-world tools.

If it resonates, subscribe, share it with a mate who loves beer, and leave us a review so more people can find the show.

Some Important notes from Tom:

Three years ago I suffered a severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) in a road bike accident. Cause unknown.

I wouldn’t ’wake up’ in critical care at King’s College Hospital until 19 days later.

I had brain surgery on an extradural haemotoma (bleed between the skull and the membrane which surrounds the brain).

I went through the same major trauma centre shown in Critical: Between Life and Death on Netflix. (A year before they filmed that show.)

My skull had shattered into seven pieces when my helmet hit the tarmac. It was pieced back together, away from me, then plugged back in to the rest of my skull. It all looked a lot “like tapping a hard boiled egg with a teaspoon” (John, my neurologist).

Nearly three weeks of coma followed. Within which pneumonia and major organ failure got even closer to finishing me off than the tarmac ever did.

Some key stats would then be shared with me, first at my bedside and later in recovery:
- 50% Chance of developing depression after a TBI such as mine
- 60% of moderate-severe TBI patients never return to full time work in the same roll. (I’m now back to four days per week.)
- Risk of seizure is greatly elevated after TBI/brain surgery. Advised to completely eliminate booze for six months.
- In reality the return to my ‘old full fat drinking self’ is not recommended for years, if at all.
- My consultants emphasised that the social fabric that booze provides is a critical part of recovery. That’s where the rise of AF slots in.
- AF beer hasn’t saved my life. But it has made living it more fulfilling in ways BIG and small.
- I’m not an expert in brains or beer. But I feel sufficiently experienced to give my opinion on both, to whoever is unfortunate enough to be cornered by me...

To find out more about the wonderful world of alcohol free beer and to check in with me head to www.instagram.com/sober_boozers_club

This episode is Sponsored by Chance Clean Cider.

We bring together a rare group chat of non-drinking beer drinkers and trace how alcohol-free beer goes from grim early options to a modern craft scene worth getting excited about. We talk honestly about sobriety, accidents, pubs, and why this drink ends up meaning connection, freedom, and belonging for so many of us.
• meeting the panel and the many paths away from alcohol
• first alcohol-free beers and why early options put people off
• the jump from “good enough” to genuinely great craft alcohol-free beer
• draft pints and the ritual of going out without booze
• collecting beers and turning drinking into a hobby without the hangover
• accidental alcohol in sobriety and the anxiety it can trigger
• packaging and shelf placement that can confuse ABV and choice
• palate changes and why full-strength beer can taste harsh later
• the physical side of alcohol-free nights including dehydration and sugar
• what alcohol-free beer means to us: connection, freedom, relaxation, identity
• pubs and hospitality: better choice keeps groups together for longer
You can find me on all the socials at Sober Boozers Club

To find out more about the wonderful world of alcohol free beer and to check in with me head to www.instagram.com/sober_boozers_club

This episode is Sponsored by Chance Clean Cider.