Birra Moretti Zero

Birra Moretti is an Italian brewery, founded in 1859, just a few years after the more famous Peroni Brewery. Located in the city of Udine in the north-east of Italy, at time of founding it was technically part of the Austrian Empire. The Austrian influences may well have helped shape the flavours and techniques that Luigi Moretti used in his beer production.

Originally named the ‘Beer and Ice Factory’, the brewery remained in family hands until the late eighties, when it was handed off to a group of other beer producers, and eventually in 1996 it ended up under the wing of Dutch brewing giants Heineken. The beer’s logo features a man in historical alpine attire, enjoying a beer probably after a day’s labour. This image gives the impression that Birra Moretti is a no-nonsense lager for the masses, and that is indeed the usual opinion in Italy. So, pretty much like it’s parent Heineken in that regard!

Birra Moretti Zero was launched in the UK in March 2019, a couple of years after Heineken’s successful 0.0 AF version. This expansion of the brewery’s non-alcoholic options at least shows that they believe the market is there, and indeed growing. I actually quite like Heineken 0.0, so will Birra Moretti Zero turn out to be a similar standard?

Pouring the beer we get a clear golden straw-coloured brew with the familiar non-head, even if you throw the bottle into your glass. Ho-hum! Malt grains dominate on the nose, and like the aforementioned lager from the same stable, there’s an aroma of almost-cannabis hop there.

The taste of Zero is pretty close to it’s alcoholic version, albeit a tad sweeter. Malt is well balanced by bitterness from the hops, the carbonation is fine but not really much of a body there. Reminds me of drinking tiny bottles of beer in the evening sun anywhere in mainland Europe.

Like Heineken 0.0 (which I keep on ascribing to but it really is the closest reference), Birra Moretti Zero does a good job of emulating it’s full-fat version, and is a pleasant tipple to replace it. It’s not pushing the envelope, but sits nicely inside it. With yeast missing from the list of ingredients, I have no idea how the beer is produced, but it doesn’t contain any of the usual trademarks of an over-manufactured NA lager.

Buy Birra Moretti Zero

Birra Moretti Zero is widely available from Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s, and it’s also available to buy from the following online stores:

Nutritional Information (per 100ml, taken from the side of the bottle)
ABV	0.05%
Energy	20 kcal
Fat	0g
Carbohydrates	4.4g
Sugar	1.2g
Protein	0.5g
Ingredients
Water, Barley Malt, Hop, Hop Extract, Natural Flavouring
Additional Information
Country of Production	Italy
Brewer	Heineken – https://www.birramoretti.com/gb/en/
Gluten Free?	No
Vegan Friendly?	No