Why Does Non-Alcoholic Drink Cost More Than Regular Beer?
May 10, 2026
It's a fair question, and we'd rather answer it directly than hope you don't notice.
A six-pack of Athletic Brewing costs more than a six-pack of most craft beers. A bottle of French Bloom costs more than a comparable bottle of Champagne. NA spirits regularly run $35 to $50 for something you'd pay $25 for in the alcoholic version.
Here's what's actually going on.
You're Paying for Two Processes, Not One
Most quality non-alcoholic wine and beer starts exactly where the alcoholic version does — same ingredients, same fermentation, same aging. The winemaking or brewing happens in full. Then a second process removes the alcohol without collapsing everything that fermentation built.
That second step requires specialized equipment (Spinning Cone Columns, vacuum distillation systems, reverse osmosis filtration) that most traditional producers don't have and have to either invest in or contract out. It takes additional time. It often requires a skilled pass to restore flavor and balance after the alcohol comes out.
So the cost isn't inflated. It's additive. You're funding two distinct production processes in every bottle.
Volume Is Still Catching Up
The NA category is growing fast, but production volumes are still a fraction of the traditional alcohol market. Smaller runs mean higher per-unit costs across the board — ingredients, packaging, distribution, shelf placement.
As the category scales, prices will likely follow. But right now, producers are building infrastructure in real time, and the pricing reflects that.
The Tax Math Works Against Them
Here's one people don't expect: removing alcohol doesn't reduce the tax burden the way you might think. Producers don't get a meaningful excise tax break for making a non-alcoholic product. They pay for the full winemaking or brewing process, then pay again for dealcoholization, without the offset that higher-margin alcoholic products provide.
Functional Ingredients Add Up
For the adaptogen and nootropic drinks — Recess, Kin Euphorics, hiyo, Brez — the cost driver is different. These aren't dealcoholized anything. They're built from scratch with ingredients like lion's mane, ashwagandha, L-theanine, and reishi, all of which cost significantly more per unit than hops, malt, or grape concentrate.
Quality sourcing matters here. The brands we carry use ingredients that are third-party tested and transparently labeled. That's not universal in the functional beverage space, and it costs more to do it right.
What You're Not Paying For
No hangover. No Uber home. No lost Saturday morning.
We're not going to oversell the math on that — everyone's calculation is different. But it's worth factoring in what you don't spend when a night out doesn't require recovery time.
The Honest Bottom Line
NA drinks cost more because they're harder to make well. The ones we carry are priced fairly for what they are — not marked up for novelty, not priced on brand hype. We vet what we put on the shelf, and part of that vetting is understanding whether the price reflects actual craft or just clever packaging.
If you ever want to understand why a specific bottle costs what it does, ask us. We know what went into most of what we carry, and we're happy to make the case — or tell you honestly when a less expensive option gets you to the same place.
