June 27, 2025, 2:01 am | Read time: 4 minutes
My son sometimes drinks non-alcoholic beer. What started harmlessly turned out to be a surprisingly complex parenting question: How much symbolism is in a beer bottle? And how does it shape children? A personal story about everyday rituals, parental intuition, and an insight.
An Unusual Favorite Drink
On our dinner table, there are sometimes two bottles of non-alcoholic beer–for my husband, me, and our son (3). He has shared our preference for non-alcoholic beer for a while now–which used to seem unproblematic to us. Friends or acquaintances who see him sipping from the bottle for the first time usually laugh and say they’ve never seen anything like it. When he sips from a bottle of Erdinger 0.0 at a restaurant, we sometimes get puzzled looks. I know, of course, that non-alcoholic beer isn’t necessarily healthy. It’s sometimes very high in calories, and many varieties contain added sugar. A recent study pointed out its effect on blood sugar, especially from non-alcoholic wheat and mixed beers.1 Compared to classic soda, however, this aspect hardly matters. So why shouldn’t I allow my child to have a sip of non-alcoholic beer now and then? Just like other kids occasionally sip soda?
Of course, we know that non-alcoholic beer can contain up to 0.5% alcohol by volume. It’s also not our son’s standard drink. On the other hand, common sense says that the effect of a few sips of non-alcoholic beer can never be the same as accidentally drinking eggnog. Any fruit juice that’s been in the fridge a bit too long contains at least as much alcohol through fermentation as a bottle of non-alcoholic beer. The same goes for fermented foods like sauerkraut or kefir. And wasn’t malt beer with its 2.0% alcohol by volume once a typical children’s drink?
What’s Inside? Between Soda and Non-Alcoholic Beer
I’m aware that children should grow up as alcohol-free as possible. The so-called “0.0% beers” contain no measurable alcohol. Legally, they are considered non-alcoholic and harmless regarding alcohol consumption. They also contain some minerals like potassium, magnesium, or sodium–similar to isotonic sports drinks.
Kids just want to try everything their parents consume. That doesn’t mean we’d give him a sip of wine or schnapps because we drink it ourselves–that’s completely out of the question. It’s not about a fundamental “He wants it, so he can have it,” but about giving him a sense of community and equal treatment.
Many non-alcoholic beers, especially pilsners, contain significantly less sugar than classic soda (10 grams vs. 2 to 4 grams per 100 milliliters), which today often appear in a “healthy” guise–as “natural soda” or “refreshing drink with vitamins.” That other parents occasionally give their children soda is, of course, no argument for allowing your child non-alcoholic beer instead. Ultimately, it’s not about which “lesser evil” is allowed, but whether a drink is sensible and harmless for a child.
The Social Context: What Do Others Think?
Because a soda doesn’t have the same symbolic meaning as beer, I also realized over time what was problematic about our handling: treating non-alcoholic beer like soda. Although non-alcoholic beer may be comparable to soda in terms of health effects, it conveys a completely different image.
This feeling, which I now share, has good reasons. Beer is associated with adult beverages and alcohol consumption. Even if the beer my son drinks contains no ethanol, it remains visually, tastefully, and socially a “beer.” The puzzled looks from others reflect this discomfort: A child with a beer bottle instinctively seems inappropriate to them.
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But even more significant: If my child learns that drinking beer is normal or even “cool,” it might lower his inhibitions toward real alcohol in the long run.
Precisely because such early-learned behavior patterns can influence later behavior, I wanted to know how experts assess the issue. I asked Matthias Riedl, an internist, nutritionist, diabetologist, and medical director of Medicum Hamburg. His stance is clear: “Giving children non-alcoholic beer is a no-go. They get used to the taste. This shapes a child.” Parents should consciously avoid such “familiarization” with the taste and social ritual of beer drinking.
How We Handle It Now
My husband and I have since decided that non-alcoholic beer (0.0%) remains a special ritual–for a boys’ night with Dad. This way, it remains something extraordinary, embedded in a clear framework, without becoming a daily norm. Beer drinking should not be a game for our son, but something he can discover for himself as an adult.