From Dry January to summer: the alcohol-free beer calendar
January lifts alcohol-free share in all four countries studied. Annual peaks and the distribution of sales across the week nevertheless reveal different calendars from one market to another.
January is an obvious moment for alcohol-free drinks. Till data confirms an increase in their share of beer revenue at this time of year. But planning a commercial calendar also requires a look at what happens next.
The alcohol-free beer calendar varies by market. In Fyre’s data, the United Kingdom records its highest share in January during 2025, while Germany, the Netherlands and France reach their peaks over the summer period.
Alongside this seasonality sits a weekly rhythm: alcohol-free revenue is less concentrated on Friday and Saturday than revenue from alcoholic beer. Both timescales are useful for organising the offer and planning activations.
January lifts alcohol-free share everywhere
Between December 2025 and January 2026, alcohol-free beer’s share increases by 39.7% in France and 31% in the United Kingdom. Increases are also visible in the Netherlands, at 20%, and Germany, at 16.9%.
These figures describe a relative change in alcohol-free share of beer revenue. They do not mean an equivalent increase in the number of serves sold, or a gain of several dozen percentage points of share.
The daily curve, presented as a seven-day rolling average, then shows an easing in February. Across all four countries, however, the report indicates that share does not return to its December level. The significance of the period can therefore also be seen in what remains after January.
The strongest month of the year depends on the country
To put this movement in context, the report separately presents the months when alcohol-free reached its highest share of beer revenue in 2025.
Market | Month with the highest share in 2025 | Share of beer revenue |
Germany | August | 5.96% |
Netherlands | July | 6.66% |
United Kingdom | January | 1.65% |
France | June | 0.94% |
January is the British peak in this series, but the other three countries peak between June and August. An activation focused exclusively on the start of the year would therefore miss another important period observed in those markets.
These peaks relate to revenue share. The month with the highest share is not necessarily the month with the largest number of alcohol-free serves: the level of alcoholic beer sales also affects the calculation.
Summer 2026 confirms the weight of alcohol-free in Germany and the Netherlands
The monthly series provides a more recent reference point: in July 2026, alcohol-free reaches 6.93% of beer revenue in Germany and 7.95% in the Netherlands. These are the highest levels in the series shown for those two countries.
These observations strengthen the case for making the offer visible and available ahead of the summer’s key trading periods. They are not enough to attribute growth to the weather or to a specific consumer motivation: receipts record purchases, not the reasons behind them.
Across the week, alcohol-free follows a less concentrated rhythm
In Germany, Friday and Saturday account for 38% of alcohol-free beer revenue, compared with 41.7% for alcoholic beer in the first half of 2026.
Market | Share of alcohol-free revenue on Friday and Saturday | Gap versus alcoholic beer |
Germany | 38% | −3.7 percentage points |
Netherlands | 41.4% | −8.2 percentage points |
United Kingdom | 44.3% | −3.1 percentage points |
France | 41.7% | −0.2 percentage points |
The gap is particularly visible in the Netherlands and much smaller in France. It would therefore be excessive to describe the same shift towards weekdays in every country. The data shows a lower concentration on two days, with the extent varying between markets.
Build a calendar around actual sales
For a brand or venue, these rhythms provide practical reference points: prepare for January, identify the local seasonal peak, then keep the offer available beyond Friday and Saturday evenings.
Alcohol-free deserves its own commercial calendar. Sales can then reveal whether an activation develops the category, moves orders between products or simply accompanies a usual increase in footfall.
Methodology Alcohol-free beer
Source: The Alcohol-Free Beer Report 2026, Fyre. Provisional till data covering the ‘0.0’ products validated by the report. The January comparison measures January 2026 against December 2025; daily curves use a seven-day rolling average. The annual peak table covers 2025, while the July levels cited relate to 2026.
The weekly distribution covers January to June 2026. Indicators measure revenue shares, rather than consumer shares or the causal effects of a campaign. The half-year panel includes 30,329 beer-selling venues in Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and France. Results describe the venues observed.
Explore The Alcohol-Free Beer Report 2026 to plan activations around the rhythm of alcohol-free beer sales.
