Roughly one in five U.S. adults drank an alcohol alternative in the past six months, Dry Atlas finds

October 27, 2026. 18% of U.S. adults 21+ drank non-alcoholic beer, wine, spirits, ready-to-drink cocktails, or THC-infused beverages in the past six months, according to The State of Alcohol Alternatives, October 2026 Edition, published today by Dry Atlas, the market intelligence company focused on alcohol alternatives. Nearly two-thirds of the people who buy them still describe the category as mainly for those who don’t want to drink alcohol, even though 93% of buyers also drank alcohol in the same six-month period and 46% have no goal to reduce their drinking.

The report is built on a national survey of 1,149 U.S. adults 21+ fielded by YouGov on October 14–15, 2026, a survey of 1,003 alcohol-alternative buyers fielded by Prodege Insights on October 8–16, 2026, and the Dry Atlas Product Database, which recorded 3,812 alcohol-alternative products on the market from 1,093 brands as of September 30, 2026.

Among the findings:

• The shelf and the buyer disagree. Non-alcoholic wine is 28% of the products on the market, the largest sub-segment by product count, and last among the five sub-segments on every engagement measure in the buyer survey. Non-alcoholic spirits, 18% of products, leads the analog sub-segments on expected consumption, taste, and spend. (Dry Atlas Product Database; Prodege)
• Taste, not health, is the reason to buy. Buyers drink alternatives for the taste first (35%), then to avoid hangovers (31%); physical health is fourth (26%). 46% of buyers have no goal to reduce their drinking, and more use alternatives alongside alcohol (49%) than instead of it (41%). (Prodege)
• Price limits buyers; not seeing the point stops everyone else. Inside the category the barrier is price, cited by 46% of buyers as the limit on drinking more. Outside it, 33% of adults who know the category and have not bought see no point in alcohol alternatives, and 38% would rather have water or a soft drink. (Prodege; YouGov)
• Brand recall belongs to the large brewers. Asked to name alcohol-alternative brands unprompted, buyers named Heineken roughly twice as often as any other brand. Athletic Brewing was the only independent at comparable salience; Diageo’s Ritual was named by 4% of buyers and Ghia by 3%. (Prodege)
• Participation skews young and urban. 33% of adults 21–34 drank an alcohol alternative in the past six months, against 8% of those 55 and older; 28% of adults in cities did, against 9% in rural areas. The young adults driving participation are alcohol drinkers, not abstainers: 35% of alcohol drinkers aged 21–34 drank an alternative, against 8% of drinkers 55 and older. Parents stand out too: 30% of adults with a child under 18 at home drank one, against 18% of all adults. Half of U.S. adults 21+ have either drunk an alcohol alternative or say they are open to one; a third would not consider it. (YouGov)
• Holiday hosting and Dry January are both in the plan. 53% of buyers expect to bring or serve alcohol alternatives at a holiday gathering before the end of the year. 19% of U.S. adults 21+ plan to go without alcohol for January 2027, and 41% of those planners expect to drink alcohol alternatives during the month. (Prodege; YouGov)

“Half of U.S. adults 21+ have either drunk an alcohol alternative or say they are open to one. A category that half the adult population has tried or is open to isn’t a temporary trend. These products have a permanent place on the shelf, and now the question is which occasions they win,” said Victoria Watters, co-founder of Dry Atlas.

“The moderation narrative misses how buyers use them. 93% also drank alcohol in the same six months, and more of them drink alternatives alongside alcohol than instead of it. The brands the data favors are built for optionality, on taste first and price second.”

The executive summary of The State of Alcohol Alternatives, October 2026 Edition, including the headline findings and the full methodology, is available as a free download.

Notes to editors

YouGov figures: total sample size was 1,149 U.S. adults aged 21+. Fieldwork was undertaken October 14–15, 2026. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all U.S. adults aged 21+. Groups derived from the consumption question exclude 26 respondents who preferred not to say (n=1,123).

Prodege figures: an online survey of 1,003 U.S. adults 21+ who drank at least one alcohol-alternative sub-segment in the past six months and are the primary or shared purchase decision-maker for alcohol alternatives in their household, fielded by Prodege Insights October 8–16, 2026. Figures are unweighted and describe buyers, not the adult population.

Alcohol alternatives are defined as non-alcoholic beer, wine, spirits, and ready-to-drink cocktails below 0.5% ABV, and THC-infused beverages at or below 10 mg per serving.

About Dry Atlas

Dry Atlas is the market intelligence company focused on alcohol alternatives. It maintains the Dry Atlas Product Database, 4,100+ alcohol-alternative products across 1,100+ brands, on and off the market, which emerging brands and large beverage companies use to track the category at the product level. It also publishes The State of Alcohol Alternatives, a quarterly report series built on the product database and surveys of 2,000+ American consumers. Its insights reach 7,000+ professionals at The Coca-Cola Company, Moët Hennessy, Diageo, and 1,000+ other beverage companies.

dryatlas.com

Media contact

Victoria Watters, co-founder, Dry Atlas
victoria@dryatlas.com