Non-alcoholic (NA) adult beverages are seeing steady growth, but NA beer and cider specifically are seeing its popularity explode, with sales volumes jumping a staggering 30% last year alone.

NA beer is outpacing total beer sales this year, as well. According to data analytics firm IWSR, on-premise beer sales by value are down 2.9%, whereas NA beer sales are up 33.7%. This is starting to look like a runaway train, but it’s worth noting NA beer is still “beer,” and the popularity of low-ABV beverages may be even higher than firms like IWSR are detecting

The growth of the category is complex, with variations starting to come into focus when it comes to “non-alcoholic” and “alcohol-free.” The former, according to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), must have an ABV of no more than 0.5%. On the other hand, a beverage can only be labelled “alcohol-free” if it indeed has absolutely no alcohol in it.

In that sense, these products aren’t even allowed to be labelled as “beer,” and must instead carry labels such as “near-beer,” “brew,” “malt beverage,” or “cereal beer.”

Brands like Guinness and Heineken appear to be trying to edge out the NA category by leaning into the double zeroes messaging of truly “alcohol free” beverages.