How good are non-alcoholic beers these days?

The Evolution of Non-Alcoholic Beer – Interview with Markus Brendel

In recent years, non-alcoholic beers have developed significantly. Markus Brendel is a certified beer sommelier and product developer at Feldschlösschen. We spoke with him about new technologies, new products and the new variety in this category.

Why are non-alcoholic beers sensorially better today than they used to be?

Markus Brendel: In the past, non-alcoholic beers had an unusual taste. Feldschlösschen’s Schlossgold and the famous German Clausthaler were produced by stopped fermentation and had a pronounced wort flavour. In recent years, an enormous development has taken place. Demand has increased and triggered investments. This has significantly changed the technology, making new alcohol-free beers possible and achieving a previously unknown variety in this category.

Can you briefly explain how non-alcoholic beers are brewed?

There is the physical method and the biological method. With the physical method, a beer with alcohol is produced and then the alcohol is removed. The removal of alcohol is done via vacuum distillation or using a semi-permeable membrane. During vacuum distillation, the alcohol evaporates, with the boiling point lowered to below forty degrees. This is how Feldschlösschen Alcohol-Free Lager is produced. This way you can also produce beers with absolutely no residual alcohol, i.e. 0.0% vol. With reverse osmosis, the alcohol is separated using a semi-permeable membrane.

And the biological method… ?

… works with stopped fermentation; this means the yeast is simply briefly «bathed» in the wort at low temperatures and fermentation is stopped at 0.5% vol. This is how Feldschlösschen Alcohol-Free Weizenfrisch is produced, for example. There is now also a second exciting biological method: thanks to a special yeast that can ferment neither maltose nor maltotriose, fermentation stops automatically.

Are there general sensory differences between the physical and biological methods?

With the biological method, the non-alcoholic beer gets a pronounced wort flavour, while with the physical method you get much closer to the beer with alcohol.

Which brings us to the key question: should a non-alcoholic beer be as independent as possible, or is the goal an alcohol-free copy of a beer with alcohol?

Both! Beer drinkers prefer lager-like products that are close to the original. If you want to appeal to new consumers, special non-alcoholic products are the way to go.

Many non-alcoholic beers use dry hopping. Why?

Because hop notes can balance the wort aroma of non-alcoholic beers produced by stopped fermentation. This gives these beers a pronounced body. However, when producing the wort, care must be taken to achieve a balanced bitterness.

Feldschlösschen’s non-alcoholic range:

0.0% and 0.5%

By law, non-alcoholic beers may have a maximum alcohol content of 0.5% vol. Until recently, this was the case for the vast majority of them. However, newer products often contain no alcohol at all, i.e. 0.0% vol. For Markus Brendel, there is «no physiological difference» between a maximum of 0.5% vol. and 0.0% vol.

The product developer at Feldschlösschen says that a ripe banana and a fruit juice can also contain alcohol, and calculates: «To reach the alcohol equivalent of two standard beers, you would have to drink six litres of non-alcoholic beer at 0.5% vol. Because the alcohol content is so small, it is constantly being metabolised.»

So why is brewing also done with 0.0% vol. alcohol today?
Markus Brendel: «Because it is better understood by consumers and is therefore an advantage on the market.»