How Nonalcoholic Beer Is Brewed

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In case you haven’t noticed, non-alcoholic beer has been on the rise in recent years. According to Global Market Insights, the NA beer market was valued at $22 billion in 2022 and is expected to nearly double in the next 10 years. While once limited to just a couple of mediocre, mainstream options (e.g., O’Doul’s and Sharp’s), breweries have now mastered the art of creating full-flavored NA and low-alc beers that allow you to enjoy a tasty craft beer without the hangover.

The process of brewing NA beer is more complicated than you think, which is partly why non-alcoholic beer is so expensive. First of all, there are a few different ways to make alcohol-free or non-alcoholic beer. In general, you can either brew the beer and then remove the alcohol, or prevent the production of alcohol by limiting fermentation.

Because the process of entirely removing the alcohol is difficult, beer labeled as non-alcoholic can have up to 0.5% alcohol content, whereas beer labeled as alcohol-free has 0% alcohol content. (This might make you wonder if it’s legal to drink non-alcoholic beer when you’re under 21.) If you’re up for giving NA beer a try, some popular options you can get delivered to your doorstep include Athletic Brewing Company Craft Non-Alcoholic Beer and Bero Kingston Golden Pils Non-Alcoholic Beer.

Read more: 13 Types Of Beer Glasses And When To Use Them

Different Ways To Brew Non-Alcoholic Beer

Creating beer with no or low alcohol can be done by removing the alcohol (dealcoholizing) or limiting fermentation or the production of alcohol. Both processes start with ingredients that are the same used when brewing alcoholic beer: water, which comprises 90-95% of both NA and alcoholic beer; malt, which provides the sugars necessary for fermentation; yeast, which feeds on the sugars from the malt; and hops, which adds bitterness that balances the sweetness of the malt.

Controlling fermentation is a common method used by craft breweries for making NA beer. Fermentation is what makes beer, beer. However, it can be limited to reduce the alcohol content by using a mash with less sugar for the yeast to feed on and choosing certain yeast strains that produce less alcohol. Fermentation can also be stopped early before producing a higher alcohol content. This can be done by lowering the temperature of the mash as it ferments since yeast thrives in hot temperatures.

The other approach, dealcoholization, involves expensive equipment to remove the alcohol after it is brewed and is therefore more accessible to larger, commercial brewers. This method is commonly done using vacuum distillation, a process which heats the beer in a vacuum to evaporate the alcohol content. Another method for dealcoholization, reverse osmosis, is more technologically advanced and involves using a fine membrane and sophisticated machinery to separate the alcohol molecules from the beer.

Read the original article on Chowhound.