What is non-alcoholic beer, and how is it made?

ABC Everyday
By Rachel Rasker
October 29, 2021

Seven years ago, Clinton Schultz gave up booze.

The first thing he noticed was that there were “absolutely no decent options for adults choosing not to drink”.

The second thing he noticed was how much time and energy he had.

“The amount of time that we waste either getting intoxicated or being hungover is amazing,” Mr Schultz says.

“And I just had so much more energy because my body wasn’t wasting a whole bunch of it just processing alcohol.”

Since then, he’s founded a non-alcoholic craft beer company and has seen the industry boom.

Stuart Henshall is the co-owner of an alcohol-free bar and online store based in Melbourne.

“A couple of our suppliers have said that their non-alcoholic ranges are moving faster than some of their existing alcoholic lines,” he says.

Here’s everything you need to know about the increasingly popular bevvy.

How are non-alcoholic beers made?

The brewers we spoke to say most non-alcoholic beer is made using the same ingredients as alcoholic beer; grain, water, hops and yeast.

Alcohol is either removed or only produced in very limited amounts.

While there are multiple ways to do this, Mr Henshall says most of his suppliers de-alcoholise using heat or specialised yeast.

He says removing alcohol with heat essentially means boiling the alcohol away, as it has a lower boiling point than water.

But this can have a negative impact on flavour.

To combat this, Mr Henshall says some brewers work with a vacuum process, which reduces the boiling point of the alcohol even further.

“[Vacuum distilling] takes less intensity of heat, which will then affect the flavour a lot less,” he says.

Or brewers might choose to use specialised strains of yeast that don’t produce alcohol.

“The alcohol [in beer] comes from the fermentation process at the end, so there are yeasts that have been developed that just stop fermenting once they reach about a 0.5 or under ABV [Alcohol by Volume],” Mr Henshall says.

ABV refers to how much alcohol yeast can sustain before it becomes inactive.

The strain of yeast used to make wine might yield 12 per cent alcohol, while a strain of yeast used to bake bread or make a non-alcoholic beer will stop fermenting at a much lower ABV.

Why is it the same price as regular beer?

As Mr Schultz explains, producing alcohol-free beer is often a more time-intensive process than brewing regular beer.

While he doesn’t have to pay excise tax like alcoholic breweries do, he says setting up and washing down his brewery is particularly fiddly.

“I have to completely sterilise the brewery and make sure there’s no [alcoholic] saccharomyces yeast floating around because it’ll just have a field day and turn the product alcoholic,” Mr Schultz says.

“It’s kind of like trying to bake gluten-free bread in a normal bakery.”

Does non-alcoholic beer still contain alcohol?

You might have seen non-alcoholic beers advertising “less than 0.5 per cent ABV”. So, can they get you drunk?

Short answer: No.

Ms Melanie Pirinen is a food and nutrition scientist who researches no- and low-alcohol beverages at the University of Newcastle.

She says 0.5 per cent is the same amount you’d find in other foods like vanilla extract or a very ripe banana.

“A normal fruit juice could have that same amount of alcohol in it,” Ms Pirinen says.

“It’s unlikely a person could easily consume a volume large enough to impact them.”

Are there health benefits?

Ms Pirinen says that any reduction of alcohol intake can benefit your health.

Drinking alcohol free-beer can also reduce your overall energy intake.

Ms Pirinen says while it will still have calories in it, it’ll have less calories than full-strength beer, and will likely contain less sugar than other non-alcoholic alternatives like soft drinks.

“Some beers may have [health] claims on there … but these drinks shouldn’t be chosen as a health beverage,” Ms Pirinen says.

“You should be getting those sorts of things from fruits and vegetables or other parts of a balanced diet.”

If you’re keen to try a non-alcoholic beer and wondering which one you should go for, Ms Pirinen says there is no “best” option.

“If you want to have that crystal, fruity flavour that you can get with beer, it’s a great substitute,” she says.

“Just focus on [the] alcohol-free beers that you enjoy the taste of.”