While non-alcoholic beer is not a recent phenomenon (as the world’s oldest non-alcoholic beer proves), it has become an incredibly popular beverage in recent years. Although many people enjoy drinking some of the best non-alcoholic beers on the market, how non-alcoholic beer is made remains a mystery to even proud and energetic supporters of the drink. (Bear in mind the average NA beer drinker isn’t who you think it is.) Luckily, we have the answers regarding how non-alcoholic beer is made thanks to Cody Goldstein, the founder and chief creative officer of Muddling Memories.
In an interview, Goldstein gave us insight into what constitutes a non-alcoholic beer and how the drink is made. “Non-alcoholic beer is a type of beer that contains little to no alcohol, typically less than 0.5% ABV (alcohol by volume),” Goldstein explained. “It is brewed similarly to regular beer using water, malt, hops, and yeast, meaning it does initially contain alcohol.” To knowledgeable beer connoisseurs, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise; all beers, regardless of style, are made as a result of alcoholic fermentation. However, it is during — and after — this fermentation that the processes of brewing standard beer and non-alcoholic beer begin to differ.
The four ways non-alcoholic beer is created
As Cody Goldstein explained, there are four things that can be done to remove or limit the beer’s alcohol content without also stripping it of its unique flavor. “Controlled fermentation […] vacuum distillation […] reverse osmosis […] and dilution and reconstitution,” were the four methods he named. Goldstein also gave us insight into each of these processes, noting that controlled fermentation — the most common method – attempts to limit the yeast’s activity, stopping fermentation before the yeast begins producing too much alcohol. While this does mean that most non-alcoholic beers made using this technique will contain some alcohol, it is nearly always a negligible amount, falling below the aforementioned marker of 0.5% ABV.
Alternatively, Goldstein described vacuum distillation as, “removing alcohol by heating the beer at lower temperatures under a vacuum,” called reverse osmosis the process of “filtering out alcohol while keeping other flavors intact,” and noted that dilution and reconstitution means “brewing a concentrated beer, then diluting it after alcohol removal.”
After one of these methods is used to strip the alcohol from the beer, one last thing must be done to ensure the product doesn’t taste like a beer that’s been left open for too long. “After this,” Goldstein said, “the beer is re-carbonated (as carbonation can be lost during the removal of alcohol) and then packaged for distribution.”
