OnTap Magazine

36 | Spring 2025 | ontapmag.co.za HOW DO THEY MAKE NON ALCOHOLIC BEERS? As much as alcohol is thought of as a byproduct of fermentation and the taxman’s “sin” component, it does actually contribute in big heaps to mouthfeel and flavour. It adds a roundness to the body of the beer and can add bitterness that enhances hop aromas. The fermentation process also contributes some flavours that are essential, such as esters (fruity) and phenols (spicy). So, to make a non- alcoholic beer, it is quite essential to have these components to match the expectation of the beer drinker. In other words, it should still taste like beer. And if it carries a big brand label, it needs to taste similar to the original. As a result, most viable varieties on the market use either vacuum distillation (an evolution of Carl Jung’s initial patents), some form of clever fermentation or reverse osmosis. Heineken 0.0 (which is actually 0.05% ABV) would go through the same initial steps of fermentation, they even use their signature A-strain yeast to get the right yeast-derived flavours into the beer. They then gently remove the alcohol and add natural flavours to mimic the alcohol’s contribution to taste and mouthfeel. Devil’s Peak make use of a combination of fermentable, non-fermentable sugars and actively fermenting beer. This is added together in a fermenter before generous dry hopping which adds the lovely fruity and citrus notes. Belgian brands like La Chouffe, use special yeast strains that cannot ferment more complex sugars, for their non-alcohol beer. This ensures that their beer ends at 0.4% ABV, while the short fermentation added most of the yeast characteristics. All of this, of course, helps the beer get quite close to the original flavour profile. What is important to appreciate is that Belgian beers are often yeast-driven in flavour, thus the Belgian approach would be to preserve much more of that in their final products. Interestingly, Belgian breweries like Liefmans, in their Fruitesse 0.0 beers, uses something called, “arrested fermentation.” This is employed when you stop the fermentation of a batch of beer at a particular point, to allow some of that yeast-driven flavours to take shape in the beer. WHAT IS NON ALCOHOLIC ANYWAYS? Non-alcoholic beers, for purposes of regulation and taxation, is defined by beers between 0% and 0.5% ABV. But how much is that in context to other foods? Incorrect assumptions are made about how we consume alcohol; we wrongly assume that we only consume alcohol from drinking alcoholic beverages. In a study called, Estimates of Ethanol Exposure in Children from Food not Labeled as Alcohol- Containing, there is a breakdown of various levels of ABV as contained in foods that are sold to people of all ages. According to the study and others like it, a ripe Banana can contain as much as 0.5% ABV. So, is this a modern trend or a change to habit? All we can say for sure is it is definitely not new, but the consumer’s choice seems richer with options than before. So, as the saying goes, with a clumsy adjustment to make it fit: the proof of the beer is in the drinking.