Low- and no-alcohol (NA) beers are a unique and growing trend in the alcoholic fermented beverages industry. An article from Forbes Magazine tracked the rise in consumption of these products during the “Dry January” period. The article states that in 2019 only 5% of Dry January participants drank NA beers but that number increased to 29% by January 2022 (Dingwall, 2022). This is a significant increase in the market share for these low and NA beers. Popular NA beer brands are popping up across the country, check out prominent ones like Athletic Brewing Co. and Best Day Brewing. Researchers have found that the main factors that motivate consumers to purchase these products are perceptions that alcohol has negative health effects and as a decision for weight management (Staub, 2022). To produce these products, breweries have an additional processing step following the completion of the fermented beer. This step, which removes or reduces the ethanol present in the beer is called “de-alcoholization” (Catarino, 2011). There are multiple strategies for this separation, including evaporation and distillation, and membrane-based methods like reverse osmosis and filtration, as well as simple centrifugation (Catarino, 2011).
Have you heard of or tried low- or NA beers? What sensory and flavor characteristics do you think might differ in these products when compared to regular, alcohol-containing beer? Do you think this trend is going to catch on with craft breweries – if not, what could make this difficult?
Image Credit: Brewer’s Association