Can I brew non alcoholic beer with my brewery equipment
- Nov 16, 2022
- 160
- tiantai
In recent years, the demand for non alcoholic beer is keeping exploding, one reason for that is that peope are drinking less alcohol. Many of us have taken decision to drink less to make it more healthy or some people even do not drink at all. For non alcoholic beer, it is not means there is no alcohol, it saying at under 0.5% ABV actually. So for those owners who has started their craft beer business, is it possible to brew non alcoholic beer with current beer brewery equipment? The answer is yes!
There are mainly four common methods for producing non-alcoholic beer: Limited fermentation, Dealcoholization, Dilution and Free fermentation. The main beer brewing process is actually quite same as common craft beer brewing process, that is mean no need to make further changes on your beer brewery equipment.
I. Limited fermentation method
We all know the alcohol in beer is produced in wort fermentation process, the yeast eat sugar and produce Co2 and alcohol. So if we control the alcohol content within 0.5%, then we can get non-alcoholic beer.
_ One way is to reduce the amount of fermentable sugar in wort. The less sugar the yeast can eat, the less alcohol in beer. Now it is available to use the grain that produce less sugar, like rice or maize etc.
_ Another way is using special yeast strains. Saying the strain that can only produce alcohol in low amounts or a yeast strain that cannot ferment maltose. The disadvantage is that more sugar would leave in beer, that would cause a sweet flavour for beer.
_ Fermentation only occurs when the conditions such as temperature are right. Therefore, it is avaiable to slow or stop fermentation by changing the fermentation environment. Like heating or cooling wort to slow fermentation or stop it completely. Or adjusting the acidity of wort can also restrict or halt fermentation.
II. Dealcoholization
This is a kind of traditional way actually. To remove the alcohol in beer via steam distillation, gas stripping or reverse osmosis.
_ The boiling point of alcohol is lower than water. This means it is available to remove alcohol from beer by heating. An issue with this is that many of the flavour are removed along with alcohol. Heating beer can also cook it, affecting the flavour that are left behind. It is available to reduce this effect on flavour by using equipment that heats the beer under low pressure, which makes alcohol and water evaporate at a lower temperature. This is often known as vacuum distillation.
_ Gas stripping means using special equipment to gently heat the beer under vacuum, then pass water vapour or a gas such as nitrogen through it. The water vapour or gas carries the alcohol away from the beer. As with steam distillation, some flavours are removed along with the alcohol. It is available to separate these from the alcohol then add them back into the dealcoholized beer.
_ Reverse Osmosis means a special kind of equipment as well, the membrane captures larger molecules – including those that contain the beer’s flavour, but allows smaller molecules including water and alcohol to pass through. This leaves a concentrated version of the beer.
III. Free fermentation
Fermentation doesn't just bring alcohol and CO2 to beer. It also provides flavor and aroma. This is what makes beer a beer, if without fermentation process, it is just sweet wort. That doesn't mean that every non-alcoholic "beer" on the market is after fermentation. Some producers avoid fermentation altogether, making other tweaks to the production process and recipe to produce a beverage that looks and tastes like beer.
IV. Dilution
Using this method to make alcohol-free beer, beer brewers produce a concentrated beer in the traditional way using the current craft beer brewery equipment, using amount of hops and grains to create a concentrated beer high in flavour and body. After fermentation, they dilute the concentrated beer with water until the alcohol level is under 0.5% ABV, and then re-carbonate it.
In general, the main steps of non-alcoholic beer production are actually similar to craft beer, which means that your existing beer brewery equipment can be used to produce non-alcoholic beer directly. And if you have any further questions on brewing non alcoholic beer, or any questions on the brewery equipment, please feel free to talk to us _Tiantai Beer Equipment!
Laura Hou
Sales Manager
Tiantai Beer Equipment
[email protected]
There are mainly four common methods for producing non-alcoholic beer: Limited fermentation, Dealcoholization, Dilution and Free fermentation. The main beer brewing process is actually quite same as common craft beer brewing process, that is mean no need to make further changes on your beer brewery equipment.
I. Limited fermentation method
We all know the alcohol in beer is produced in wort fermentation process, the yeast eat sugar and produce Co2 and alcohol. So if we control the alcohol content within 0.5%, then we can get non-alcoholic beer.
_ One way is to reduce the amount of fermentable sugar in wort. The less sugar the yeast can eat, the less alcohol in beer. Now it is available to use the grain that produce less sugar, like rice or maize etc.
_ Another way is using special yeast strains. Saying the strain that can only produce alcohol in low amounts or a yeast strain that cannot ferment maltose. The disadvantage is that more sugar would leave in beer, that would cause a sweet flavour for beer.
_ Fermentation only occurs when the conditions such as temperature are right. Therefore, it is avaiable to slow or stop fermentation by changing the fermentation environment. Like heating or cooling wort to slow fermentation or stop it completely. Or adjusting the acidity of wort can also restrict or halt fermentation.
II. Dealcoholization
This is a kind of traditional way actually. To remove the alcohol in beer via steam distillation, gas stripping or reverse osmosis.
_ The boiling point of alcohol is lower than water. This means it is available to remove alcohol from beer by heating. An issue with this is that many of the flavour are removed along with alcohol. Heating beer can also cook it, affecting the flavour that are left behind. It is available to reduce this effect on flavour by using equipment that heats the beer under low pressure, which makes alcohol and water evaporate at a lower temperature. This is often known as vacuum distillation.
_ Gas stripping means using special equipment to gently heat the beer under vacuum, then pass water vapour or a gas such as nitrogen through it. The water vapour or gas carries the alcohol away from the beer. As with steam distillation, some flavours are removed along with the alcohol. It is available to separate these from the alcohol then add them back into the dealcoholized beer.
_ Reverse Osmosis means a special kind of equipment as well, the membrane captures larger molecules – including those that contain the beer’s flavour, but allows smaller molecules including water and alcohol to pass through. This leaves a concentrated version of the beer.
III. Free fermentation
Fermentation doesn't just bring alcohol and CO2 to beer. It also provides flavor and aroma. This is what makes beer a beer, if without fermentation process, it is just sweet wort. That doesn't mean that every non-alcoholic "beer" on the market is after fermentation. Some producers avoid fermentation altogether, making other tweaks to the production process and recipe to produce a beverage that looks and tastes like beer.
IV. Dilution
Using this method to make alcohol-free beer, beer brewers produce a concentrated beer in the traditional way using the current craft beer brewery equipment, using amount of hops and grains to create a concentrated beer high in flavour and body. After fermentation, they dilute the concentrated beer with water until the alcohol level is under 0.5% ABV, and then re-carbonate it.
In general, the main steps of non-alcoholic beer production are actually similar to craft beer, which means that your existing beer brewery equipment can be used to produce non-alcoholic beer directly. And if you have any further questions on brewing non alcoholic beer, or any questions on the brewery equipment, please feel free to talk to us _Tiantai Beer Equipment!
Laura Hou
Sales Manager
Tiantai Beer Equipment
[email protected]
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