3.2 The brewing process for alcohol-free beers

A low-alcohol or alcohol-free beer actually starts its life in the same way as a standard beer, using the same processes you have already met in Week 2 and in this week’s study material.

Non-alcoholic beers go through pretty much the full ‘normal’ brewing process: making a mash, boiling the wort, adding hops and fermenting. While regular beers are then packaged for sale, non-alcoholic beers then need to have their alcohol removed or lowered. There are three main ways that this can be achieved: through reverse osmosis, distillation (through boiling) and vacuum distilling.