If you walk into a bar and count the number of rods served, at least one in ten may be non-alcoholic beer. Our country is, with a 13% market share , the region where more beer of this type is drunk, according to a report by Cerveceros de España.
We not only tripled consumption in France, the second most drink this drink. We are also the largest producer in the EU, ahead of countries such as the Netherlands or Austria.
Large beer companies have led this market since in 1976 the Aragonese Ambar launched Ambar Sin, the first non-alcoholic beer in our country . Since then, consumption has only risen.
The legislation of our country distinguishes two varieties of this type of beer : non-alcoholic beer, one that has less than 1% alcoholic content; and 0.0% beer, in which there is no trace of alcohol.
Faced with increasing consumption, craft brewers are gradually adding to something that has established itself among the Spanish. Consumption habits change and this market offers many possibilities to companies that have innovation and the creation of new products as one of their hallmarks.
Investment in time and money
The advancement of technology and the reduction of costs in the elaboration of this drink allows producers such as As Cervecera, Villa de Madrid, Domus, Majara, Birra & Blues or La Cibeles , to recurrently brew alcohol-free beers whose content ranges from 0, 6 and 0.9%.
Still, manufacturing this product is not cheap, neither in time, nor in money, nor in headaches. In small breweries , "time is money," says Jacob Nieto of Villa de Madrid. And getting a beer without alcohol that meets the requirements cost many liters invested in testing. In Villa de Madrid, for example, they have done more than 110 tests in two years until they obtained the Blonde Ale beer without alcohol.
In many cases, the first batches were made in home equipment to test the evolution of the drink, more delicate due to its low presence of alcohol and the non-pasteurization typical of artisans. "They are more sensitive products," says Ángel Cozar , from Majara, and therefore suffer more from heat, light and oxygen, habitual enemies of unpasteurized or unfiltered beer, as is the case with artisans.
At Birra & Blues, a Valencian brewer who won a medal with his non-alcoholic beer in the last Barcelona Beer Challenge, the investment has also been of time, tests and money. Specifically "50,000 euros" in R&D and machinery . "A lot of money for a craft brewer," says CEO David Fra, who is about to bring out the second beer 'without'.
Getting to the perfect recipe is not an easy path either. "The first non-alcoholic beer is the most complicated", explains Andrés López, from As Cervecera, which has three 'non-alcoholic' beers on the market, the last one a dark one, Dark Komodin. The challenge is "finding the balance in the flavor" and avoiding "the sweetness of those on the market," he says.
Domus, who has just released his first nonalcoholic, has been investigating since January. "The confinement has allowed us to move forward", explains Fernando Campoy , master brewer of the Toledo company. For him, as for many actors in the sector, drinking a craft beer without alcohol was a "personal matter". Their work forces them to travel a lot and the options that were in the market did not satisfy them. "I wanted to find one without liking it," he explains.
For other companies, the experience in low-grade beers has allowed them to accelerate the creation of their first 'without'. This is the case of Ángel Cozar and Alejandro Ortega , from Cervezas Majara, who only brews beers below 3º. "We had clear procedures for reaching less than 1º", explains Ángel. His new recipe, an IPA with only 0.65% made with the Valencian Zeta, was devised in May and is about to hit the market.
The law does not require labeling of the content of these beers, but many do. "It is a question of responsibility," says Andrés López, from As, a pioneer in this type of beer among artisans.
Elaboration
In order to obtain 'without' beers with the closest possible flavor to a normal beer, the artisans use the same method of production as in their alcoholic beverages. The only variation is in the ingredients: normal malts are replaced by cereals that generate less fermentable sugars for yeasts that, in turn, generate less alcohol. A comprehensive temperature control throughout the process is the other key piece.
Yeast is one of the keys to this process. At La Cibeles in Madrid they tested up to 50 different ones on the same must to see which one gave the best results, both in alcohol produced and in the possible flavors it could generate. The yeast used comes from Madrid and has been isolated together with the Madrid Institute for Research and Rural, Agrarian and Food Development in Madrid.
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These changes achieve beers with less than 1% alcohol content . To get to 0.0, you would have to dealcoholize the beer, something that no artisan has done so far. "Whoever says that she has a 0.0 artisan, lies", they sentence.
With these bases, almost any style can be made without alcohol . Although some lend themselves more than others. At As Cervecera, for example, they have a Pale Ale, an IPA, and a Dark Ale.
Rising market
The target audience grows and craft brewers have an opportunity to grow . "It is a rising market," explains Fernando Campoy. Forecasts expect that 13% market share to continue growing. Driving, the 'healthy' world and responsible consumption are keys to its increase.
Achieving stable sales can also affect the bottom line of companies. This drink, having less alcohol content, is not subject to excise duties . "The tax rate changes," explains David Fra, and that can also help exports to other countries where alcohol is heavily taxed.
Having a fixed range of these beers can open a market that in other countries is already established. The Scottish Brewdog has an extensive range of non-alcoholic and has its own bars serving only 'no' beers. "In England they are surprised to see that there is not as much supply among artisans," explains Ángel de Majara, a trend that he hopes will change in the coming months.
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