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Shouldn't we produce our good old soda again?
Franz-Axel and his cousin Michael Kohlschein, the two bosses of the Warburger brewery, have asked themselves this question again and again in recent years.
Then came Corona.
“As a classic draft beer brewery, we feel that all shooting festivals are canceled, that no fair takes place,” says Franz-Axel Kohlschein.
The two cousins decided to revive the Warburger brewery's lemonade during the crisis.
The Kohlschein-Brause from the Warburger Brewery in the Steinie bottle
In the 1960s, the medium-sized East Westphalian private brewery stopped producing soda.
Older customers still remembered their Kohlschein shower, although it had a different proper name.
The new product is now officially called "Kohlschein Brause".
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"Back to the roots," says Franz-Axel Kohlschein.
Because in the past, German breweries would have produced a lot of lemonade - and given it up in the course of increasing specialization.
“You needed all the capacity for the brewery, beer had priority over soda,” recalls Kohlschein.
Pasteurized, not preserved
Because non-alcoholic refreshments are in trend like never before, the Warburgers went back to their tradition.
In the brown Steinie bottle it is not only a retro product in terms of looks: The Limo from Warburg, in the flavors orange, lemon and cola-orange, is pasteurized as it was before "and not preserved, as is often the case today" .
This is an elaborate process of preservation, the grandfather repeatedly burst bottles.
"When you heat it to 70 to 72 degrees, a lot of pressure builds up," explains Kohlschein.
Today, thanks to high-precision filling technology, the Warburgers can precisely determine the carbonic acid content of the soda and avoid breakage.
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The Eichbaum Brewery has been producing its “Braumeisters Lemonade” since 2009.
Because there was already a clear trend towards non-alcoholic beverages, says Caroll Luckas, product manager at the Mannheim private brewery.
Due to its manufacturing process, the shower had a clear unique selling point.
“As in the beer brewing process, barley malt is first crushed and then mashed.
This creates the malt sugars, which are responsible for the flavor combination of less sweetness paired with a caramel note.
The consumer does not find this in any other lemonade, ”explains Caroll Luckas.
Natural ingredients
The malt extract is mixed with yeast at very cold temperatures.
"This way, there is no alcohol, as would be the case in the production of beer." In the next step, natural fruit essences are added to the malt extract and vitamin C.
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"Many consumers want a soft drink that can contribute to a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle," emphasizes Tom Pauwels, Head of Product Manager at Bitburger.
"We are fulfilling this wish with our new Fassbrause: It contains vitamin C and zinc."
The naturally cloudy version with a new recipe replaces the previous Fassbrause from Bitburger, which has been available since 2013.
The non-alcoholic soft drink with barley malt extract is made with fruit juices, explains company spokesman Tristan Tarpani, "which gives it its natural cloudiness".
The Veltins brewery has also given its Fassbrausen a new recipe.
After the realignment of the elderberry and mango-passion fruit varieties and the introduction of the fourth cola-orange variety, the lemon variety is now also on the market with a new recipe - naturally cloudy.
"Naturalness is very important," says Veltins Marketing Director Volker Kuhl.
New beer mix drinks
From now on, all four types will be produced without alcohol-free beer.
"By not using non-alcoholic beer, the target group is significantly expanded again," said Kuhl.
"Any uncertainties among consumers about the previously used non-alcoholic beer portion have now been completely dispelled."
The Krombacher brewery does not use alcohol-free beer for its Fassbrause either, but produces the drink on the basis of a malt extract.
In 2020 Krombacher launched a new generation of mixed beer beverages: the lemonade beer - with a mixture of 70 percent naturally cloudy lemonade and 30 percent pilsner.
According to the company, it is the first soda beer in the world and "turns things upside down".
In the growth market for mixed beer beverages, the variety is increasing steadily, says Krombacher spokesman Peter Lemm.
"With our lemonade beer, we were able to present a great alternative here last summer."
It is well received by customers.
That is why the decision was made to include the mango-passion fruit flavor, offered as a seasonal promotional product in the summer of 2020, as a permanent part of the range in addition to lemonade.
"With an alcohol content of 1.5 percent, our lemonade offers a lively change from classic mixed beer drinks and soft drinks," says Lemm.