Brief

The New Health Drink: Non-Alcoholic Beer

Barbican, a popular brand of non-alcoholic beer in Malaysia and Middle East

We noted a new health drink in a recent article in The Times of London on December 29th, 2018. Non-alcoholic beer has become a health drink for fitness enthusiasts in Germany.

The health benefits of beer are derived from the use of hops (hop flower) in making beer. The hops are what make beer taste like beer. Hops have been known to inhibit bacteria growth as the beer brew ferments. Acids in the hops , called humulones and lupulones, have been shown to kill cancer cells and block leukemia cells from clinging to bone in petri dish experiments. The acid may also act as anti-inflammatory agents.

Hop flower is used in making beer

Remove the alcohol in beer and it will become non-alcoholic beer and a health drink!

Today, non-alcoholic beer is made by filtering out the alcohol and water through a membrane and then distilling the mixture to remove the alcohol before returning the flavoured water. In order to remove the very last of the alcohol, brewers either heat the uncarbonated beer until the ethanol boils off or lower the pressure of the liquid until the alcohol evaporates at room temperature.

Markets for Non-alcoholic Beer

The markets for non-alcoholic beer are in developed countries as well as developing countries. Non-alcoholic beer is now a health drink in Germany and other European countries. In Muslim countries, alcoholic beer is not permitted and consumers, who like beer, drink non-alcoholic beer. We are one of them. A non-alcoholic beer brand, Babican, is popular in Middle East and Malaysia.

Another major market is India, according to the on-line newspaper, The Economic Times India, posted on November 10th, 2018. In Indian states such as Gujarat and Bihar, selling and drinking alcohol has been banned since 1960. Major brewing companies are competing in India to market non-alcoholic beer. They believe the market for non-alcoholic beer in India is substantial due to high level of abstinence for various reasons.

While alcoholic beer contains 1.2 to 8 per cent alcohol by volume (ABV), non-alcoholic beer mostly have 0.05 per cent ABV or below. Some companies are offering zero alcohol beer.

Non-alcoholic beer may find it difficult to penetrate Muslim markets such as Malaysia. This is due to the view of Muslim conservatives that non-alcoholic beer is not “halal” (not permitted to be consumed) as it is derived initially from alcoholic beer.