Our Guides to Alcohol Free and Ultra Low Alcohol Brewing -

Guides to Alcohol Free and UltraLow Brewing.

New and Proven Brewing Techniques. Familiar but different.

There is more than one technique to brew a successful Non-Alcoholic/Ultra-Low alcohol beer, and these techniques will be covered as we go, the first thing you must consider is what you want to achieve, whether you want a Non-Alcoholic beer or an Ultra-Low alcohol beer, from there you can choose the appropriate method to brew the perfect beer.

We’ll go over every aspect required to get you well on your way to some fantastic beer!

Download the files of our fully comprehensive guides Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 to take with you.

The first step is figuring out what process works best for you and your equipment. Are you happy with simple and familiar? The “Low Grain Bill” method may be what you’re after. Being quite similar to that of regular brewing processes, you don’t need to change much of your common practices to achieve great results.

Do you have a spare fridge, a little extra time and don’t mind adding an extra step or two to your brew days? Try out the “Cold Mash Technique (NEM)”. The cold mashing process can yield some great results and is a handy process if you already have some all-grain kits you’ve been wanting to try.

Perhaps you’ve got a beer already brewed you’d like to evaporate off the alcohol? This could be something worth trying… But be aware of complexities that may arise, and requirements for needing to test for remaining abv before consumption.

Perhaps you have obtained some special “maltose negative” yeast that you’ve been wanting to test out? Read through our different processes to see which suits you best!

Low Grain Bill Method

The low grain bill method is often paired with high temperature mashing and was popularised by the commercial craft brewery Brewdog upon the release of their “Nannystate” non-alcoholic Hoppy Ale in the early days of non-alcoholic craft beer. It consisted of a reduced grain bill boosted with specialty malts that provides less fermentables, in turn, giving a lower ABV, but at the cost of a thinner body and mouthfeel than a full grain bill used in regular mid to full strength beers. Additional specialty malts and adjuncts are used in higher amounts, paired with higher than standard mash temperatures to help round out the flavour and add body to replicate the quintessential beer taste and feel.

Cold Mashing/Non-Enzymatic Mashing (NEM)

Cold mashing, also known as ‘Non-Enzymatic Mashing’ (NEM) or the ‘Briess Method’ is the process of mashing a full sized grain bill that would be used for a regular-strength beer ranging from 3.5% ‑ 5% abv in a vessel of room temperature water for several hours or cold water from 8 ‑ 24 hours to extract mainly colour and flavour from malted grain without converting and extracting a lot of fermentable sugars. It can also be used to improve body in a regular strength beer.

Click here for our NEM demo

Boil Off/De-Alcoholising Method

The process of removing alcohol from fermented wort can be done in several different ways, the cheapest and easiest way for the home brewer is the ‘Boil Off Method’, which consists of using a stove or oven, heating the “beer” to a certain temperature for a set time and then cooling. Two other methods used by commercial breweries are ‘Reverse Osmosis’ and ‘Vacuum Distilling’, both of which are expensive beyond even the most generous of budgets of home brewers.

Low Attenuating Yeast/Arrested Fermentation

With the growing popularity of non-alcoholic beer, companies producing the yeasts we have come to know, and love are isolating, and developing new strains that assist in the production of such beverages. Manufactures such as Whitelabs, Fermentis, Lallemand, and many others have added their own strains to the market, making it easier for brewers to achieve great results without too much headache. Unfortunately, some of these strains aren’t available to the domestic market due to stringent pasteurisation requirements.

We as homebrewers can utilise other low attenuating strains that are “maltotriose” negative, having less fermentation and yielding in ultra-low abv beers. For a full list of yeast strains Click here.

Arrested fermentation is another option that some brewers are turning to halt the yeast during fermentation to prevent over attenuation, leaving behind residual sugars and a low abv, but this comes with its own set of challenges…

Malts

Choosing the right malts to build a recipe is one of the most important choices to make other than hops. Selecting a malt that is too low in flavour could leave the beer lack lustre, selecting a malt that has high fermentability can leave the beer with too high an attenuation.

Ideally, malts with high impact flavour and positive mouthfeel contributions are more desired. Specialty malts including Crystal/Caramel, Dextrin, and Melanoidin rich malts are a great source of colour and flavour that will help round out a beer by bringing sweetness, dextrins and added flavours to create a better body and mouthfeel.

View the full list of grains here

Adjuncts

Adjuncts can be divided into two broad groups:
Mashable adjuncts which must be mashed to convert the starches into fermentable sugars, unfermentable sugars, and dextrins.

Kettle adjuncts, like honey, dextrose, and Candi sugar contain fermentable sugars and are usually added to the kettle during the boil.

Flaked adjuncts such barley, wheat, and oats help increase the depth of low alcohol beers, assisting in foam stability and a fuller body, adding other adjuncts such as lactose and maltodextrin are a great way to increase mouthfeel and body of a beer, as is the use of glycerine.

View the full list of adjuncts here

Hops

Aside from malt, hops are a crucial ingredient to creating various styles of beer, ranging from a simple refreshing lager to a high impact NEIPA. They are more than just flavour and bitterness, they are a complex piece of the puzzle to the final outcome of the beer. Hops are antibacterial and antimicrobial, meaning they help preserve a beer during fermentation and storage to aid in preventing unwanted bacteria.

Choosing the right hop is important to stick within a certain style. Bitterness in non-alcoholic and ultra-low alcohol beers can become quite prominent, so it is advisable to aim for lower than standard levels of bitterness ranging from 10-35 IBUs, focusing mainly on late additions or dry hopping to introduce softer fuller flavours with lower bitterness.

Flavourings

Adding additional flavours such as fruits or honey may work well with ordinary brewing processes, but due to their high sugar content, it is not suitable for non-alcoholic and ultra-low alcohol beers. These sugars will be converted into additional alcohol, which is undesirable.

Instead, sugar free fruit extracts or essences can be used to add additional flavours to suit different styles.

"Amazing resource and plenty of delicious recipes. Brewers keep on coming back for more !

Craig, Early Bird Brewing

Our Guide to Brewing Non-Alcoholic & Ultra-low Alcohol Beers

Getting Started

The best thing about brewing, is you do not need a large amount of equipment to get started. As any beginner brewer knows, you only need a fermenter and a crate of empty bottles to start making your own beer. With all grain brewing like we predominantly do with low/no alcohol brewing, a beginner can make great beer with just a couple of basic items found in their kitchen or local store. To start with a basic set up, you can use a gas or electric cooktop/burner, large stainless steel stock pot, nylon mesh bag (BIAB bag), digital temperature gauge, hydrometer, digital pH meter, demijohn/or plastic bucket to ferment in, and bottles to package the beer.

Grain can be measured and milled by homebrew stores to save initial costs, negating the need to spend the money on purchasing scales and grain mills. Hops can also be purchased in small or large quantities. For the more adventurous brewers, grains and hops can be bought in bulk, measured, and milled in house, bringing more precise control to their brews. They can also upgrade from small stock pots to large electric or propane heated vessels to increase their volume of beer. Along with kegs to package and dispense their finished beer.

Brewing software such as Brewfather and Brewers Friend make designing and controlling recipes extremely easy with the features to log your brew day progresses. By getting in tune with the software features, you can really dial in your processes, store, save, and share recipes with friends. It is the single most important pieces of equipment in my arsenal.

PH meters are an invaluable piece of equipment, especially with ultralow and non-alcoholic brewing. pH plays a crucial part in efficiency and flavour of the final beer, as well as controlling food safety ranges to prevent unwanted spoilage or in extremely rare cases, illness or even death. So being able to precisely control pH can lead to better tasting and safer beer.

1.0 Building A Recipe

1.1 Choosing the Right Ingredients

Choosing the right ingredients is crucial to creating the highest quality beer. From colour, right through to taste and mouthfeel, each ingredient brings something to the beer to create a sensory wonder. Selecting the right grains, hops and yeast will also contribute to keeping within a particular style. One thing to consider, is which method the brewer will utilise, as this can adversely affect the final outcome. Selecting the appropriate ingredients to the chosen method will inherently create better beer.

As this guide has been written with grain brewing in mind due to the complete control of our wort production, it is possible to utilise some methods to create an NA/Ultra-low alcohol beer from extract brewing, especially with the release of Muntons Premium Alcohol‑Free malt extract. (Source 10.25)

1.2 Malts and adjuncts

Selecting the right base malt is a key component to the flavour and body of beer, the use of standard pale malt/2 row malt, may work fine for cold mashing or boiling off, but due to the low flavour and colour of the malt, it is not recommended for the low grain method. The brewer can, if they desire, use this malt in their beer, but substituting it for another malt that has a higher flavour profile, such as, Munich, Vienna, Traditional Ale malt, Rye or even Maris Otter, will provide greater flavours and colours. The addition of wheat malt, crystal or caramel malts, and melanoidin malts will help the brewer create depth and colour to the beer. Adding wheat malt is a great way to add body and texture to the beer, while adding foaming properties to aid in head retention and lacing. Crystal malts, and caramel malts will bring colour, flavour, and sweetness to the beer, creating a fuller palate that may otherwise feel thin and dry, as well as adding positive foaming properties. Melanoidin malt is also a great choice to impart a malty, bready/toasty flavour to a beer to emphasis the beery flavour. Dextrin malts also play a major role in mouthfeel, body and head retention to boost the overall experience.

The use of adjuncts is highly recommended to increase the body and mouthfeel of the beer and assist in adding foaming properties. Adjuncts such as maltodextrin and lactose will add sweetness and body to a beer. Flaked additions, such as oats, barley, and wheat can provide haze and additional flavours to add to the complexity, also adding foaming properties to the beer to aid head retention and lacing.

1.3 Hops

Selecting which hops to utilise will also determine the style, aroma, bitterness, and overall flavour of the finished beer. Traditional lagers, Pilsner, and other pale lager varieties use primarily noble hops, whereas traditional ales use primarily English variety hops. Classic and modern pale ales, IPAs and NEIPA’s use mostly American or New World varieties from New Zealand and Australia.

One thing that is common amongst all types of beers, is the use of bittering hops, alpha acids, which include humulone, cohumulone and adhumulone, which, when isomerized to isohumulones (iso-alpha acids) through the boiling process, contribute bitterness to beer. Hop resins, in particular isohumulone, enhance foam stability, although some reports suggest the effect to be minimal. More important than its effects on foam stability, is the role of hop resins in causing the beer foam to adhere to surfaces (Source 10.5).

1.4 Yeast

The correct yeast choice is just as crucial as choosing a style of beer, as different strains impart different flavour and aroma profiles. There are literally hundreds of varieties and strains of yeast. In the past, there were two types of beer yeast: ale yeast (the “top-fermenting” type, Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and lager yeast (the “bottom-fermenting” type, Saccharomyces uvarum, formerly known as Saccharomyces carlsbergensis). Top-fermenting yeasts are used for brewing ales, porters, stouts, Altbier, Kölsch, and wheat beers. Some of the lager styles made from bottom-fermenting yeasts are Pilsners, Dortmunder’s, Märzen, Bocks, and American malt liquors (Source 10.26).

The use of Low attenuating yeast strains from companies manufacturing yeast strains such as Whitelabs, Fermentis, and Lallemand are a great option. By selecting yeasts that are maltose and/or maltotriose negative, and only attenuate simple sugars, these strains for fantastic for creating a NA/Ultra-low alcohol beer.

Unfortunately, due to the low rate of attenuation in ultra-low/non-alcoholic beers, many of the esters we’ve all come to love in our favourite strains don’t show through much, if at all. The low rate of yeast activity means many of the strains display a more neutral flavour than they would in a regular strength beer. That’s not to say you won’t detect any trademark flavours from those strains, but more-so a much more delicate and subdued note. This is something to be considered when deciding which strain suits best for a lower attenuation result.

View our yeast suggestions here.

1.5 Using the Brewing Software

The use of brewing software such as Brewers Friend, Beersmith, and Brewfather will ultimately assist the brewer in creating a recipe that is reflective of style and desired abv of the finished beer. With the software doing the calculations for all aspects of brewing, it makes it easy for the user to adjust their ingredient amounts to achieve their chosen colour, IBU and specific gravity prior to brewing to help determine the final alcohol content and style of their beer. If the brewer has recipes that have a higher abv content, these programs can be used to scale the recipe down to the desired abv.

2.0 Malts, Adjuncts, Hops, Yeast, Flavourings

2.1 Malts

When it comes to choosing the right malts, depending of which method the brewer chooses, it is better to not focus on a large percentage of base malt, but rather focus on what specialty malts can bring to the final product. When selecting a base malt, the brewer should know which method they will implement, for the ‘Low grain bill’ method (Ref. 1.1, 3.0), the brewer should aim for a full flavoured malt such as Vienna, Munich, Rye, Maris Otter, or Traditional Ale malt, as these will give a better chance of imparting more flavour and body. Whilst the brewer can use 2 row Pale malt or Pilsner malt, it will not bring much in the way of flavour, colour or body, so choose when to use such malts wisely. If using the ‘Cold mash/NEM’ method (Ref. 1.2, 4.0) the use of 2 row pale malts and Pilsner malts can be used due to the larger malt percentage required, but more flavoursome malts should be considered to improve the final taste.

Specialty malts including Crystal and Caramel malts are a great source of colour and flavour that will help round out a beer by bringing sweetness, dextrins and added flavours to create a better body and mouthfeel. (HOT TIP: Melanoidins, dextrins and proteins from malt help with foam stability and increased mouthfeel.)

2.2 Adjuncts

Adjuncts can be divided into two broad groups: Kettle adjuncts and mashable adjuncts. Kettle adjuncts, such as honey, maple syrup or Candi sugar, contain fermentable sugar and are added to the kettle during the boil. Mashable adjuncts, such as flaked oats or barley contain starch. This starch needs to be converted to sugar before the yeast can convert the sugars to alcohol. These starchy adjuncts must be mashed, which means that enzymes degrade the starch to fermentable and unfermentable sugars and dextrins.

Most adjuncts including rice, corn, and kettle sugars contain very little protein and they are reluctant to yield the protein they do have during mashing. All the protein in wort comes from wheat or barley, so adding a source of extract that carries no protein effectively dilutes the total protein in the wort, resulting in less foam positive properties and greatly reduces head retention. Protein in barley can also cause haze. By diluting protein with the proper amount of adjuncts, brewers can increase clarity and stave off the onset of chill haze. (Source 10.4)

Flaked adjuncts such barley, wheat, and oats help increase the depth of low and high alcohol beers, assisting in foam stability and a creating a fuller body. Adding other adjuncts such as lactose and maltodextrin, (also known as corn syrup) is a great way to increase mouthfeel and body of a beer. The addition of glycerine can also make an incredible difference to the mouthfeel and body of the beer.

2.3 Hops

Aside from malt, hops are a crucial ingredient to creating various styles of beer, ranging from a simple refreshing lager to a high impact IPA, they are more than just flavour and bitterness, they are a complex piece to the final outcome and storage capacity of beer. Hops are antibacterial and antimicrobial, meaning they help preserve a beer during fermentation and storage to aid in preventing unwanted bacteria, they also contain various essential oils and resins that attribute to the alpha acid and beta acid content, alpha acid analogues include humulone, cohumulone and adhumulone, which, when isomerized to isohumulones (iso-alpha acids) through the boiling process, contribute bitterness to beer.

Early foam tower experiments revealed hop resins, in particular isohumulone, enhance foam stability, although some reports suggest the effect to be minimal. More important than its effects on foam stability, is the role of hop resins in causing the beer foam to adhere to surfaces (Source 10.5).

Whilst high alpha acid varieties are typically used for bittering in most styles, low alpha acid varieties are common in styles such as lagers and pilsners for bitterness, so choosing the right hop is important to stick within a certain style. Bitterness in N/A and ultra/low alcohol beers become quite prominent due to the lack of malt and increased water quantity, so it is advisable to aim for lower than standard levels of bitterness ranging from 10-35 IBUs, focusing mainly on late additions or dry hopping to introduce softer fuller flavours.

2.4 Yeast

With yeast manufactures bringing out multiple new strains each year, it is no surprise they are venturing into low alcohol strains, White Labs have 3 of their own strains, WLP603, WLP618, WLP686 (Source 10.8), as have Fermentis with their SafBrew™ LA‑01 strain (Source 10.9), and more recently Lallemand have released their own strain in the form of LalBrew® LoNa™ (Source 10.27). More readily available strains that are quite useful in achieving low alcohol are Lallemand Windsor (Source 10.6) which is maltotriose negative, Fermentis Safale S‑33 (Source 10.7) to name a couple, most English ale strains are known for low attenuation, as are cask conditioning yeasts.

For a full list of yeast strains Click here.

2.5 Flavourings

Adding additional flavours such as fruits or honey may work well with ordinary brewing processes, but due to their high sugar content, it is not suitable for N/A or Ultra-low alcohol beer, as the sugars are converted into additional alcohol. Instead, fruit extracts or essences can be used to add additional fruit flavours to suit different styles.

3.0 Low Grain Bill Method

The low grain bill method is possibly the easiest and most cost-effective way to brew N/A and Ultra-low alcohol beers, it can easily be done on a stovetop, or in standard brewing equipment due to the reduced amount of grain required. This method focuses on a lower percentage of base malt, and a higher percentage of specialty malt and adjuncts to help fill out the body and mouthfeel of the beer, paired with high mash temperatures to extract more long chain sugars, dextrins, colours and flavours. One thing to note is hop bitterness becomes more prominent due to the lack of malt, so aim for an IBU range between 10-35 IBUs for a better-balanced beer. A brewer may increase their IBUs if the grist is heavily focused on sweet crystal/caramel malts but aiming for a lower range for the initial batches will help a brewer gauge the flavours and give direction as to where to increase/decrease certain aspects.

3.1 Grain Selection

Selecting the right base malt and specialty malts is needed to create a good quality beer, choosing the wrong grains can lead to less than satisfactory results. Milling of grain can also determine the amount of fermentables extracted during a mash, a fine crush will yield better extraction of sugars, whereas a coarser crush will make it harder for sugars to be extracted from the grain.

For base malts, choosing one that is high in malt flavour and character will yield better results than relying on lighter malts such as pale 2 row. Base malts including Vienna, Munich, Traditional Ale, Rye, and even Maris Otter are a great base for bringing a full flavour.

For specialty malts and grain, choosing which one to use will be dependent on the style the brewer is wanting to achieve, wheat malt is a great addition regardless of style, as it will aid in creating a better body and foaming properties, roasted malts such as biscuit malt is also a great option for adding a bready/malt flavour and deeper colour. Crystal and caramel malts are great at adding sweetness and caramel notes to create a better body and deepen colour. Melanoidin malt gives a big beery/breadcrust flavour, and CaraPils/Dextrin malt help by adding dextrins to assist in adding body and foaming properties.
For adjuncts, flaked wheat, flaked barley, and flaked oats, greatly improve the body and mouthfeel of beer, and improve foaming properties and lacing, they can also add ‘Haze’ to a beer, which can be undesirable in styles such as pilsners and lagers, but welcome in pale ales, IPAs and NEIPAs. Other high impact adjuncts include maltodextrin powder, lactose, and glycerine, each aiding in mouthfeel and body.

3.2 Mashing

Mash temperature plays a crucial part in extracting sugars, starches, flavours, and colour. It determines what percentage of the complex sugars are broken down into simpler sugars, there are two main enzymes active during a mash, alpha amylase, and beta amylase. Alpha amylase is most active in the temperature range between 154-167°F/68-75°C, creating longer sugar chains that are less fermentable, resulting in a beer with more body. Beta amylase, which is most active in the temperature range between 130-149°F/54-65°C trims off single maltose sugar units that are more fermentable, resulting in a more complete fermentation, resulting in a cleaner beer with a thinner body (Source 10.10).

Aiming for a high mash temperature between 72-85°C/161-185°F, will result in a higher quantity of dextrins and longer chain sugars resulting in lower attenuation and alcohol content than standard brewing practices, creating a fuller-bodied beer with a greater mouthfeel. Long mash times are not required when mashing small grain bills at high temperatures, I personally like to employ short mash times around 30 minutes. At a higher mashing temperature, the Beta Amylase enzyme is quickly denatured, and the Alpha Amylase enzyme is favoured for a short period before denaturing (Source 10.28), and starch conversion should be complete in 30 minutes or less. Too long of a mash at these temperatures can impart unwanted tannins resulting in astringent, bitter, and grainy flavours, so by having short mash times, we can aim to limit unwanted off flavours in our finished beer.

Aiming for a mash pH between 5.2-5.5 will greatly improve the flavour of the final beer, too high of a pH and there is risk of pulling unwanted tannins, making the beer grainy and astringent, along with unwanted haze and darker colour. A lower a pH (4.7-5.2) can emphasise more malt character suited to malty lagers such as Marzen, Bock, Fest Bier etc.

Once the mash is complete, bring the wort to a boil and continue the brew day as usual.

4.0 Cold Mashing/Non-enzymatic Mashing (NEM)

Non-enzymatic mashing (NEM) is a process used to extract flavour and colour from malted grain without converting and extracting a lot of fermentable sugars. In order to accomplish this, all the grain for a brew is soaked in cold water, typically from 8 – 24 hours, before the wort is separated from the grain, and brought up to a standard mash temperature range, then boiled.

4.1 Grain Selection

Selecting the right malt for this technique is not as critical as the low grain bill method, but one should still consider aiming for fuller flavour malts. With cold mashing, grain bills are usually the same size and ingredients of beers made in the 3.5% – 4.5% ABV range. Due to the non-enzymatic process, less fermentable sugars are extracted, so using a larger percentage of base malts such as pilsner and 2 row pale is acceptable compared to that of the low gravity method. Specialty malts and grains can also be added to suit specific styles. Keep in mind, some NEM mashes can have a slight grainy flavour.

4.2 Mashing

Using a bucket or other suitable container, insert a BIAB mesh bag to contain the grains, add enough water to adequately hydrate the grain and mash in with cold water. The brewer can measure how much water they have added at this step and predict the total required water for the brew or wait until the wort is in the kettle to top off to the correct volume. Leave the mash to soak at refrigeration temperatures for 8 hours or more. Once the cold mash is done, gently move the bucket from the fridge to a position where the grain bag can be lifted, and the wort can be siphoned off from the starch that has settled to the bottom. For a cleaner wort, you can return the wort to the fridge after the removal of the grain bag for another hour or two to settle out the starch that may have been disturbed. Siphon the wort into the boil kettle. It is important to not get all the starchy gunk at the bottom of the bucket into the kettle. If added to the kettle, this will scorch, and be a pain to clean up. It will also add an acrid burnt flavour to the brew. Once in the kettle, raise the temperature to 149 F (65 C) and rest until conversion is complete. 30-60 minutes is fine, but it might not take that long. After conversion is complete, simply bring it to a boil and proceed with the brew day as usual (Source 10.2)

View our NEM demo here.

5.0 Boil Off/De-alcoholising

The boil off method is the process of brewing a beer as per standard, then bringing the finished beer to the boiling point of ethanol for a desired amount of time until the alcohol has been reduced to the desired abv. Without expensive testing equipment, or having samples sent off for lab analysis, it is extremely difficult for the average home brewer to determine the percentage of alcohol left behind in the beer, as it is not possible to completely remove all of the alcohol due to the azeotrope that is formed (Source 10.12). This can be problematic for people who cannot consume alcohol due to medical and/or personal reasons and should be avoided to prevent any harm from consumption. Introducing heat after fermentation can also cause undesirable flavours or excessive bitterness. Another similar process is that of vacuum distilling, where the beer solution is heated at a lower temperature under vacuum and removing alcohol through heat and evaporation.

De-alcoholising beer is a costly exercise for both, homebrewers, and small operation breweries. Though recent technological breakthroughs have seen de-alcoholising equipment more accessible through contractors such as BevZero and ABV Technology (Source 10.29) (Source 10.30) for smaller quantities. It is a method generally seen in larger commercial breweries and wineries, that can facilitate the equipment and costs. One method is the Spinning Cone Column (SCC), a distillation or stripping column that uses a unique mechanical force that is an efficient, rapid, and cost-effective method in separating volatile compounds such as aroma and alcohol from a thin-film liquid system (Source 10.13). Reverse osmosis is another method, which consists of filtering the beer through very fine filter membranes to separates alcohol, water and volatile aroma and flavour compounds.

5.1 Boil Off

Once the beer has finished fermenting, transfer to a large pot, from here the brewer can use an oven, stovetop or even a brewing kettle. Raise the temperature to 173°F/78.4°C and steadily hold at this temperature from 25 minutes to over 2 hours depending on the desired ABV. Below is a chart that shows the potential residual alcohol left behind after heating for multiple extended times (Source 10.14).

30 minutes cooking time / ~35% remaining.
1.0 hour cooking time / ~25% remaining.
1.5 hours cooking time / ~20% remaining.
2.0 hours cooking time / ~10% remaining.
2.5 hours cooking time / ~5% remaining.

In theory, it would take approximately 2.5 – 3 hours to reduce a 5.0% abv beer to roughly 0.5% abv, dependent on multiple variables.

If choosing to boil off the alcohol, it is recommended to brew a beer with a low quantity of bittering hops, due to the extended hi-temperature contact time. The hops added for flavour and aroma, shift to bitterness, which may result in an overly bitter, and un-palatable beer. Instead, adding the majority of hops to achieve flavour and aroma late in the boil off process as per standard, essentially conducting a hopstand, or utilising hop teas and extracts once cooled. If bottle conditioning, addition of new yeast cells is required to carbonate due to the existing cells being pasteurised throughout the boil. Cold crashing or filtering the beer post fermentation is recommended to reduce the amount of suspended solids and yeast that will cause off flavours during the boil. Another issue worth noting is oxygen ingress causing oxidization within the beer, due to transferring the beer from the fermenter to a pot, and then a storage vessel.

5.2 De-Alcoholising

One method for the removal of alcohol is reverse osmosis, commonly used in the winemaking industry. In reverse osmosis, beer or wine is pumped against the membrane at a pressure greater than the osmotic pressure, causing smaller-molecular-weight compounds such as ethanol and water to diffuse selectively through the membrane, thereby removing the alcohol from the wine. The membrane rejects or passes compounds based on their molecular weight and the membrane pore size. Since ethanol and water are small relative to the beer or wine matrix, the larger compounds, such as organic acids and phenolics, are retained in the beer or wine and are concentrated. Water is added back to the concentrated beer or wine to restore the initial balance of these materials and produce a pleasing non-alcoholic or reduced-alcohol beer or wine. (Source 10.15)

A Spinning Cone Column (SCC) which was developed in Australia, uses a flow of high-quality stripping steam to remove the alcohol. If food grade steam is unavailable on site, a Steam Generator can be included in the system supply. This consists of a heat exchanger, controlled by the SCC automation system, to convert a supply of treated water (typically de-ionized water with <3ppm TDS) into stripping steam using factory steam as the heating medium. For production of Low Alcohol Beer, a two-stage process is used whereby the volatile beer flavour is first removed from the beer using the SCC. This flavour is stored separately while the de-flavoured beer is passed again through the SCC to remove the alcohol. The de-alcoholised beer is then blended with the flavour fraction and full-strength beer (if required) to produce the finished product at the desired alcohol level.

Several factors contribute to minimizing the thermal impact, with a short residence time. The time for the product to travel through the column is around 30 seconds, and Low operating temperatures – typically, in the range of 28°C to 45°C (82.4°F to 113°F). Moreover, there is very low pressure drop across the column, meaning low temperatures are maintained throughout. These low operating temperatures reduce thermal damage to the beer, resulting in a better tasting final product (Source 10.13).

6.0 Low Attenuating Yeasts/Arrested Fermentation

Low attenuating yeast strains have been another option some breweries have turned to, to create NA and ultra-low beers. Companies manufacturing yeast strains such as Whitelabs, Fermentis, and Lallemand have been creating their own strains that many commercial and craft brewers have added to their yeast banks. By carefully selecting yeast cells that are maltotriose and/or maltose negative, they can add to beer to attenuate only simple sugars, they can have greater control of the fermentability of wort, thus creating a low attenuation, leaving behind residual sugars resulting in a low alcohol content. Below (Ref. 6.1) is a list of commonly used low attenuating yeasts to achieve such results, some readily available, and some not so readily available, depending on which country each brewer is based. Ordinary yeast strains can also be used to ferment with, but low-attenuating strains will improve the flavour and overall taste of the beer.

Arrested fermentation is the process of halting fermentation once the desired alcohol content has been reached, commonly used in the cider and wine making industry. There are a few ways to arrest fermentation, the first being via pasteurisation, where the beer is heated to a kill any living microbes and organisms. A second, being chilling the beer to near freezing point where yeast cells become inactive and using a filter to remove the yeast cells prior to completing fermentation, a third method is by adding sodium metabisulphite and potassium sorbate to cider or beer together to stop any further fermentation when back sweetening with a fermentable sugar, or once yeast cells have become in-active. While many suggest both will work independently to prevent further fermentation, the use of both will diminish yeast activity through attrition more effectively together (Source 10.18).

6.1 Low Attenuating Yeast Strains

It is advised by most manufactures of the maltose negative strains to pasteurise the finished beer to prevent further fermentation or secondary fermentation. Pasteurisation methods are covered further in the article (Ref. 7.6). You can find a list of the more popular strains available below.

For a full list of suitable yeast strains, click here.

Strain:

Characteristics:

White Labs:

WLP603 (Torulaspora Delbrueckii)	High ester production and will lend well to styles such as a fruit-forward IPA or Saison. This species does not ferment maltose or other larger sugars.
WLP618 (Saccharomycodes Ludwigii)	Lower ethyl acetate production compared to similar strains. This species is maltose negative as it does not ferment maltose or other larger sugars.
WLP686 (Zygosaccharomyces Lentus)	Maltose negative strain. The profile of this strain is found to be very neutral. This species is slower and might take longer to reduce sugars and lower the pH of the beer compared to other strains.

Fermentis:

Safbrew LA-01	Does not assimilate maltose and maltotriose but assimilates simple sugars (glucose, fructose, and sucrose) and is characterized by a subtle aroma profile.
Safale S33	Fruity driven strain, gives a high mouthfeel and body to the beer. Maltotriose negative.
F-2 Cask & Bottling Yeast	Maltotriose negative. Neutral flavour and aroma.

Lallemand:

LoNa	Performs like an ale yeast producing a clean and neutral aroma profile with no phenolic off-flavours. Does not consume maltose or maltotriose.
Windsor	Balanced fruity aroma and imparts a slight fresh yeasty flavour. Beers created with Windsor are usually described as full-bodied, fruity English ales. Maltotriose negative
CBC-1 Cask & Bottling Yeast	Maltotriose negative. Neutral flavour and aroma.

Escarpment Labs:

NAY	Produces a clean and neutral aroma profile. Does not consume maltose or maltotriose.

6.2 Arrested Fermentation

Heat:
By heating the beer, reduction of microorganism activity from bacteria and yeast can be done to halt the fermentation process, providing the brewer the ability to maintain low alcohol levels with a desired amount of sweetness due to incomplete fermentation. Whilst some methods can be quite costly such as “flash pasteurisation”, also known as “HTST” (High Temperature Short Time) (Source 10.16), or “tunnel pasteurisation”, the home brewer can take a much simpler step to pasteurise their beer with heat. Placing bottles, cans or small kegs into a hot bath, pot or brewing kettle for a length of time can be used to pasteurise beer.

Cooling:
Cooling the beer to near freezing conditions, the yeast become in-active, from here, the yeast can be either filtered out or diminished through use of Sodium metabisulphite (Campden tablets), and Potassium sorbate (See below). Kegged beer is not normally pasteurised, and so it must be stored at 38°F/3°C in order to prevent secondary fermentation from occurring in the keg.

Chemically:
Adding Campden (potassium/sodium metabisulfite) and sorbate to beer together is an effective way to stop any further fermentation when back sweetening with a fermentable sugar, it is not suitable to halt the fermentation, more-as to prevent further fermentation after the yeast have become inactive. While many suggest both will work independently, the use of both will diminish yeast activity through attrition more effectively together.

A common misconception is that Campden, (aka potassium/sodium metabisulfite), will kill the yeast. This is not totally true. Creating conditions where the yeast become inactive can be done, such as cold crashing or removal of nitrogen. For further information, refer to pasteurisation further in this article (Ref. 7.6).

7.0 Fermentation, Carbonation and Storage

The fermentation process can vary from brewer to brewer, some may only have access to simple plastic buckets, some may use pressure fermenters or kegs, and some may have state of the art equipment such as glycol temperature controlled conical fermenters. Whatever the equipment, they all make great beer suited to our budgets and space. One thing to consider, is the use of temperature-controlled chambers. Being able to control the temperatures throughout fermentation will result in a better flavoured beer by controlling esters to suit certain styles, or to prevent any unwanted esters causing off flavours. Once the brewer has made their beer, the next step is to consider how they are going to carbonate it, along with the risks they may encounter. Another key point that should be considered with some brewing methods is pasteurisation to prevent spoilage or secondary fermentation.

When considering how to package and carbonate the finished beer, increases in abv should be considered. Storing and carbonating with Co2 gas in kegs is the best option, as no extra sugar is introduced for natural carbonation in bottles or kegs, keeping the beer at a low abv. If a brewer has a pressure fermenter, they can carbonate their beer via pressure fermentation with the Co2 expelled by the yeast during active fermentation, which can then be transferred to kegs or bottles for storage.

If bottling, and wanting to remain below a set abv %, this increase should be included in the original recipe design. Common quantities of sugar dosing for carbonation will end with an increase of between 0.3-0.5% abv on top of the finished beers abv.

7.1 Fermentation

Whether the brewer uses a cheap plastic brewing bucket, or a state-of-the-art stainless-steel temperature controlled conical fermenter, one key factor to producing quality beer is the ability to control fermentation temperatures, investing in a cheap fridge, with a heat source and temperature controller such as an Inkbird temperature controller (Source 10.19) will greatly improve the quality of beer for the home brewer of any level of experience. Each yeast will have an optimum temperature range, that can be raised or lowered to contribute different esters during fermentation that will attribute to the overall flavour and aroma of the finished beer.

One factor to consider, is the risk of unwanted pathogens or bacteria growing in the beer, all equipment that will come into contact with the beer throughout any of the processes should be thoroughly washed and sanitised prior to brewing. This includes equipment such as transfer hoses, fermenters, scissors used to open yeast and/or hop packets, hop bags/strainers used for dry hopping, and any final packaging. Whilst it is extremely rare (approx. 1 (+/-) case per year in Australia, 110 (+/-) cases per year in USA, 80 (+/-) cases per year in Europe), Clostridium Botulinum is one pathogen that brewers must take steps to reduce the risk of, as beer wort is an ideal place for this pathogen to flourish. Beer wort has a high protein content and a pH permissive to the growth of botulism (>5.0). It is unclear whether hops inhibit growth of botulism, although “inhibition has been observed” with highly purified extracts. Adjusting the pH of the wort soon after the hot side processes have finished is required to ensure adequate food safety guidelines are followed.

The good news for conventional beer brewers is that normal brewing practices will prevent botulism from growing. The oxygen levels achieved by normal oxygenation processes are inhibitory to growth, while the acidification during fermentation will suppress botulism long before it produces toxin. In other words, if the brewer quickly chills the beer, oxygenate well, and immediately pitch a good dose of yeast, the risk is essentially zero (Source 10.23). It is generally accepted that in Clostridium botulinum, both growth and toxin formation are completely inhibited at pH values below 4.6. This critical pH value has been confirmed by many investigators using food as substrate or culture media (Source 10.24).

With low and no alcohol brewing, the same drop in pH during fermentation is not observed due to the low rate of activity from the yeast and will lead to the beer having too high of a pH, making it an ideal substrate for contamination. Manual intervention to lower the pH to 4.6 or below is required to ensure a “food-safe” environment. The brewer must take steps to prevent the growth, the addition of lactic acid, phosphoric acid, or citric acid can acidify the wort to a pH at or below 4.6 prior to pitching the yeast to ensure a food safe environment.

Due to low rate of activity from the yeast, a krausen will often not be visible during active fermentation and may appear to have no activity from the yeast. This is in fact not the case, as the yeast will have undoubtably consumed the very little amount of sugars available very quickly. This can be referred to as a “phantom fermentation” and the brewer should avoid adding any extra yeast to the wort. Simply draw off a sample of the wort and check the specific gravity to track fermentation.

7.3 Force Carbonation

If the brewer does not have access to a pressure fermenter, transferring the beer from a bucket fermenter or conical fermenter to a keg and attaching it to CO2 to carbonate will help in keeping the ultra-low abv and maintaining a NA/Ultra-low alcoholic beer. Thus, being the popular option amongst many home brewers.

7.4 Bottle Conditioning

If the brewer does not have access to either a draught system, or pressure fermenters, then bottling is the last option to package the beer. Bottle conditioning is essentially a secondary fermentation stage, where a priming sugar is added to each bottle, or bulk priming of the entire batch, bottled, and left to naturally carbonate inside the bottles. The disadvantage of bottle conditioning is the introduction of extra alcohol caused by the secondary fermentation of the sugars. This must be taken into consideration when designing a recipe the brewer intends to be non-alcoholic (<0.5% abv). Brewing websites and software have calculators for adding priming sugars to help the brewer determine the final abv of the finished beer. If the brewer has pasteurised their beer prior to packaging, then the addition of new yeast cells is required for the secondary fermentation. If the beer has been packaged without pasteurising, pasteurisation can be done once the desired carbonation level has been reached. An important warning of bottle conditioning is the risk of over carbonation due to excessive sugars, or an infection, causing extreme pressure inside the bottle, resulting in bottles exploding.

7.5 Storage

Storage of the finished beer is no different from regular beer, although keeping the serving containers at low temperatures to prevent spoilage, or secondary fermentation from wild yeasts or infections. If bottle conditioning, it is advised to store the bottles in an enclosed container, box, or cabinet, in the off chance a bottle explodes, the broken glass will be contained, preventing any harm.

Ensure the final pH of the beer is below 4.6 prior to packaging to prevent unwanted pathogenic spoilage.

7.6 Pasteurising

Using additives

While stopping active fermentation is difficult, especially for the home brewer, it is easy to inhibit future fermentation of beer once the yeast has become inactive after their life cycle ceases, or all of the available sugars have been consumed. At this point, the yeast become inactive since they do not have a food source. Future fermentation can be inhibited by using a mix of Campden and potassium sorbate to stabilize the beer. This method is common practice in the wine industry for making sweet wine and increasingly popular in commercial cider making. The first step to this process is to thoroughly cold crash the beer for a few days. This will allow a large portion of the yeast to settle to the bottom, in which the beer can then be racked without transferring large amounts of yeast. Minimizing the amount of yeast in the beer will make it easier to stabilize. With the bulk of the yeast removed, the next step is to use Campden and Sorbates to manage the remaining yeast. Follow the manufacturer’s recommendations that are found on the package. Recommendations will generally appear as follows:

Campden: 1 tablet per gallon/4.5 litres
Potassium Sorbate: ½ tsp. per gallon/4.5 litres

Of course, this method will retard all yeast, so natural carbonation will no longer be possible, the brewer will have to look into force carbonating or kegging (Source 10.18).

Stove-top pasteurisation

Stove top pasteurisation can be done two ways, with low temp/long time being the safest method with better results, or high temp/short time which can affect the final taste. A brewer can use their brew kettle to submerge their packaged beer with ease.
Care must be taken as to not overheat the bottles, as this can result in the bottles exploding, covering the brewer in hot liquid and broken glass. If the brewer decides on bottle or can pasteurisation, a single bottle or can should be added that has been filled with water of the same temperature as the beer, with an accurate thermometer inside the container to monitor the temperature, once the coldest part of the container has reached the desired temperature, the timing can commence.

For every minute the beer is held at 60°C/140°F it is said to be subject to one pasteurization unit (PU). For example, holding for 15 min at 60°C, therefore, is 15 PUs of treatment (Source 10.22). For higher temperatures, holding it at 72°C/162°F for 30 sec is equivalent to 26PUs.

A formula that maps time and temperature to PUs:

PU = t x 1.393 ^ (T – 60)

Where t is the time in minutes and T is the temperature in Celsius (Source 10.17).

Let us assume a time of 1 minute, and a temperature of 60°C, by using an Exponent calculator, the equation is as follows

PU = 1 * 1.393 ^ (60 – 60) PU = 1

From this equation, we can find that 1 minute at 60°C equals 1 pasteurisation unit, for a desired pasteurisation of 20PUs, we know it will take 20 minutes at 60°C.
For some handy online calculators check out these:

– Calconic Pasteurisation Calculator

– Symbolab Exponents Powers Calculator

Low temp/long time

Fill a large pot, or a brew kettle with enough water to submerge the bottles to the fill line. Remembering that the bottles will displace quite a bit of water, the pot won’t need to be as full beforehand as a result. With the water in place, it is time to bring in the stovetop portion of stovetop pasteurisation.

Heat the water on the stove top or in the brew kettle to a minimum of 60°C/140°F. If the water is too hot, it could cause heat shock and shatter the bottles when placed into the hot water. With the water at 60°C/140°F, start adding the bottles to be pasteurised. Do not put too many in at a time, they should not be touching. Maintaining temperature is important, if the temperature drops below 60°C/140°F, insufficient pasteurisation will occur, and the yeast may still be active. When all the bottles are in, cover and insulate the pot and leave it alone for 15 to 45 minutes, depending on the required PUs the brewer is intending, keeping larger bottles at the higher end to ensure adequate heating.

After that time, carefully remove the bottles, they will of course be hot. Use proper precautions as to not cause harm. Sit them aside to cool off, start reheating the water for the next set of bottles. This process can be repeated as many times as necessary. When the bottles are removed from the water, they may become cloudy, the yeast will no longer be settled at the bottom of the bottle. Everything will be mixed up, but do not worry, it will settle back out (Source 10.21).

Flash pasteurisation

“Flash” pasteurisation is another term for “HTST” (High Temperature Short Time) Pasteurisation. Flash pasteurisation is very energy efficient and has the least detectable flavour and colour effect on the product compared to other pasteurisation methods. The downside of this method is that the packaging must be completely sterile to ensure a stable product, as the beer is “flashed” by heat en-route to the packing machine or kegs. Without proper sterilisation and sanitation, the freshly pasteurised beer can be exposed to spoilage bacteria/yeast, which can lead to over-attenuation causing over pressurised vessels and higher abv content.

In this process the product is rapidly heated to a pre-set temperature, held for a short time, and is then rapidly cooled prior to filling. This process provides the required 5-Log reduction of microorganisms with minimal impact on the flavour or colour of the product. The time and temperature of the process can be adjusted to suit the individual needs of the user.

A flash pasteurizer for beer is usually a plate style pasteurization unit. The term ‘plate’ style refers to the type of heat transfer technology used. Plate style heat exchangers are used for products with very little to no solids present like beer, cider, and kombucha. Pasteurization temperatures typically range from 72°C/162°F to 82°C/180°F depending on the product and yeasts involved. Hold times are typically 15-20 seconds but can be as long as 60 seconds (Source 10.16).

Cold pasteurising

Cooling the beer to near freezing conditions, the yeast become in-active. From here, the yeast can be either filtered out or diminished through use of Sodium metabisulphite (Campden tablets), and Potassium sorbate. Regular kegged beer is not normally pasteurised, and so it must be stored at 3°C/38°F in order to prevent secondary fermentation from occurring in the keg.

Sterile Filtering

Sterile filtering the beer can be done through a few ways, whilst sterile filtration does not promise the complete absence of microorganisms and generally describes the reduction of organisms without the use of heat treatment of beer as used in tunnel or flash pasteurization. It can also be referred to as “cold sterilization” or “draught filtered.” Sterile filtration can be accomplished in different ways. It can take place in successive depth filtrations using kieselguhr filters, with depth filtration via a single pass on a sheet filter, or with absolute filtration on a cartridge filter. Normally, any pore rating on a filter with 0.45 μm or less will yield sterile beer.

A Candle Filter is a filter type of precoat or pressure filter and is predominantly used for clarification of beer that has been fermented and lagered, although other applications, such as sterile filtration or wort filtration, are possible. Most commonly, candles are fabricated from metal, almost exclusively stainless steel or ceramic.

Another is a sheet filter, this is a device for removing suspended particulate from beer. The filter construction consists of 4–5 mm (0.16–0.2 in) sheets pressed between plates with inlet and outlet channels. Modern filter sheets come in various nominally rated porosities, ranging from coarse to fine to sterile.

8.0 Summary

Hopefully after reading through this guide, you now have an understanding of the practice and procedures of brewing to create your very own non-alcoholic/ultra-low alcohol beer, whether you have never brewed before, or you are a professional. Whilst some of this information may not reflect the views or opinions of other brewers, it has been written to give an informed guide for anyone to follow. I hope that this guide has given you confidence to attempt your own beer and take advantage of this mysterious side of brewing in an industry that is booming globally. Although brewing can become quite involved when managing multiple aspects of the processes, it is important to have fun. If you make a mistake, or you are not happy with a beer, do not become discouraged, instead, make a note of your fault, and move forward to improve on the next one.

I would like to thank yourself, and anyone who reads this, for taking to time to read and learn about this wonderful way of brewing and I hope you make fantastic beer from this day forward. I hope to continue sharing updated information and papers to better guide people along their journeys.

HAPPY BREWING!

Below are some key points that are worth remembering to help with your brewing and be sure to check out the recipe’s section for some inspiration!

8.1 Key Points

Select the right method to suit your individual experience and availability of equipment.
Choosing the correct ingredients, will ultimately improve your beers flavour and experience.
Assess how you are going to store your fermented beer and be aware of secondary fermentation.
The use of brewing software will make it easier to assess how the beer will finish, resulting in better results, as well as keeping record of your recipes.
Have fun, and remember the next brew is always better.
pH is important! Ensure the wort is 4.6 or lower before pitching the yeast, dry hopping may raise the pH, so ensure it remains under 4.6 before packaging.