Over the last few years, we have been seeing a rapidly growing trend in the alcohol space: Non-alcoholic beer. Consumers are moving towards replacing some or all of their alcohol consumption with non-alcoholic alternatives.
A great reflection of this growing trend is that big-name celebrities are getting involved. Tom Holland has launched his own non-alcoholic beer company (BERO), reflecting the growing trend of consumers starting to move towards a higher consumption of non-alcoholic beer.
Non-alcoholic beer is quickly becoming a popular option, surpassing wheat beers and stouts to become the 2nd most popular beer option behind lagers. With the popularity of non-alcoholic beer steadily increasing, it brings into question what breweries are doing to adapt to this new trend.
There are three main challenges that breweries face when it comes to making non-alcoholic beer.
Thickness of the Beer
The alcohol content within beer contributes to the thickness of the beer, meaning when you dealcoholize the beer, it can make it taste weak or watery. Breweries have adapted to fix this issue in a few ways:
- Adjusting the “mash” profile: Brewers will use higher temperatures during what is known as the “mashing process,” which is when they convert the starches into sugars. This process creates non-fermentable sugars and dextrins that add more body and sweetness, which creates a mouthfeel similar to drinking a typical alcoholic drink.
- Using Special Malts: Another thing breweries are doing is using specialty malts such as dextrin malts and wheat or oat malts, which increase the protein and polysaccharide content. This is what gives the drink a “full body” and better head retention.
- Additional Compounds: One other trick breweries have started doing is using additional compounds such as maltodextrin and glycerol to increase the viscosity of the drink to better simulate the texture of regular beer.
The second main challenge that breweries have to deal with is:
Loss of Aroma and Flavour
The alcohol content in beer acts as a solvent for a lot of the hop and flavour compounds within the drink. When the alcohol is removed through heat, these hop and flavour compounds often get removed as well. This makes the flavour of the drink worse, often making it taste “flat.” When alcohol production is instead prevented during the making of a non-alcoholic beer, it makes the drink taste unfinished. To solve these problems, breweries have started to use:
- Cold dealcoholization: Rather than remove the alcohol through heat as mentioned above, (known as thermal dealcoholization), breweries have started to use cold dealcoholization. This process uses reverse osmosis filtration, or vacuum distillation. This lowers the boiling point of alcohol which allows the alcohol content to be removed at a lower temperature, preserving the hop aromas that give beer its flavour.
- Intense Late-Stage Hopping: This is another trick that breweries use. In simpler terms, this means adding hops after the fermentation process, or adding them right at the end of the boiling process. These tactics are used to maximize the amount of hop oils that survive the dealcoholization process, ensuring that losses are compensated for and there is an adequate amount of hops.
- Specialized Yeast Strains: Breweries use special yeast strains that are “maltose-negative,” which means they are unable to ferment the most common sugar that is normally found in beer. This also has the potential to produce fewer unwanted “off-flavours.” This process allows the non-alcoholic beer to retain flavours that mimic the taste of a regular beer that has gone through the typical fermentation process.
The final big challenge that breweries face when brewing non-alcoholic beer is:
Flavour Stability and Spoilage
Since alcohol is a natural antimicrobial agent, removing the alcohol from beer makes it susceptible to “microbial spoilage” and “re-fermentation”, which is when remaining yeast or bacteria in the drink consumes the sugars, which causes dangerous pressure build-up in the package. In addition, the lack of alcohol causes the non-alcoholic beer to stale faster from oxidation, which causes it to taste much worse, often referred to as tasting like “cardboard.” Breweries are adapting to these issues by:
- Pasteurization and Sterile Filtration: Breweries use “tunnel pasteurization”, which is when they heat the packaged cans or bottles to kill microorganisms. “Flash pasteurization” is a similar technique that accomplishes the same thing but is when they heat the beer just prior to packaging instead. Breweries have also started to use a different technique called “cold sterile filtration”, which physically removes all of the yeast and bacteria. This method is becoming more popular as it better preserves the flavours of the beer, much like the process of cold dealcoholization mentioned previously.
- Oxygen Management: Breweries are implementing strict, regulated controls to ensure that they minimize the amount of dissolved oxygen through the brewing process. Dissolved oxygen is what makes the beer taste stale, so the less that is present, the better the end product will taste.
- Rigorous Sanitation Standards: Breweries need to ensure that they have even higher standards of sanitation and cleanliness when making non-alcoholic beverages, as the “safety-net” of alcohol isn’t present to aid in the removal of bacteria.
Sanitation is an often overlooked aspect of food and beverage production. Without proper sanitation practices and equipment, you open yourself up to a lot of issues. Whether it’s customers getting sick, products being contaminated and having to get destroyed, litigation, etc. improper sanitation will cause massive headaches and the loss of time and money.
A major aspect to proper sanitation in breweries is drainage. A good drainage system ensures that wastewater and contaminants are properly disposed of, preventing contamination of the product. Standing wastewater is a breeding ground for microorganisms such as mold, wild yeast and bacteria. If these microorganisms are not properly disposed of, they will contaminate batches and ruin the product. Drainage systems also ensure that cleaning chemicals will be properly disposed of, eliminating the risk of contamination in the product.
A proper drainage system is important for the physical safety of your workers as well. Removing chemicals and microorganisms doesn’t just protect your product, it also protects your workers. Removing these contaminants will reduce the chance of sickness or health issues in your workers. Proper drainage will also reduce potential slip and fall hazards for workers at the brewery, as there won’t be excess water pooled on the floor. It is important to remember that drainage is just as important for your workers as it is for your product.
A great option for drainage in breweries is the slot drain system. Slot drains were installed in the Devil May Care Brewing Company in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They chose to install 50’ of the 6000 Series PLUS-R FoodSafe Slot Drain as it perfectly suited their needs for their 5,500 square-foot facility, providing the durability and load-bearing capacity required for their plant.
The 6000 Series Slot Drain is an ideal drain for breweries, as it is hygienic, easy to clean, and durable. Being made of T304 and T316 stainless steel, it prevents the growth of bacteria and is corrosion-resistant.
Because of their on-the-surface and open top design, slot drains are easy to clean, especially when using tools like the specially made Cleaning Paddle, Slot Dog, and Slot Hog. The cleaning paddle is simply inserted into the drain, and any solid debris or waste is pushed along into the strainer basket.
The Slot Hog is designed to connect your cleaning vessel directly to the drain using your facility's existing hoses through a tri-clamp connection, eliminating the need to drain your tanks onto the floor. This is especially helpful for breweries, saving time and labour costs.
The Slot Dog allows you to connect it to your existing pressure washer system, and “walk the dog,” moving along the drain and cleaning it as you go. This lets you clean large sections of drains in minutes, saving you time and labour costs.
Finally, the 6000 series has a load rating of Class E, meaning it can handle as little as foot traffic and as much as forklift traffic with no issue. These factors combined make it a no-brainer choice to use a slot drain system for your brewery.
To learn more about how slot drain systems can help keep your brewery clean and efficient, contact us at: info@slotdrainsystems.com
