How do brewers make non-alcoholic beer?
The term “non-alcoholic beer” is actually a misnomer. There are trace amounts of alcohol in non-alcoholic beer. Then again, you can also find trace amounts of alcohol in orange juice and bread, as a result of the fermentation process. Commercial definitions of non-alcoholic beer (otherwise known as “malted beverage”) vary between countries, but it usually contains a maximum of 0.1% to 0.5% alcohol. Non-alcoholic beer is brewed as normal beer, but during the finishing stages of the brewing process the alcohol is removed by vacuum evaporation. This process takes advantage of the different boiling points of water and alcohol. since, alcohol has a very low boiling point, it’s relatively easy to evaporate most of the alcohol in a batch of home brew by simply heating it in an oven after it ferments. You can also try to shorten the fermenting process, but that tends to take more flavor away.
