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Tapping into trends

In the face of rising costs, which pose a challenge for breweries, it is essential to increase efficiency, but innovation is the key to growth in an increasingly competitive market. Would you like to know more about how to deal with this and other issues related to brewing? Our Brenntag Food & Nutrition team is waiting for you. Click on the link to read our latest article, or contact us directly.

The non-alcoholic beer category has emerged as a bright spot in a rather lackluster market, having outperformed the alcoholic beer segment for the last four years. There are several methods for removing alcohol: physical filtration (mainly used by larger breweries); the use of special yeasts that convert the sugar into flavor components but not ethanol; and cold or short contact fermentation, which restricts alcohol formation.

The main challenge with the third technique is the stability of the beer, which results in a much shorter shelf-life than alcoholic beer. “There are a number of reactions that cause the beer to deteriorate over time,” says Turlej. “Mainly it is proteins in the beer reacting with some other ingredients. The challenge is that some of the proteins are needed for flavor and foaming, so it is a case of removing only the highly reactive proteins.” To address this, Brenntag Specialties Food & Nutrition offers solutions like tannic acid, specialized enzymes, and protein stabilizers. "We work closely with brewers to recommend the most effective solution based on their specific production setup," adds Andrzej.

Expanding possibilities with isotonic alcohol-free beers

The discovery that most low and no-alcohol beers have positive hydrating properties for the human body has triggered interest in a new subcategory of functional non-alcoholic beers. From a technical perspective, developing these types of drinks is challenging, but by combining its brewing expertise with its ingredient formulation experience, we worked with several customers to conceive innovative isotonic alcohol-free beer concepts.

“The functional zero-alcohol beer segment is growing very dynamically, combining a hydration benefit with value propositions like ‘energy’ or ‘relaxation’. We can draw on our company’s extensive portfolio to produce tailor-made blends of functional ingredients such as vitamins and minerals,” says Piotr Korczak, Regional Business Development Manager CEE at Brenntag EMEA. “When developing such recipes, we analyze, together with the client, the content of various sugars and vitamin-mineral components in the wort and the beer after fermentation in order to appropriately enrich the beer base and achieve isotonic properties in the final product.”

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