Low-alcohol beer (also called non-alcoholic or NA beer, small beer, small ale, or near-beer) is beer with very low or no alcohol content. Most low-alcohol beers are lagers, but there are some low-alcohol ales.
In the United States, beverages containing less than 0.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) were legally called non-alcoholic, according to the now-defunct Volstead Act. Because of its very low alcohol content, non-alcoholic beer may be legally sold to minors in many American states.
In the United Kingdom, the following definitions apply by law (correct as of May 2007):[1]
In some parts of the European Union, beer must contain no more than 0.5% ABV if it is labelled "alcohol-free".
Kirin Free, produced by Kirin Brewery Company of Japan, contains 0.00% ABV. This beer is produced without fermentation.[2] Non-alcoholic beer is a safe substitute to traditional full bodied alcoholic beers. These brews are good for situations where a person would enjoy the taste of beer without the inebriating effects of standard alcoholic brews.
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The conceptualization of non-alcohol brews took place during prohibition according to John Naleszkiewicz. President Wilson had proposed limiting the alcohol content in malt beverages to 2.75% in 1917 in an effort to appease avid prohibitionists. In 1919 congress approved the Volstead act which limited the alcohol content of any beverage to less than .5%. These beverages became known as tonics and many breweries began brewing these extremely low alcohol content beverages in order to keep from going out of business during prohibition. Due to the fact that removing the alcohol from the beer requires the addition of one simple step many breweries saw this as an easy transition. In 1933 when prohibition was repealed, removing this single step again was easily done by many breweries.[3]
There are both up sides and down falls to converting traditional brews to non-alcoholic brews. Some positive aspects of converting standard brews to non-alcoholic brews include the ability to drive after consuming several drinks, the reduction of kidney/liver damage, and less intense hangover symptoms .[4] While these are all great benefits there are also aesthetic downfalls to the beverages. Some common complaints of non-alcoholic brews include a loss of flavor, addition of one step in the brewing process, very sugary taste, and a shorter shelf life. Along with aesthetic down falls to non-alcoholic brews, they also raise serious legal implications. Local governments in some states like Pennsylvania prohibit the sale of these non-alcoholic brews to persons under the age of 21. A study conducted by the department of Psychology at Indiana University claimed “Because non-alcoholic beer provides sensory cues that simulate alcoholic beer, this beverage may be more effective than other placebos in contributing to a credible manipulation of expectancies to receive alcohol”.[5] In short, making people feel "drunk" when they physically are not.
According to the Bermingham Beverage Company the basic brewing process of traditional brews consists of eight basic steps, nine for brewing non-alcoholic brews.[6]
Light beer is beer that is reduced in alcohol content or in calories, compared to regular beer. The spelling "lite beer" is also commonly used.
Light beers may be chosen by beer drinkers who wish to manage their alcohol consumption or their calorie intake. However, these beers are sometimes criticized[7] for being less flavorful than full-strength beers, being "watered down" (whether in perception or in fact), and thus advertising campaigns for light beers generally advertise their retention of flavor.
"Light beer" can refer to beer that has significantly less alcohol than regular beer.
In Australia, regular beers have approximately 5% ABV; reduced-alcohol beers have 2.2%–3.2%.
In Canada, a reduced-alcohol beer contains 2.6%–4.0% ABV, and an “extra-light” beer contains less than 2.5% ABV.[8]
In Scotland, beers were taxed according to strength in the 19th century. The weakest category, 60/-, was generally under 3.5% ABV.
In the United States, most reduced-alcohol beers, including Bud Light, Coors Light, and Miller Lite have 4.2% ABV.[7] This is a 16% reduction in alcohol compared to beer that has 5% ABV. Also, some establishments are permitted to sell only reduced-alcohol beer. For example, in Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Utah, beer that is sold in supermarkets and convenience stores must have no more than 3.2% alcohol by weight (4% ABV). This low-alcohol beer is called "low-point beer" or "three-two beer". Minnesota has a full-service alcohol license that is available to retailers. It permits the sale of regular beer, but licenses permitting the sale of 3.2% beers are easier to obtain.
"Light beer" can also refer to beer that has a reduced calorie content, compared to regular beer. Reducing the calorie content of beer is done by a large reduction of its carbohydrate content and a small reduction of its alcohol content.[7] Beer of this kind is not significantly less intoxicating than regular beer.
Budweiser Select beer is labelled as having less than 3.2% alcohol by weight, possibly to permit its sale in localities that have 3.2% beer laws. Beer Advocate suggests that it actually contains 2.5% ABV, about one-half of the alcohol in a typical American-style non-light beer.
The calorie content of reduced-calorie beers varies over a wide range:[9]
Low-point beer, which is often called "three-two beer" or "3 point 2 brew", is beer that contains 3.2% alcohol by weight (equivalent to 4% ABV).
The term "low-point beer" is unique to the United States, where some states limit the sale of beer, but beers of this type are also available in countries (such as Sweden and Finland) that tax or otherwise regulate beer according to its alcohol content. In Sweden, beer containing up to 3.5% ABV (called Folköl or "Peoples Beer") may be legally sold in any convenience store to people over 18 years of age, whereas stronger beer may only be sold in state-run liquor stores to people older than 20. In addition, businesses selling food for on-premises consumption do not need an alcohol license to serve 3.5% beer. Virtually all major Swedish brewers, and several international ones, in addition to their full-strength beer, make 3.5% folköl versions as well.
The states of Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Utah permit general establishments such as supermarket chains and convenience stores to sell only low-point beer.[10][11][12][13][14] In these states, all alcoholic beverages containing more than 3.2% alcohol by weight (ABW) must be sold from state-licensed liquor stores. Oklahoma additionally requires that any beverage containing more than 3.2% ABW must be sold at normal room temperature.[15]
Missouri also has a legal classification for low-point beer, which it calls "nonintoxicating beer".[16] Unlike Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Utah, however, Missouri does not limit supermarket chains and convenience stores to selling only low-point beer. Instead, Missouri's alcohol laws permit grocery stores, drug stores, gas stations, and even "general merchandise stores" (a term that Missouri law does not define) to sell any alcoholic beverage;[17] consequently, 3.2% beer is rarely sold in Missouri.
Originally, "near beer" was a term for malt beverages containing little or no alcohol (less than 0.5% ABV), which were mass-marketed during Prohibition in the United States. Near beer could not legally be labeled as "beer" and was officially classified as a "cereal beverage".[18] The public, however, almost universally called it "near beer".
Today, the term "near beer" has been revived to refer to modern non-alcoholic beer.
The most popular "near beer" was Bevo, brewed by the Anheuser-Busch company. The Pabst company brewed "Pablo", Miller brewed "Vivo", and Schlitz brewed "Famo". Many local and regional breweries stayed in business by marketing their own near-beers. By 1921 production of near beer had reached over 300 million US gallons (1 billion L) a year (36 L/s).
A popular illegal practice was to add alcohol to near beer. The resulting beverage was known as spiked beer or needle beer,[19] so called because a needle was used to inject alcohol through the cork of the bottle or keg.
Food critic and writer Waverley Root described the common American near beer as "such a wishy-washy, thin, ill-tasting, discouraging sort of slop that it might have been dreamed up by a Puritan Machiavelli with the intent of disgusting drinkers with genuine beer forever."[20]
Small beer[21] (also small ale) is a beer that contains very little alcohol. Sometimes unfiltered and porridge-like, it was a favoured drink in medieval Europe and colonial North America, where George Washington had a recipe for it involving bran and molasses.[22] It was sometimes had with breakfast, as attested in Benjamin Franklin's autobiography. In those times of lower public sanitation, water-transmitted diseases were a significant cause of death. Because alcohol is toxic to most water-borne pathogens, and because the process of brewing any beer from malt involves boiling the water, which also kills germs, drinking small beer instead of water was one way to escape infection. Small beer was also produced in households for consumption by children and servants. It was not unknown for workers engaging in heavy physical labour (including sailors) to consume more than ten pints or five litres of small beer during a working day to maintain their hydration levels. This was usually provided free as part of their working conditions, it being recognised that maintaining hydration was essential for optimum performance. It was a British naval tradition until the 1960s to provide a pint of rum diluted several times over with water (down to the ~5% ABV level) in several divided rations over the course of the day, although the amount of rum was steadily decreased until it was phased out, leading Harold Nicolson to remark, famously misattributed to Winston Churchill, "...naval tradition is nothing but rum, sodomy, and the lash".[23]
Small beer, or small ale, can also refer to a beer made from the "second runnings" of a very strong beer mash (e.g., scotch ale). These beers can be as strong as a mild ale, depending on the strength of the original mash. This was done as an economy measure in household brewing in England up to the 18th century and is still done by some homebrewers and microbrewers, such as the Anchor Brewing Company [compare second wine].
Metaphorically, small beer means a trifle, a thing of little importance. The term is also used derisively for commercially produced beer which is considered to be too weak.
Few commercial breweries bother to make small beer today. The Anchor Brewing Company of San Francisco, California, produces a small beer made from the "second runnings" of the brewer's Old Foghorn Barleywine Style Ale.
Legal restrictions around the world may be found here.
Beers that are labeled "non-alcoholic" still contain a very small amount of alcohol. Thus, some US states require the purchaser to be 21 years old. Exceptions include:
However, because it is NOT considered as an alcoholic beverage (the threshold is 1.15% ABV) by the definition, there is no legal drinking age (of 18) imposed in countries like New Zealand.
Besides Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, small beer turns up in the writings of:
Adam Smith, in a discussion of how trade works, refers to small beer in The Wealth of Nations as an example of a commonly consumed commodity.
Thomas Thetcher's tombstone at Winchester Cathedral features a poem that blames his death on drinking small beer while hot.
Graham Greene used the phrase “small beer” in a metaphorical sense in The Honorary Consul.
Ken Follett, in his novel The Pillars of the Earth, makes numerous references to small beer.
In Truman Capote's narrative In Cold Blood, Mrs Hartman of the local cafe serves 3.2 beer.
Islam prohibits the consumption of alcoholic beverages.[26] However, there is disagreement among scholars of Islam about the consumption of non-alcoholic beer.[27]
Possibly because of this disagreement, alcohol-free (0% ABV) beers, (e.g. Holsten, Barbican and Moussy) are often available in stores and restaurants that cater to an Islamic customer base. They are also popular in countries that enforce alcohol prohibition, such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iran. They are often available with added flavors (apple, strawberry, and peach).
Low-alcohol beer starts out as regular alcoholic beer, which is then cooked in order to evaporate the alcohol. This is possible because alcohol has a lower boiling point than water, making it easier to boil off. As opposed to water, which boils at 100 °C (212 °F), alcohol will boil at 78.6 °C (173.5 °F). Most modern breweries also utilize vacuum evaporation to preserve flavor and speed up the boiling process. In essence, the beer is placed under a light vacuum to facilitate the alcohol molecules going into gaseous phase. If a sufficient vacuum is applied, it may not even be necessary to cook the beer.
An alternative process called reverse osmosis does not require heating. The beer is passed through a filter with pores small enough that only alcohol and water (and a few volatile acids) can pass through. The alcohol is distilled out of the alcohol-water mix using conventional distillation methods. After adding the water and remaining acids back into the syrupy mixture of sugars and flavor compounds left on the other side of the filter, the process is then complete.[28]
The conversion from a traditional alcohol brew to a non-alcoholic brew takes place after the seventh step and preceding the finishing step. The un-carbonated beer is brought up to the boiling point of alcohol. Alcohol boils around 173.3 °F;[3] this will vary slightly with altitude “barometric pressure”; higher temperature at lower altitude and lower temperature at higher altitude. Another method of removing the alcohol is to decrease the pressure so the alcohol boils at room temperature. This is the preferred method because the addition of heat this late in the brewing process can greatly affect the flavor of the brew. If brewers decide to convert their brew to a non-alcoholic brew they must consider the volume of liquid they have lost from the removal of the alcohol. Typically the volume is reduced by roughly 4%, to compensate simply add water. Because water is a key ingredient in beer it will not alter the flavor. Another tip would be avoiding using corn sugars; corn sugars simply increase the alcohol content without adding to the flavor or body of the beer.[3] Once the alcohol is removed proceed with the normal finishing process where the beer is carbonated and bottled.