User:Phillip Holcombe

Non-alcoholic beer is a safe substitute to traditional full bodied alcoholic beers. Through slight alterations to a few of the eight basic steps of brewing beer the amateur brewer can produce a tasty non-alcoholic brew with great flavor. These brews are perfect for situations where a person would enjoy the taste of beer without the inebriating effects of standard alcoholic brews.

History
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 In 1933 when prohibition was repealed, removing this single step again was easily done by many breweries.

Pros and Cons
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. 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”. In short, making people feel "drunk" when they physically are not.

Brewing process
According to the Bermingham Beverage Company the basic brewing process of traditional brews consists of eight basic steps, nine for brewing non-alcoholic brews.
 * 1) Malting- Malting is the first step, during this step barely is prepared by soaking it in water and allowing the grain to germinate “sprout” this allows the tough starch molecules to be softened and begin to convert them to sugars. Next the sprouts are dried in a kiln; the temperature at which the sprouts are dried will affect the flavor of the finished brew.
 * 2) Milling- Next the malted grain is ground to a corn meal like consistency, which allows the sugars and remaining starches to be more easily released when mixed with water.
 * 3) Mashing-Mashing is when the finely ground malted grain is mixed with water and pulverized. By pulverizing the slurry most of the remaining starches are converted to sugars and dissolved into the water.  The mix is gradually heated to 75oC in what is called a mash tun.  The slurry is then filtered to remove the majority of particulates. This filtered sugary liquid is called Wort.
 * 4) Brewing- During the actual brewing the wort is brought to a boil for roughly 1-2 hours. During this time period other grains that will all flavor, color, and aroma to the brew are added.  Boiling allows for several chemical reactions to occur and reduces the water content in the wort condensing it.
 * 5) Cooling- The wort is filtered to remove the majority of the grains and hops and then immediately cooled to allow the yeast to survive and grow in the next step.
 * 6) Fermenting- During the fermentation step the cooled wort is saturated with air and yeast is added within the fermentation tank. Different strands of yeast will create different styles of beer.  This step takes around ten days.
 * 7) Maturation- The freshly fermented un-carbonated beer is then placed into a conditioning tank and in a similar process to wine making the beer is allowed to mature and age. This will greatly improve the flavor.  If this step is rushed the beer will have a generic cheap beer taste, don’t rush perfection.  The majority of the residual particulates will settle to the bottom of the tank.
 * 8) Between the seventh and eighth step is when a brew can be converted to be non-alcoholic.
 * 9) Finishing- Finally the brewer is ready to finish their beer. The beer is filtered one last time and then carbonated and moved to a storage tank for either bottling or put into a keg.

Conclusion
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 173.3oF ; 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. Once the alcohol is removed proceed with the normal finishing process where the beer is carbonated and bottled.