So in last week’s AI battle I had a question about homebrewing, it came about because a friend was asking about making non-alcoholic (NA) beer at home. He had stopped drinking but missed homebrewing and something of similar flavor. I stated it wasn’t adviseable idea. Today we will discuss the why…

I am aware there are yeasts available that can produce an NA beer most are offered in commercial sized packaging. So I reached out to my local homebrew shop and talked to the owner about it to see if the yeast companies were pitching homebrew sized portions to the shops. He said they are marketing it, but he ignores it largely due to “too much potential for spoilage organisms to gain traction, at the homebrew level.” It’s valid point salmonella, botulism, and the like are nothing to chance.

Let’s start with why is beer effective in preventing contamination. For all the news today about recalls in food products, you don’t hear about them in beer very often. The first reason is the boil, generally at least an hour if not longer. Potential contamination is driven off by the prolonged heat. Next reason is during fermentation there is a pH drop by the yeast and creation of alcohol that creates an environment hostile to pathogen growth. To my understanding the NA yeast doesn’t provide these protections.

Pasteurizing is always an option for a NA beer, but it’s rather impractical on the homebrew level. Pasteurizing is taking a food item that is in a sealed environment (can or bottle) and raising it to a set temperature for a set time. At that point bacteria is killed. It’s complicated but it also has its own dangers like a cooked character to the beer or oxidation that can occur. Commercial speaking pasteurization is done in a tunnel most often or a large box that gets heated with the product inside. Think of the machinery in the opening of Laverne and Shirley. Could a homebrewer design it, yes. Would it be worth it when there are quality cheaper options, no. 

Commercial making a high quality NA product is a challenge. Consider Guinness, hundreds of years of brewing experience. Vast laboratories and quality programs to give us the perfect pint. But they failed on their first batch release and if they can’t get it right heaven help the rest of us. 

Athletic Brewing makes great NA beer, in fact their lager is one of the few NA products I have ever enjoyed. But if you gave me somewhere of the $350 million in investment, I think I could make you a good NA product. So in the end day the potential danger of pathogens and quality commercial products already on the market I wouldn’t try to homebrew it.