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Germany: Alcohol-free beer sales double in past decade

www.dw.com Germany: Alcohol-free beer sales double in past decade – DW – 07/30/2024

Germany's non-alcoholic beer production has enjoyed a boom in the last 10 years, according to a new report. Low-alcohol drinks like Radler are also seeing increased sales.

Germany's non-alcoholic beer production has enjoyed a boom in the last 10 years, according to a new report. Low-alcohol drinks like Radler are also seeing increased sales.

Germany's Federal Statistical Office, Destatis, published a new report on Tuesday highlighting that drinkers across the country are increasingly turning to alcohol-free varieties for their after-work or weekend choice of beer.

In the last ten years, the production of non-alcoholic beer has more than doubled in Germany. In 2023, that amounted to some 556 million liters (147 million gallons) and €548 million ($593 million) in sales.

The new statistics were published to coincide with International Beer Day, which is August 2.

Destatis also noted that the production of low-alcohol drinks like Radler, a mixture of beer and lemonade, has also increased from 328 million liters in 2013 to 363 million liters in 2023.

"However," the report said, "there is still much more beer with alcohol being produced" in Germany than non-alcoholic.

82 comments

If you can find it, Augustiner Hell Alkohholfrei is the best alc free beer.
- Nice. Will look for it.
  
  Here in Texas, Karbach makes a Free & Easy NA that comes in both an IPA and Belgian style that are pretty tasty.
- I haven’t had that one, but will keep an eye out for it! My vote - so far - goes to Ur Krostitzer Alkoholfrei though - of all the non alcoholic beers I’ve tried in Germany, it has by far the most beer-like taste, doesn’t taste weirdly malty and hasn’t replaced the alcohol with sugar….
- Jever Fun in my book. Love that crisp hoppyness
  
  Also nice: Flensburger Frei.
  
  isso
- My suggestion ist the Störtebeker Bernsteinweizen Alkoholfrei. It has a really good mouth feel.
- Nobody has it in stock, been looking in appr. 20 different markets
  
  Check restaurants and beer gardens, they get priority delivery
- Any recs on good NA whiskey?
  
  I like Monday or Kentucky 74 (from Spiritless). I believe both are dealcoholized. Both at 0.5% ABV.
- Hey, I mean Helles is okay, but there are alc free IPAs from Maisel & Friends or Störtebeker!
- alc free beer
  
  *sink water left after washing beer bottles
  
  Says someone who hasn't tasted one produced in last three years. Their taste has improved significantly.
In Germany, there is a wide selection of alcohol free beers. I personally enjoy more alcohol free beer, when I am at home, I crave for a refreshing drink during a week day, when I am by myself or at lunch, don't want a sweet soda, alcohol free beer is just perfect! I still enjoy regular beer in the weekend when I am with friends.
- I enjoy beer any day of the week I please, even if I'm alone 😂.
  
  That doesn't sound healthy, thought.
I like the taste of beer, but I don't like getting drunk or even tipsy, and being still single, I am out often and it honestly gets tiring to drink everyday. I don't really like drinking alcohol. I never had alc-free but next time I'll try it.
- It has gotten very good, it is more noticeable after a few of them to be honest but it is great.
  
  I like beer and being able to drive so it is great.
- I'm with you, I also don't like getting drunk and I don't like how even a little bit of alcohol tires my body, but unfortunately I've found that flavor and alcohol content are directly related: a 5% beer never tastes as rich as a 9% tripel, and a 0.0% beer will never have as much flavor as even a simple 5% lager. I've tasted quite a few and they all taste "empty" to me. I think this is because alcohol is a solvent for a lot of chemical compounds in beer that give flavor.
  
  So what I do instead is pick my moments, and never overindulge to the point where I feel intoxicated.
- What does being out often has to do with drinking? I go out by myself every now and then and do just fine with coffee and water.
I find the price has also doubled.
Love NA beer, doubt I would still be sober today without it. Currently sipping on a Budweiser Zero and watching the Olympics. Love enjoying beer and being sober!
- I think I might be the opposite end of the spectrum. I would love for there to be a zero calorie option that was in all other ways unchanged.
  
  Alcohol has a lot of calories, so that would have to be non alcoholic as well.
wish they would export more of this to the UK. we do now have a couple of decent very low alcohol beers here now though.
Anyone else having problems accessing the site on Firefox mobile?
Non alcoholic is just soda water.
- delicious, delicious beer-flavored soda water
  
  Oat soda
- In finland we often make what translates to home beer that is made with malts and sugar but only fermented for couple days so it is very low alcohol content
I've never had one that tasted like regular beer. And I've tried a bunch. Usually they're way too sweet.
- Asahi makes the best one I've ever tried
  
  For when Asahi Linux is acting up but you need to drive
  
  Permanently Deleted
  
  Best I've tried was some apple thing, but it didn't really try to mimic regular beer. Non-alcoholic Asahi, I think I've tried it but don't really remember. I might have to try it again come January.
- I personally don't see the point and just drink water if there's no alcohol involved, but I hear that some of the ones that imitate IPAs get away with it better because it gets masked under a stronger flavour.
  
  I like the taste of beer a lot but sometimes can't or don't want to drink alcohol.
  
  Permanently Deleted
- Try Jever Fun
  
  Tried it, didn't taste like normal beer, unfortunately. Same issue, too sweet and too mild of a taste to pass for the real deal.
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I dont get alcool free beer. Basically it has all the cons of a piss beer and none of the pros
- It has almost none of the cons... But yes, none of the pros other than many of them taste pretty darn close to real beer. You should educate yourself on how detrimental alcohol consumption is AND how calorie dense it is. You may change your mind on 'none of the pros' 👍
  
  The only real pro of alcohol is that it’s fun and helps you let loose and relax a bit. At least for most people, beer is an acquired taste but if it didn’t get you drunk it would quickly fall out of favor. And I say this as someone who loves beer and its cousins
- I drink it all the time and see it quite the other way round, taste has improved so much in the last ~4-5 years and while maybe not identical, I see it more like oat milk where you get used to a certain taste and then you dont miss cow milk at all. Now I get to drink a cold beer after sports which is just as refreshing, has lots of electrolytes and i dont have to worry about my liver or becoming an alcoholic..
- id rather just not drink. I prefer liquor over beer but still, if I'm going to drink I'm going to drink.
- You hurt some German feelings there
  
  German beer pride only applies to proper beer.
"alcohol free" is not free of alcohol but can contain up to 0.5% alcohol.

This could be fatal for people having had an alcohol addition because that sets them right back into the circle of drug abuse.
- There are beers that are at 0.0% and they are marketed like that for everybody trying to drink no alcohol at all.
  
  Since apple juice can contain up to 0.5% of alcohol as well, somebody who wants to drink no alcohol at all has to be careful and knowledgeable about drinks and food in general.
  
  The last time I read something about this, former alcoholics have different tolerances of trace amounts of alcohol. For some a drink that only tastes like an alcoholic beverage can already be difficult just due to the memories connected to it even if there is no alcohol in it.
- Nonalcoholic can have up to 0.5%
  
  Alcohol free can have up to 0.05%
  
  For context, bread can have up to 1.9%
  
  So uhhh if 0.5% is problematic for someone, I got bad news...
- This is well-known and even written on the labels. There are special 0,0% beer products that guarantee to be absolutely free.
  
  As a dry alcoholic you normally know such things.
  
  I take offense they are called "alcohol FREE". That's just false advertisement, whatever is in the fineprint.
  
  Read the comments in this post. They are worded like "yeah, I like to have a beer sometimes, but without alcohol, so I chose an "alkoholfrei" beer". When they, in fact, are drinking an alcoholic brewage, still.
Gay population doubled?