In the first quarter of this year, Czech breweries produced almost 21 percent more non-alcoholic beer than last year. This follows from data from the Czech Association of Breweries and Malthouses. According to the association, the production of non-alcoholic beer is growing every year and is brewed the most in the summer months. Breweries in the Czech Republic brewed 1.14 million hectoliters of non-alcoholic beers and various beer mixes last year. According to the executive director of the association, Ferina Ferencová, the Czechia is still a country where lagers and draft beers predominate. “About five percent goes to specials, non-alcoholic beers and other types,” she said at a presentation of news and trends over the past year in the Czech brewing industry as part of the Where Beer is Brewed project. “Reducing alcohol in beer is clearly a big global trend,” said project guarantor Marcela Titzlová. She added that the production of non-alcoholic beer and various flavored variants gives brewers the opportunity to create new flavors. According to the European standard, a malt beverage with an alcohol content of less than 0.5 percent is considered a non-alcoholic beer. According to the association’s data, most non-alcoholic beer is produced in the Czech Republic every year during the summer. Last year, in July, more than 41 percent more non-alcoholic beer was produced year-on-year than in 2020. In June, last year, production was almost 26 percent higher year-on-year.

The predominant technology for the production of non-alcoholic beers in the Czech Republic is suppressed fermentation – this is how Birell, for example, is produced in the Radegast brewery from the Plzeňský Prazdroj group. However, beer produced by vacuum distillation is already on the domestic market – it is Forman beer produced by the Černá Hora brewery with virtually zero alcohol content (in fact, about 0.01 to 0.02 percent alcohol).

 Litovel Brewery, for example, came with lemon non-alcoholic beer, Zlatopramen produced zero-alcohol beer with currant and cranberry flavors. Staropramen came up with a new flavor of currants and lime in its Cool mix. According to the association, bitter beers are also a trend, among which non-alcoholic variants have also appeared. Domestic beers also have lower values ​​than foreign brands, which often have an alcohol content above five percent. The alcohol content of the alcoholic novelties that the breweries have brewed in the last year ranges from 4.4 to five percent. Starobrno, Černá hora and Svijany breweries launched bitter beers on the market. A non-alcoholic novelty of the Krušovice brewery also appeared. According to the association, even in large breweries, the trend is top-fermented beer, the so-called Ale, in the production of which American types of hops are used. A non-alcoholic variant from Staropramen has already appeared.

JK