As of: March 23, 2024, 2:13 p.m
By: Victoria Strachwitz
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Augustiner Non-Alcoholic Light: After almost 40 years, the traditional Munich brewery is bringing a new beer onto the market for the first time - surprising for some Augustiner fans, but more than understandable from a market perspective.
© Imago/Wolfgang Maria Weber
As the last major Munich brewery, Augustiner now also serves non-alcoholic beer.
The move comes as no surprise to the Doemens Brewing Academy in Gräfelfing.
Würmtal
– The news almost made some people drop the measure: Augustiner Bräu now offers non-alcoholic beer.
The production of non-alcoholic beers has been part of the training at Doemens in Gräfelfing for more than a quarter of a century.
Werner Gloßner, managing director of the Brauakademie, assumes that by the end of the year one in ten pints of beer in Germany will contain non-alcoholic beer.
“If I as a brewery say I’m ignoring non-alcoholic beer, I’m ignoring ten percent of the market.”
He is therefore not surprised that the traditional Munich brewery is now also introducing non-alcoholic beer.
A brewery of a certain size cannot ignore the trend.
The expert hasn't tried the new beer yet, but he has heard rumors about what it should taste like.
He says confidently: “It will be a very good beer.”
Doemens trains master brewers.
Recipes are also developed there on behalf of breweries.
“There are quite a few breweries whose non-alcoholic beer is Doemens,” says Gloßner confidently.
Augustiner Bräu did not come to Gräfelfing about this.
“They did it themselves,” he says.
But a piece of Doemens could still be in the new product.
“There are many master brewers at Augustiner and also many Doemens master brewers.”
Gloßner predicts that the market share of non-alcoholic beer in Germany will continue to rise.
“It will go beyond the ten percent limit.” Traditional beer drinkers often give up alcohol for fitness and health reasons or because they want to drive, but still want to enjoy a beer.
In addition – and this is particularly interesting for breweries – there is another group.
“I have consumers who have never drunk beer before who are looking for an alternative to sweet soda or apple spritzer.
Mineral water is too boring for them,” explains the Doemens boss: “The target group is getting bigger.” In order to fully exploit the market, a brewery today needs a non-alcoholic beer in its portfolio.
For the Augustiner Brewery, this is the first innovation in the range in almost 40 years.
The beer is not actively promoted, as is the nature of the brewery.
Unlike its competitors, it does not engage in traditional advertising.
But Gloßner says the brewery is using a subtle and tangible form of advertising.
“It is important to her that there is top-quality beer on tap in an Augustiner restaurant.” She always ensures a nice ambience and high-quality food there.
“They do it brilliantly across the board.
That's a form of advertising measure.” The waiters in the Augustiner restaurant no longer have to shake their heads in regret when guests express a request for a non-alcoholic beer.
But the innovation is not without its benefits for the brewery: “It is more complex to brew,” says Gloßner about non-alcoholic beer.
In order to avoid having alcohol in beer, you either have to ensure that it doesn't exist in the first place;
This works with the help of a special yeast or by only letting the wort ferment for a short time.
This means you can get an alcohol content that is below the legally permitted limit of 0.5 percent by volume.
Alternatively, you can remove the alcohol from a normal beer.
“When we moved to our new building in October 2021, we had the space to set up and operate a dealcoholization system.
Since then, this has also been an important part of master training in practical lessons,” explains Gloßner.
The training at Doemens was many years ahead of the heyday of non-alcoholic beer, but like Augustiner Bräu, the Gräfelfingers have recognized that more will happen in this area.