Broadly speaking, beer is an alcoholic beverage whose elaboration is usually done with barley malt, whose starches are fermented in water with yeast, to which hops are also added.

Its elaboration is an exciting and complex process, both from a biological and organoleptic point of view, given a large number of types and styles of existing ‘beer brands’.

However, its practical part, although full of secrets, is initially quite simple. So much so that recently there has been a trend to make our own craft beer at home through homemade kits.

The key to everything is the percentage of alcohol by volume that we can find in each type of beer, in other words, the amount of alcohol we will consume.

While the range of alcohol in traditional beers usually varies between 4.5 and 5.0% depending on their preparation, there is also 10 to 12% ABV, even more. Alcohol-free beer, on the other hand, has a very limited and limited amount of alcohol.

Most of the process of brewing alcohol and non-alcohol is quite similar. Both types of beer go through the same initial stages as the maceration and the boiling of the must.

The addition of hops and fermentation are also part of the process of making an alcohol-free beer. The main difference for most non-alcoholic beers is that the resulting beer, with alcohol, must be heated to eliminate alcohol.

When the beer is heated, the alcohol in the beer begins to evaporate because its chemical composition is more volatile than that of water, making it easier to boil. The alcohol is allowed to escape and the remaining liquid is used, essentially the opposite objective of the distillation process.

Unfortunately for consumers, this heat can modify the aromas and flavors of a finished beer. To avoid this, most modern breweries use what is called vacuum distillation. This process applies vacuum to beer to reduce the boiling point of alcohol as much as possible.

Instead of heating the beer to a very high temperature, the beer only reaches a slightly warm temperature.

This technique helps keep the aromas and flavors intact while reducing the alcohol content. In essence, the vacuum facilitates the passage of alcohol molecules to the gas phase.

In recent years, brewers and distillers have become more creative in the ways they eliminate alcohol. A popular technique is to use reverse osmosis.

With the technique of reverse osmosis. the beer is basically pushed through a filter where the holes are small enough so that only water, alcohol and some volatile acids can pass through it.

After this, the alcohol can be distilled from the mixture of alcohol and water by a standard distillation process.

Meanwhile, the sugary syrup, the remaining ingredients, aromas, and flavors are still on the other side of the filter. Once the alcohol is distilled from the water using conventional methods, the water, and the remaining acids are then returned to this mixture.

None of the main ingredients, aromas, and flavors of the original beer have to be heated in this process. Because of this, the resulting beer has a more intense and natural flavor.

This technique requires more equipment and work hours but produces some of the best results.

At this point, the process has not yet finished the brewing process. Now, beer without alcohol looks and tastes like normal beer. The only problem is that it is completely flat, without gasification.

Normally, in the traditional process, beer with alcohol is carbonated as it ferments inside the bottle.

At this point, the yeast metabolizes the sugar remaining in the beer to create more alcohol and carbon dioxide. And it is carbon dioxide that gasifies beer.

For non-alcoholic beers it is different. The overall goal of the process is to prevent fermentation and limit the action of the yeast.

Because of this, an alcohol-free beer will not ferment and will be artificially carbonated once it has been bottled.

In most breweries, the brewer will inject carbon dioxide into the fermenter, barrel, bottle or can. A technique similar to what soft drink manufacturers use to carbonate their drinks.

While first, it is necessary to clarify that alcoholic beers and non-alcoholic beers do not gain weight,  due to their generally low-calorie count, it is also true that the calories from non-alcoholic beer are practically half that in an alcoholic beer.

For example, a 200 cc glass of a larger blonde beer with 5% alcohol provides 90 calories and the same amount of black ale with a graduation of 8% alcohol provides 112 calories, the calories that an equivalent non-alcoholic beer would provide, with 0.4% alcohol, they would be less than 45 in total.

Even the recent 0.0 versions, which claim to have 0% alcohol, would only provide about 24 calories per 200 cc.

Alcohol-free beer is increasingly popular in many places and more and more studies are focused on studying its impact on the health of men and women.

Alcohol-free beer can be a good alternative to regular beer after sports, it can have positive effects when breastfeeding, with evidence in the literature suggesting that it can reduce anxiety and help people sleep better. However, all these effects on health require further investigation.

It is very common to drink beer after physical exercise, perform training or play a game. While beer contains carbohydrates, sodium and liquids that are important for muscle recovery, alcohol has a diuretic effect, which means it increases urine output. This is why, to rehydrate the body, it is better to choose a beer that contains 2% alcohol or less.

Several studies have evaluated the diuretic effect and rehydration capacity of beer with different alcohol contents from 0.0% to 4.0% ABV.

The results of these studies have generally shown that the more alcoholic beer is, the less ability it has to rehydrate the body.

However, 2% or less of alcohol did not increase urine output or affect blood volume levels after dehydration induced by exercise.

A small amount of alcohol (2% or less) may not affect the recovery of liquids when one is in a dehydrated state, although drinks containing 4% or more of alcohol would delay it.

However, it seems that more research is needed to determine the exact percentage of alcohol that influences urine output, relevant blood levels, and fluid balance.

.

Alcohol and breastfeeding do not go together. The amount of alcohol in the bloodstream is equivalent to the amount of alcohol in breast milk.

In addition, after drinking alcohol, breastfeeding may be inhibited by lower milk production and lower milk ejection reflex caused by lower production of the hormone oxytocin.

If you are breastfeeding, it is best to keep in mind that at least two hours are needed to eliminate 10 g of alcohol, but the long-term effects of alcohol consumption in breastfed children are unknown and caution is advised.

Alcohol-free beer can stimulate the secretion of prolactin, a hormone that increases breast milk production. The mechanism behind this is still unknown but could be due to specific compounds derived from barley.

The hops in beer are used for their aromas, flavors and storage capacity in beer brewing, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic.

In the human body, the constituents of the hops seem to have some sedative effect and therefore, can positively influence the improvement of sleep and the control of anxiety.

Bitter acids and the xanthohumol and myrcenol compounds are probably responsible for this effect.

The research suggests that the main mechanism of action of hops is to increase the activity of the neurotransmitter Y-aminobutyric acid (GABA), since when the level of GABA increases in the brain, neuronal activity decreases.

Two experimental studies studied the effects of non-alcoholic beer on the quality of sleep in groups of people drinking 330 ml of beer 0.0% per day, during dinners, for two weeks.

In a study of nurses with work stress, sleep quality improved with a reduction in sleep latency (the time it takes to fall asleep) and a decrease in restlessness during the night compared to a week where they did not consume it at all.

Sleep latency also visibly decreased in groups of college students during an examination period, after which, students rated their overall sleep quality higher than a week before the experiment when they did not consume non-alcoholic beer.

In addition to improving the quality of sleep, beer without alcohol can also reduce the feeling of anxiety. There are experimental studies that have examined the effect of 0.0% beers on anxiety levels in a stressed population.

The subjects rated their lower stress levels after drinking non-alcoholic beer for two weeks compared to a control period in which they did not consume it.

A decrease in urinary levels of 5-HIAA was also observed (high levels of this compound have been found in people with anxiety disorders) after drinking 0.0% beer for two weeks.

All these studies came to the same conclusion: drinking 330 ml of beer without alcohol during the evening meals for 14 consecutive days can reduce feelings of anxiety and stress.

While these results are promising, it should be noted that the related research is still at an early stage.

Alcohol-free beer can also have positive effects on cardiovascular health. Two studies suggest that polyphenols can play a very important role in this.

In an intervention study with men aged 55 to 75 years, a decrease in inflammation factors such as IL-6 was found when 990 ml of non-alcoholic “beer brands” (<1 g of alcohol) were consumed each day for four weeks, with the corresponding decrease in blood pressure of 12 to 16% and decrease in homocysteine levels.

Another study with the same subjects and research design found an increase in endothelial progenitor cells (stem cells that repair and maintain the endothelial walls of blood vessels).

It is likely that these results are caused by compounds derived from hops, such as polyphenol xanthohumol. However, little research has been done on this subject and more research is needed before conclusions can be drawn.