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- Scientists say they’ve “cracked the code” to making a convincing non-alcoholic beer at a fraction of the current price
- Researchers in Denmark engineered a way to produce the drink’s signature aroma without using the amount of hops traditionally required to make a passable brew
- Read more about beer here
Over the past few years, a combination of a spike in interest concerning teetotaling movements like “Sober October” and “Dry January” and the number of people who are simply looking to cut back on drinking has resulted in non-alcoholic beer having a bit of A Moment.
Booze-free brews are certainly nothing new, but up until recently, using the word “beer” to describe the vast majority of the options on the market was a borderline insult to its buzz-inducing counterpart based on the sadness that greeted you with every single sip.
However, that’s changed in a big way thanks to companies like Athletic and a number of reputable craft brewers that have pumped out some very solid offerings after hopping on the NA bandwagon. However, there’s one major hurdle that’s stymied non-alcoholic beer’s attempt to leap into the mainstream: the amount of hops that are needed to produce a passable product, which is usually reflected in a price tag that can make it hard to justify picking up a six-pack when weighed against the alternatives.
However, according to Study Finds, scientists at the University of Copenhagen say they’ve discovered a potential game-changer that could be the key to solving that problem.
Earlier this month, Sotirios Kampranis and Simon Dusséaux published a report concerning their attempts to engineer a way to cut down on the quantity of hops used to make NA beer while still instilling the final product with the signature aroma of the bittering agents.
The duo claims they’ve “cracked the code” thanks to molecules called “monoterpenoids,” which interact with the yeast after being added toward the end of the brewing process to spawn the smell beer drinkers know and love (which also has a significant impact on how we perceive its taste).
If they’re to be believed, monoterpenoids are so effective that they could theoretically eliminate the need for any hops to be used in the making of non-alcoholic beer, which would not only lower the cost but also drastically reduce its impact on the environment.
While only time will tell how influential this discovery could be, Kampranis and Dusséaux say they’re planning to give brewers access to their findings and believe the approach could start to be implemented before the end of 2022.