A new method for producing non-alcoholic beers.
What is it?Muntons Premium Alcohol Free Malt Extract is a malt extract specifically designed to produce 0.0% non-alcoholic beer.
The sugar profile has been modified to replicate the familiar body, mouthfeel and flavor of a finished beer. This creates an extremely compelling soft drink to which brewers can add hops, plant extracts and other ingredients to achieve the effect of a complex beer.
How is it made? Muntons Premium Alcohol Free Malt Extract is produced by Muntons from quality brewing malt. The must is not fermented but concentrated using vacuum evaporation to remove water without imparting color. The resulting concentrated beer wort (malt extract) is then treated with unique enzymatic processes to modify the sugar and flavor profile. The final extract is also hopped using two hop extracts which add a light bitterness and inhibit the growth of microbes such as Lactobacillus species.
How to use itMuntons Premium Alcohol Free Malt Extract has been designed for use with classic brewery equipment.
Muntons Premium Alcohol Free Malt Extract is intended to be used in such a way that, when diluted, it reproduces the levels of residual sugar found in normal alcoholic beer.
Only small amounts are needed compared to using regular malt extract.
A good standard dose is 5kg/hL of water, which would create a balanced drink of around 3.3°P or 1.013 SG:
Recommended quantities:
5 kg (non-alcoholic extract) x 66 (% solids): 100 (litres) = 3.3° plato
5 kg (Non-alcoholic extract) x 250 (L°/kg) : 100 (litres) = 1013 SG
There are many ingredients that can be used together with the extract to imitate the flavor of a fermented beer. The most common include:
• Chili pepper – used in very small quantities, chili pepper can replicate the slight burn of ethanol that most consumers expect when drinking alcoholic beer. This gives complexity to the drink as well as providing familiar textural sensations.
• Hop varieties – especially those with an intense aroma, such as Citra and Mosaic. High-quality hop extracts are great for masking wort aldehyde aroma due to their pungency, but pelleted hops can also be used.
• Yeast flavor metabolites – these include natural flavor extracts such as isoamyl acetate or esters. Without fermentation, many of these flavor compounds that are not present in non-alcoholic beer can still be added later to create the impression of a fermented beer. This technique is used by many global beer brands.
There are countless other ingredients a brewer can use for this purpose, including fruit, citrus peels, spices and specialty malts to get as close to the true flavor of fermented beer as possible.
Limitations: All non-alcoholic commercial brewing methods have advantages and disadvantages, being limited in how well they can replicate the authentic flavor of beer. Wort aldehydes are responsible for the “grainy” flavor that is very common in non-alcoholic beers, particularly those brewed using the high-temperature mashing method for 0.0% beer. These will be at a significantly lower intensity when using alcohol-free premium malt extract than when using high-temperature mashing, although they may still be present in subtle quantities. This aroma is most easily removed by masking it with a highly aromatic ingredient such as Citra hops or a plant extract.