Scientists figured out how to make non-alcoholic beer taste as good as regular beer

Non-alcoholic beer has a poorer bouquet compared to a drink brewed in the traditional way. Without alcohol, hops cannot fully convey their taste and aroma to beer, and the drink turns out to be relatively bland.

Scientists from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark foundSynbio salvages alcohol-free beer / Brewers' Biotech solution. Professor Sotirios Kampranis and his colleagues came up with an original way to create monoterpenoids - small molecules of natural hydrocarbons that play an important role in the formation of taste and aroma. To grow these molecules in fermenters, the scientists used baker's yeast.

Monoterpenoids were added to the finished drink. It's cheaper and more efficient than adding expensive flavor hops to the brew tank.

Technology author explained:

According to the researchers, the creation of monoterpenoids on baker's yeast is a promising technology. First, aroma hops are mostly grown on the West Coast of the United States, which means that brewers have to pay dearly for transporting crops in refrigeration trucks. Secondly, hops require a lot of water: 2.7 tons to grow 1 kg of crop.

The new method will reduce the amount of water used to produce "hop aroma" by 10,000 tons. times, and also reduce the carbon footprint by 100 times.

The technique is already being tested at breweries in Denmark. In October 2022, it is planned to introduce it in the production of traditional beer.