What makes alcohol-free beer sweet?
Yesterday, I had a can of alcohol free beer which tasted almost like normal beer, just without the alcohol bite. Practically any other alcohol free beer I've had has a different taste. They all are slightly sweet (but not with a sucrose sweetness) and remind me very much of the taste of young corn, specifically the white liquid contained in the raw kernels before the corn is ripe. This happens with beer which contains enough hops and no corn at all (brewed by Reinheitsgebot), while alcoholic beer which actually contains corn (like Tuborg) doesn't have that taste. I am talking about regular light lager here, not the strongly malted dark beers which turn sweet with caramel products.
I think that young corn is sweet because of its glucose, which converts to starch while ripening. Is it glucose which makes the alcohol free beer sweet? If yes, does it ferment in the alcoholic beer, or is it still there, but covered by the alcohol taste? Or is my sense of taste misleading me?
Best Answer
Beer is made from malted cereal grains. These can be corn but more commonly malted barley. The malting process turns the starch in the grain into sugars then the fermentation turns the sugars into beer. To get a strong dry beer, first start with a sweet malt and the ferment until as much sugar as possible becomes alcohol. For a non alcoholic beer, you need to remove the alcohol so you start with a low sugar malt and ferment just long enough to get the flavour but not too much alcohol. Since the fermentation is short, even through the initial sugar content might be low, there is sugar left in the beer thus giving you a sweet taste.
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Why is alcohol free beer so sweet?
To compensate for the lack of mouthfeel in alcohol-free drinks, brewers can add sweetness \u2013 some of the big brand 0% lagers taste of popcorn \u2013 or turn up the hops. The latter can work to an extent, but bitter hops without the warmth of alcohol can quickly get too much.Is there a lot of sugar in non-alcoholic beer?
Sugar content in non-alcoholic beerThe average is about 1.7g sugar per 100ml. This makes almost all non-alcoholic beers lower in sugar than tonic water, skimmed milk, orange juice and cola.Why does alcohol free beer taste different?
\u201cWhat non-alcoholic beer lacks is the aroma from hops. When you remove the alcohol from the beer, for example by heating it up, you also kill the aroma that comes from hops.What makes a beer taste sweet?
Add Unfermentable Sugar There's no doubt that adding unfermentable sugar will give your brew the sweet flavor you desire. Lactose sugar is a great choice for this and it plays a key role when making a milk stout beer.How Is NON ALCOHOLIC BEER Made?
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