LThe Musketeers brewery, located in Sint-Gillis-Waas, in East Flanders, presented a cask variant of its non-alcoholic beer on Friday in an Antwerp café. Non-alcoholic beers are generally not cask conditioned because their shelf life is very short. But the Musketeers found a solution thanks to “advanced brewing techniques”.
Troubadour Zestra (0.3% alc.), a hoppy blonde sold in bottle for a year, has been available on tap since Friday in around fifteen establishments in Flanders and Brussels. “Normally, a non-alcoholic beer on tap only lasts a day or two. No cafe owner wants to take such a risk,” explains Stefaan Soetemans, founder and managing director of the Musketeers. An alcohol-free beer is very sensitive to changes in taste or excessive CO2 formation upon opening the barrel.
The brewery managed to maintain the sustainability of the product by adding a natural extract, she explains without saying more. The beer remains stable and retains its original flavors even after opening the barrel. Once the barrel has been opened, the beverage can last for around two weeks, the same period as a classic beer.
Low or non-alcoholic beers have enjoyed increasing success in recent years. More and more breweries today offer an alcohol-free brand. Stefaan Soetemans estimates that it will not take two years for every café to have a pump dispensing alcohol-free beer. This innovation also constitutes good news for the hospitality sector which will benefit from exclusivity on this type of container.
This summer, the AB InBev group first introduced Jupiler 0.0% on tap at major festivals such as Rock Werchter, Graspop and Tomorrowland. “We hope to further encourage the public to moderate consumption by offering exactly the same service experience, whether for a classic beer or for an alcohol-free one,” comments a spokesperson for the brewing giant. Without revealing a precise timing, the company intends to offer non-alcoholic beers on tap in the hospitality sector soon.
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