Germany’s non-alcoholic beer production has enjoyed a boom in the last 10 years, according to a new report. Low-alcohol drinks like Radler are also seeing increased sales.
Germany’s Federal Statistical Office, Destatis, published a new report on Tuesday highlighting that drinkers across the country are increasingly turning to alcohol-free varieties for their after-work or weekend choice of beer.
In the last ten years, the production of non-alcoholic beer has more than doubled in Germany. In 2023, that amounted to some 556 million liters (147 million gallons) and €548 million ($593 million) in sales.
The new statistics were published to coincide with International Beer Day, which is August 2.
Destatis also noted that the production of low-alcohol drinks like Radler, a mixture of beer and lemonade, has also increased from 328 million liters in 2013 to 363 million liters in 2023.
“However,” the report said, “there is still much more beer with alcohol being produced” in Germany than non-alcoholic.
I personally don’t see the point and just drink water if there’s no alcohol involved, but I hear that some of the ones that imitate IPAs get away with it better because it gets masked under a stronger flavour.
I like the taste of beer a lot but sometimes can’t or don’t want to drink alcohol.
It’s the opposite in my experience. Without the strong malty flavors and the body alcohol adds, NA IPAs are very often thin and hollow, and taste like herbal tea.