Chance and Challenge: Non-Saccharomyces Yeasts in Nonalcoholic and Low Alcohol Beer Brewing – A Review

The nonalcoholic and low alcohol beer (NABLAB) market has enjoyed significant growth in the past years and is forecasted to keep growing. However, NABLAB has organoleptic issues and lacks acceptance from many consumers. While dealcoholization methods focus on gentle and the most selective ways possible to remove ethanol from normal strength beers to not compromise the taste, biological methods focus on the limited production of ethanol during fermentation. In particular, investigations into the application of yeasts from the non-Saccharomyces sector have gained momentum in recent years, which can potentially introduce new flavors to NABLAB without the necessity of special equipment. This article provides comprehensive insight into the NABLAB market. Consumer studies with NABLAB provide recommendations for marketers and product developers. Finally, the use of non-Saccharomyces yeasts in the production of NABLAB is discussed in detail. Research into the use of non-Saccharomyces yeasts for the production of NABLAB demonstrates promising results. However, for most species, the research is still in the early stages and requires further investigation into flavor characteristics and the practicality of up-scaling. Nonetheless, the application of non-Saccharomyces species could introduce new, nonconventional flavors into NABLAB brewing in an easy to apply manner.