Alcohol-free Beer Becomes More Popular in Germany
2024-09-26
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1The head brewmaster for Weihenstephan, the world's oldest brewery, has a secret.
2The secret is that he really likes to drink alcohol-free beer.
3Tobias Zollo is quick to say that he enjoys real beer more.
4Still, the expert brewer says he enjoys alcohol-free beer when he is working.
5Alcohol-free beer has the same taste as usual beer but has fewer calories, he said.
6The caloric reduction is a result of the brewery's process of evaporating the alcohol.
7"You can't drink beer every day - unfortunately," he joked recently at the Bavarian state brewery in the German town of Freising, located about 31 kilometers north of Munich.
8Zollo is not alone in his enjoyment for alcohol-free beer.
9The drink has been gaining popularity in recent years as interest in the alcoholic version decreases.
10Christian monks established Weihenstephan as a brewery in 1040.
11The operation began to produce non-alcoholic wheat beer and lager in the 1990s.
12Now those non-alcoholic drinks account for 10 percent of its total beer production.
13The same is true, generally, across Germany's beer industry.
14"The people are unfortunately - I have to say that as a brewer - unfortunately drinking less beer," Zollo said recently.
15He spoke the day before the start of Oktoberfest, a 16-day celebration held yearly in Munich.
16Zollo said that if there is a way to offer a choice that has "the crisp and fresh taste from a typical Weihenstephan beer, but just as a non-alcoholic version, we want to do that."
17Celebrants can choose that version at all but two of the 18 large tents at the event.
18The alcohol-free beer will cost the same as an alcoholic beer.
19Oktoberfest celebrant Mikael Caselitz of Munich seemed to approve of the drink choices.
20"For people who don't like to drink alcohol and want to enjoy the Oktoberfest as well, I think it's a good option," he said.
21The 24-year-old continued, "Sometimes people feel like they have more fun with alcohol, which is not a good thing because you can also have fun without alcohol...If you want to come and drink alcohol-free beer, nobody will judge you."
22Oktoberfest began in the early 1800s.
23This year marked the first time an alcohol-free beer garden opened in Munich.
24"Die Null," which means "the zero" in German, served non-alcoholic beer and other alcohol-free drinks near the city's main train station this summer.
25Walter König is managing director of the Society of Hop Research.
26He said researchers have had to create special hops for alcohol-free beer.
27If brewers use the usual hops for alcohol-free beer, the special smell gets lost when the alcohol is reduced during the brewing process.
28But alcohol-free beer buyers do not care about that, König said recently as he prepared for Oktoberfest.
29He explained, "They only want to know that what they are tasting is as good as traditional beers with alcohol."
30I'm John Russell.
1The head brewmaster for Weihenstephan, the world's oldest brewery, has a secret. 2The secret is that he really likes to drink alcohol-free beer. 3Tobias Zollo is quick to say that he enjoys real beer more. Still, the expert brewer says he enjoys alcohol-free beer when he is working. 4Alcohol-free beer has the same taste as usual beer but has fewer calories, he said. 5The caloric reduction is a result of the brewery's process of evaporating the alcohol. 6"You can't drink beer every day - unfortunately," he joked recently at the Bavarian state brewery in the German town of Freising, located about 31 kilometers north of Munich. 7Zollo is not alone in his enjoyment for alcohol-free beer. The drink has been gaining popularity in recent years as interest in the alcoholic version decreases. 8Christian monks established Weihenstephan as a brewery in 1040. The operation began to produce non-alcoholic wheat beer and lager in the 1990s. Now those non-alcoholic drinks account for 10 percent of its total beer production. The same is true, generally, across Germany's beer industry. 9"The people are unfortunately - I have to say that as a brewer - unfortunately drinking less beer," Zollo said recently. He spoke the day before the start of Oktoberfest, a 16-day celebration held yearly in Munich. 10Zollo said that if there is a way to offer a choice that has "the crisp and fresh taste from a typical Weihenstephan beer, but just as a non-alcoholic version, we want to do that." 11Celebrants can choose that version at all but two of the 18 large tents at the event. The alcohol-free beer will cost the same as an alcoholic beer. 12Oktoberfest celebrant Mikael Caselitz of Munich seemed to approve of the drink choices. 13"For people who don't like to drink alcohol and want to enjoy the Oktoberfest as well, I think it's a good option," he said. 14The 24-year-old continued, "Sometimes people feel like they have more fun with alcohol, which is not a good thing because you can also have fun without alcohol...If you want to come and drink alcohol-free beer, nobody will judge you." 15Oktoberfest began in the early 1800s. 16This year marked the first time an alcohol-free beer garden opened in Munich. "Die Null," which means "the zero" in German, served non-alcoholic beer and other alcohol-free drinks near the city's main train station this summer. 17Walter König is managing director of the Society of Hop Research. He said researchers have had to create special hops for alcohol-free beer. If brewers use the usual hops for alcohol-free beer, the special smell gets lost when the alcohol is reduced during the brewing process. 18But alcohol-free beer buyers do not care about that, König said recently as he prepared for Oktoberfest. He explained, "They only want to know that what they are tasting is as good as traditional beers with alcohol." 19I'm John Russell. 20Stefanie Dazio reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. 21__________________________________________ 22Words in This Story 23brewery -- n. a place where beer is produced 24monk -- n. a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery 25crisp -- adj. notably sharp and clear 26typical -- adj. having the essential characteristics of a group 27option -- n. something that may be chosen 28hops -- n. the dried flower clusters of the hemp family used especially to give a bitter flavor to beer