Non-alcoholic beer is made in two main ways: brewers can limit how much alcohol develops during fermentation, or brew a beer and remove the alcohol afterwards. Some use carefully selected yeast; others use equipment that separates alcohol from the finished beer.
Here is how those methods work, with three examples from our non-alcoholic beer range.
It starts with familiar brewing ingredients
Water, malted grain, hops and yeast are the starting point for many beers. During mashing, grain is mixed with hot water to produce a sugary liquid called wort. The liquid is separated from the grain, boiled with hops, then cooled before yeast is added.
During fermentation, yeast consumes sugars and produces alcohol and carbon dioxide. The brewer can control that alcohol production or add a separation step later.
Limiting alcohol during fermentation
One option is to restrict fermentation before the yeast has converted much of the sugar into alcohol. Cooling can slow or stop yeast activity, but the timing needs careful control. Another approach is to adjust the recipe and mash so there is less sugar available for the chosen yeast to ferment.
Special yeast strains offer another way to limit alcohol production. Some cannot use maltose, one of the sugars found in brewing wort. They ferment certain simpler sugars while leaving others behind. Matching the yeast to the wort helps the brewer control how much alcohol develops.
Sierra Nevada Trail Pass IPA Non Alcoholic is one example. Sierra Nevada explains that Trail Pass uses a specially selected yeast alongside closely controlled mashing and fermentation to keep alcohol production low.
Removing alcohol after the beer is brewed
The other main route allows the beer to ferment before alcohol is separated from it. You may see this described as dealcoholisation. Two methods used in this approach are vacuum evaporation and membrane filtration.
Vacuum distillation and evaporation
Reducing the pressure lowers the temperature at which alcohol can evaporate. A brewery can then separate it with less heat exposure than at normal atmospheric pressure.
Weihenstephaner uses falling-film vacuum evaporation after fermentation and maturation. Its Original Helles follows this approach; you will find it in our range as Weihenstephaner Original Lager Alcohol Free (500ml).
Membrane filtration
A membrane is a selective barrier. In systems such as reverse osmosis, pressure pushes water and alcohol through specialised membranes while retaining many of the beer's other components. This provides a way to reduce alcohol at low processing temperatures.
Cold filtration: the Guinness example
Guinness 0.0 Non-Alcoholic Stout 440mL is another example of alcohol removal after brewing. Guinness says its brewers first brew the beer, then use cold filtration to remove alcohol before blending and balancing the flavour.
What the process tells you when choosing a beer
Malt, hops, yeast and the brewer’s handling of the process all contribute to a beer’s character. Read the individual beer’s stated ABV, ingredients and product information: a process name alone does not tell you its exact alcohol or sugar content.
Our non-alcoholic beer buying guide can help you choose by the styles and flavours you enjoy.
Brewing information checked on 12 November 2026 using brewer, yeast-producer and equipment-manufacturer sources.