GEA unveils water-saving tech for non-alcoholic beer production

07 Sep 2022 --- A technical solution to save freshwater consumption in non-alcoholic beer production processes will save up to 66% to 100% of water. This, according to GEA, is an important advancement toward freshwater neutrality in production processes, and will solve the issue of limited availability of deoxygenated water that many breweries have to deal with.

The filtration technology uses special polymer membranes to separate alcohol and water from other ingredients, allowing to save on water.

The reverse osmosis tech allows for a cleaner separation of water and alcohol from the “crucial” ingredients that give the aroma, color and turbidity to beer. 

“Our latest filtration system combines the trend towards 0.0% beer with the goal of reducing water in production,” says Ralf Scheibner, filtration expert at GEA.

Tapping into by-products
The company flags that the system not only allows for the saving of fresh water but for the use of the remaining alcohol (from the dealcoholization or diafiltration) as a valuable by-product.

“Due to its lower volume, it has a higher alcohol content and can thus serve as a base for alcoholic mixed drinks and trendy beverages, such as hard seltzer, or can be reusedThe filtration technology uses special polymer membranes to seperate alcohol and water from other ingredients. within the brewery itself,” explains the company.

“The COVID-19 pandemic showed that breweries whose production facilities offered the flexibility to process other beverages coped best with the drop in demand,” highlights Scheibner.

While initially designed for the dealcoholization of beer down to 0%, the system is equally used for other non-alcoholic beverages, such as 0% cider.

GEA explains how the soaring demand for non-alcoholic beer “was a ray of hope in the low-sales pandemic period,” as the new buyers replaced part of the lost consumers.

Pressure not heat
The specially developed reverse osmosis membrane is very selective for ethanol, allowing brewers to filter alcohol at lower temperatures. This helps save time, energy costs and also preserve the flavor – allowing breweries to skip the step of restoring the flavors after the alcohol has been removed.

“Membrane filtration is now on the fast track as the gentlest dealcoholization technology,” highlights the business.The technology focuses on pressure and not on heat at the time of filtrating alcohol.

Alcohol-free bonanza
Avoiding and reducing alcohol is fast becoming the norm for a growing minority of global consumers. While this trend is evidenced across all age groups, it is most apparent in Generation Z consumers, with as many as a third of consumers aged 18 to 25 saying that they never consume alcohol, according to a new report from Innova Market Insights.

The trend is reflected in the business activities of international beer brewers, such as Kirin Holdings, which plans to hit 209.5 million sold cases of alcohol-free beverages in 2022, a 2% increase compared to last year.

Companies are also racing toward carbon-neutral alcohol-free beer. With Australian beer brand XXXX eyeing 2025 as the year where they will be using 100% renewable electricity in their manufacturing.

Governments might not be as happy as businesses with the increase of 0.0% alcohol consumption, as countries like Japan are seeing substantially lower revenues from spirits taxes.

By Marc Cervera