Alcohol-free & low-alcohol

The Warenwetbesluit Gereserveerde aanduidingen is clear. 'Alcoholvrij bier' may only be used for beer with at most 0.1 percent by volume of alcohol (art. 7c). 'Alcoholarm bier' is beer with more than 0.1 and at most 1.2% (art. 7d). A Dutch beer of 0.3% or 0.5% is therefore legally 'alcoholarm'.

The confusion has two causes. First, the Alcoholwet (Dutch Alcohol Act) looks at a different limit: only above 0.5% is a drink 'alcoholhoudend' (alcoholic), with an age limit of 18. Second, beers that are lawfully sold as alcohol-free in another EU country may in principle be called that here too, through mutual recognition (Warenwet, art. 13d). For example, in 2019 the chairman of the Reclame Code Commissie assumed that a German 'Alkoholfrei' beer with, according to the brewer, more than 0.1 but less than 0.5% alcohol could be sold in the Netherlands under that name, even with 'alcoholvrij bier' on the Dutch label. The consumer must then be clearly told that it contains alcohol; merely stating 'Alc.<0,5%vol' was found insufficient by the chairman.

That is why this statement is partly true: for Dutch beer it is not right, for some beers from other EU countries it is. Anyone who means beer up to and including 0.5% had therefore better speak of 'alcoholvrij en alcoholarm' (alcohol-free and low-alcohol), or of beer that under the Alcoholwet is not an 'alcoholhoudende drank' (alcoholic drink).

Legally, 'alcohol-free' does not mean 'zero'. In the Netherlands 'alcoholvrij bier' (alcohol-free beer) may contain up to 0.1% alcohol (Warenwetbesluit Gereserveerde aanduidingen, art. 7c).

Beers that are lawfully sold as alcohol-free in another EU country can contain more alcohol. In 2019 the Reclame Code Commissie dealt with a German 'Alkoholfrei' beer with, according to the brewer, more than 0.1 but less than 0.5% alcohol. According to the chairman that could be sold here under that name, but the consumer must then be clearly told that it contains alcohol. According to the ruling, in Germany up to 0.5% is tolerated in practice, by analogy with a German rule for wine.

And '0.0'? That is not a designation from the Warenwetbesluit, so there is no limit for it there either. The chairman of the Reclame Code Commissie described 0.0 beer in 2019 as beer that 'contains no alcohol at all'. That is a description, not a legal standard.

Anyone who wants to be sure therefore looks at the stated alcohol percentage.

The Alcoholwet (Dutch Alcohol Act) prohibits supplying 'alcoholhoudende drank' (alcoholic drink) commercially or for payment to anyone who has not been established to be 18 or older (art. 20). An alcoholic drink is, according to article 1, a drink that at 20 °C consists of more than half a percent by volume of alcohol.

A 0.0 beer, a beer of 0.3% and even a beer of exactly 0.5% therefore do not fall under that.

But 'alcoholarm bier' may, under the Warenwetbesluit Gereserveerde aanduidingen, contain up to 1.2% alcohol. An 'alcoholarm' beer of, say, 0.8% is an alcoholic drink, with an age limit of 18. 'Alcoholarm' (low-alcohol) therefore does not automatically mean 'without an age limit'. Here too, look at the percentage on the label.

There are two main routes. In the first, ordinary beer is made and the alcohol is removed afterwards. That can be done with heat, but not by simply boiling: in vacuum distillation the pressure is lowered, so that the alcohol evaporates from about 34 °C. Modern installations capture the aroma compounds and add them back. It can also be done with membranes, such as reverse osmosis and dialysis.

The second route is biological: making sure that little alcohol is produced. For example by stopping fermentation early, by 'cold contact' fermentation, by an adapted mash, or by special yeasts that cannot ferment maltose, the main sugar in wort.

Each route has its own flavour risks. Thermal methods can cost aroma or give cooked and caramel notes. Membrane processes are milder, but expensive. Biological methods often give a grainy, 'worty' off-flavour and fewer fruity notes.