Luxembourg: Non-alcoholic beer becoming more popular in Luxembourg

One in two Germans now drink non-alcoholic beer "from time to time", and it appears the trend is taking off within Luxembourg's borders as well. Production and consumption is increasing by 20% every year.

Non-alcoholic beer has existed for decades, but its popularity has exploded in recent years as the product's reputation has evolved from an emergency solution to an enjoyable drink in itself.

François Lecronier, who is responsible for the drinks section in one of Luxembourg's big supermarkets, explains that "it is effectively a competitor for soft drinks, rather than beer itself. We certainly notice a difference in sales over the summer months."
Minimal production - less than 1% brewed in Luxembourg

The brewery in Wiltz has been producing non-alcoholic beer for 3 years, recently adding a Radler variant to the array of products on offer. However, production of non-alcoholic drinks still represents just 1% of the brewery's total production, despite an annual increase of 15-20%. At the time of writing, it now represents around 80,000 beerglasses per year.

Betty Fontaine, director of Brasserie Simon, says it is a matter of taste: "One of the clichés surrounding non-alcoholic beer is the taste. In the past it definitely tasted very different to a real beer."

By 2030, one in ten beers could be alcohol-free in Germany, according to the brewers' association. Luxembourg's shops have noticed a similar development - once there were just five types of non-alcoholic beer, while now there are 15 different products to choose from. Lecronier says his supermarket sells 350,000 bottles of beer annually, 22,000 - or 8% - of which are non-alcoholic. "The variety of tastes has really evolved over the past three years. This summer we doubled the size of our dedicated non-alcoholic section."

4 Luxembourg brands offer non-alcoholic beer
Non-alcoholic does not always mean 100% alcohol-free, as some breweries may produce small traces of alcohol due to the fermentation process. Others, such as Brasserie Simon, brew their classic beer first and filter the alcohol out. Fontaine explains: "The alcohol is extracted via distillation. This improves the taste. We then add some natural aromas and bottle it."

Fontaine says Luxembourg is always a little behind when it comes to trends such as these. "At first there wasn't a substantial demand to start production, but we've definitely noticed customers are more interested in alcohol-free products. It's an alternative to alcohol, a way of not drinking from time to time."

The first non-alcoholic beer was born in 1979 in Frankfurt, Germany with the launch of "Clausthaler Alkoholfrei" as an alternative to classic beer. The brand now belongs to the Radebeger group.

Nowadays, there are four Luxembourgish brands that produce and market non-alcoholic beer: Diekirch (0.0%), Simon (0.0%), Clausel (0.3%) and Twisted Cat (IPA 0.0 ).