Zeta Beer Co. presents BE-LOW, an innovative alcohol-free IPA distributed by Bierwinkel

Personally I’ve never understood the concept of alcohol-free beer; it’s a bit like flowers without petals or other people’s grandchildren: irrelevant!
Nevertheless, “an aromatic IPA, slightly bitter, full in the mouth and with a white, creamy and persistent foam. So far everything is normal, but we are talking about the first “without” that the Valencians from ZETA put on the market. A brew, BE-LOW, developed in collaboration with Cervezas Majara, now being distributed throughout Spain. The Spanish-Belgian distributor based in Valencia, Bierwinkel, thus takes a further step in its collaboration with Valencian artisan breweries, which it has supported from the outset.

BE-LOW, which in all laboratory analyses has not reached 0.65% ABV, (let’s remember: Spanish legislation allows any beer under 1% alcohol content to be labelled as “non-alcoholic”), is based on an innovative mashing system that yields a must with more than 80% non-fermentable sugars. Pils, Carahell, T50 and maltodextrin malts, with a huge weight in the proportion of the recipe for caramelised malts.

The recipe has been worked on for months, between Ángel Cózar (Majara) and Manuel Fuentes (ZETA), with the primary objective of achieving an alcohol-free beer that avoids all the clichés that accompany this type of beer. Using cold additions of Chinook hops, a resinous, herbal and aromatic beer was obtained which, together with special water treatment, achieves a considerable body and a very remarkable fullness in the mouth.

“One of the key issues for us was to achieve a complete fermentation of the beer, that the yeast would do all the work, so as not to compromise later stability with changes in temperature,” says Fuentes, the master brewer of the Valencians. A peculiarity that is achieved with a specific yeast that is not usual in the production of non-alcoholic beers, and does not consume maltotria.

The result, according to ZETA BEER CO., “has exceeded all expectations”. Carlos Ramada, manager of the Alboraya team, is clear about this: “We are dealing with a very high quality, tasty and stable product that we believe fits like a glove in a market niche that was crying out for a non-alcoholic beer with a little bit of rumba”.
Ángel Cózar, very proud of the final result, is a strong advocate of low-alcohol beers: “Alcohol, of course, is an essential part of beer, but in excess it also manages to mask nuances that are part of the beer experience”. From Majara it was clear that a non-alcoholic one had to come”, says Cózar.
In the Spanish market, non-alcoholic beers are part of a deeply rooted consumption tradition. With this first experience, ZETA BEER CO has opened up a new venture and experimentation. They are among the number one “lagermaniacs” in the national craft. They were the first to patent their own wild yeast, born and raised under a fig tree in their village. And now they have a fully fermented alcohol-free IPA and unusual yeast.
In Alboraya, of course, at least they don’t get bored.

Still, you won’t see me ‘below’ any pub tables after drinking this.