After producing the low-alcohol “Radler” with a lemony taste in 2016, the new beer, called “0,0%”, was created by brewer Marc Böttner and is made with a new patented brewing process which promises better taste, the company said during a press conference on Wednesday 21 February.

Arnold Blondeel, the head of the brewery, said the beer offers more choice to consumers, who have become more health conscious and want to drink more responsibly.

Currently, the brand offers seven products: Diekirch premium (a blonde brewed according to a recipe from 1871), Diekirch Grand Cru, Radler Lemon & Lime, Radler Agrume, a Christmas beer, Mousel, and now 0,0%.

The non-alcoholic pils will be available in supermarkets, restaurants and cafés, and petrol stations from 22 February in 33cl cans and bottles.

Böttner said the new product is the result of a long process of trial and error, lasting two-and-a-half years. Most non-alcoholic beers follow either one of two processes: either the beer is brewed until it reaches an alcohol rate of 0.5% and then the process is stopped, or the alcohol is extracted after fermentation, which takes out the taste.

In the end, Böttner decided to take the best of both techniques: the beer is mashed with a low rate of sugars and is brewed until the end of the process, and then the alcohol is extracted, which leaves the taste of the beer intact, according to the firm.

Böttner said that it was not about copying the Diekirch Premium, but about creating a beer which stood the test on its own as a non-alcoholic pils.

The Diekirch brewery

The Brasserie de Luxembourg, which is part of the Ab-InBev, currently employs 54 people, and a new brewery is currently being built in Diekirch. It is expected to be completed at the end of this year, and the old brewery will be taken down then. The investment totals €30 million. In 2017, production volume increased by 7% compared to 2016.