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Old 05-20-2015, 10:34 PM
  # 378 (permalink)  
ZaBoozer
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Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
Posts: 1,371
Originally Posted by saoutchik View Post
Good luck with that zero alcohol beer that tastes good. You could make a fortune

l suspect that to an alcoholic like me n/a beer (or n/a anything else for that matter) isn't going to cut it.

I have a friend who's hobby was home brewing. In the end he got so good at it that he started a micro brewery which he sold a couple of years ago to one of the big brewers.

He never abused alcohol either which is the smart thing to do.

'What's the word - Johannesburg! ' Gil Scott-Heron
Hey there saoutchick,

There is definitely a marked for it. The craft beer market is starting to take off here in SA. Unfortunately most of the guys are in it for a quick buck. Another think is that people are becoming more conscious about their drinking. I belong to the SA home brewers association and used to brew for a lot of festivals. The funny thing is that the public loves the beer, but it usually has a kick. So if I can brew it with the same taste / body but without the booze - well it is a win.

To give you an idea a NA beer costs about $2.40 per 340ml beer. This is for a Bavaria NA or a Becks NA. To brew something at home like an IPA or a good English bitter would cost me $0.38 per 340ml beer. Unbelievable. A NA beer would be slightly cheaper as you are only using enough fermentable sugar for the aerobic phase, not the anaerobic phase i.e. enough to get the yeast to eat the sugar and remove the sweetness, but not enough to give you alcohol.

I hear you on your mate. We have micro breweries popping up on almost every street corner. The problem though, is most of the guys have no idea what the beer that they are brewing is supposed to taste like. Trying to make a quick buck.

I don't know that I would ever go commercial. I just like the creative process of brewing. And now the challenge to make a good NA beer.

Cheers,

ZAB
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