FOR THE 10,000 years or so it has been around, beer has been relied upon both to refresh and intoxicate. Today’s brewers think it could thrive by focusing exclusively on the former. Alcohol-free beer is the booze industry’s latest great hope as sales of the full-strength stuff have stagnated. If Heineken and other brewing giants have their way, tipplers will be knocking back pints from breakfast on.
Beers with no (or little) alcohol have been sold for decades. But even their peddlers admitted they tasted flat. They were aimed at those who craved a proper beer but couldn’t indulge: the pregnant, religious or designated drivers. Multinational brewers saw them as
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