Brewing a great tasting 0.0% alcohol free malt beverage, is it even possible?
Our master brewers started from zero and spent years exploring, brewing, and tasting before they finally created a recipe defined by its refreshing fruity notes and soft malty body - perfectly balanced. One that deserves the Heineken mark. Of course, with the uncompromising Heineken characteristics since 1873: made with top ingredients and Heineken’s unique A-Yeast. It wasn’t easy, but not impossible.
Heineken 0.0% has a perfectly balanced taste with refreshing fruity notes and soft malty body. Heineken 0.0% is double brewed while alcohol is removed and blended with natural flavours.
Heineken® 0.0 is a refreshing non-alcoholic lager, brewed with a unique recipe for a distinct balanced taste, which now allows you to enjoy a Heineken® beer at any time of day. At Heineken®, we believe any beer carrying our name should reward the drinker and help them enjoy the moment. We challenged our Master Brewers to apply all their expertise to brew the best possible non-alcohol beer. The result is a 0.0 beer brewed for beer lovers, by beer lovers.
Although the product does not contain alcohol, our products are aimed at those above legal drinking age.
Heineken 0.0 has only 21 cal/100ml so a 33cl bottle has 69 calories.
Heineken 0.0 contains less than 0,03% alcohol so as such it is a non-alcohol beer. This amount has no impact on the body and is fully fine in view of driving and pregnancy or alc-intolerant medical treatment.
Heineken 0.0% tastes different to regular Heineken. It has the same characteristic fruity notes, but with a soft malty body. In Heineken 0.0 we use the same quality ingredients in regular Heineken (Water, malted barley, hop extracts and A-yeast) complemented with a natural flavour.
This will be different in different markets, depending on the price of Heineken and the alcohol-free beer category.
To empower our consumers with choice and options for all their drinking occasions, this addresses the cultural trend around the importance of living a balanced lifestyle and empowers people who can’t drink alcohol to be involved in every beer moment. As well as positioning the Heineken® brand as a pioneer in the industry, we continue to introduce new and innovative products to complement our existing offering, without compromising on quality.
It is aimed at both men and women (LDA and above) who like the taste of beer, but not necessarily the effects of alcohol at certain moments in the day.
Heineken® 0.0 is available in 110 markets around the world, including Europe, North America, South Africa, Russia, Vietnam and Australia. Heineken® 0.0 first launched in 2017 in Netherlands and Germany, followed by UK and France. This was driven by retailer innovation introduction timings and product availability.
Heineken® 0.0 is double brewed with the same ingredients as used for Heineken® Original (Water, Barley Malt, Hop Extracts, and Heineken® A-Yeast). We gently remove the alcohol with vacuum distillation and blend the brew to perfection with natural flavourings.
Gluten is a protein fraction from certain grains, including barley and wheat, which causes coeliac disease in a small percentage of the population. Although barley contains gluten, much of it is broken down and eliminated during the production of beer. However, traces can remain, which may trigger a reaction in sensitive individuals. Additionally, the levels of gluten in beer vary greatly depending on the materials used and the production process. Since the sensitivity to gluten also varies considerably, some beers may be safe for some coeliac patients to drink, but not all in either case. In the EU, beers with no more than 20 mg/kg of gluten may be labelled as “gluten-free”. Both Heineken® Original and Heineken® 0.0 are not gluten-free and have levels of gluten just over 20 mg/kg, this is just over 0.002%.
Although the product does not contain alcohol, our products are aimed at those above legal drinking age.
Heineken® 0.0 is staying true to the brand's iconic bottle but has changed the label and cap to blue to differentiate the alcohol-free variant.
Heineken® 0.0 has only 21 kcal/100ml so a 33cl bottle has 69 calories. This is half of a Heineken® Original 42 kcal/100ml.
Heineken® 0.0 is lower in calories than most non-alcoholic competitor beers. We only add natural flavourings after removal of alcohol, no other additives like sugar are added. Heineken® 0.0 further contains the same quality ingredients as Heineken® Original.
Heineken® 0.0 does not contain additives like sugar, only natural flavourings. Sugars in Heineken® 0.0 come from the barley malt. In alcoholic beers, all malt sugars are fermented into alcohol through the yeast. Whilst in non-alcoholic beers some malt sugars remain in the beer, for a very balanced taste. Heineken® 0.0 is low in sugars (according to European regulations) and contains 1.3 g sugars/100 ml. While for example processed orange juice contains approximately 9 g sugars/100 ml.
One of the most important steps for Heineken® was to understand the key social barriers to drinking alcohol-free beer and the relevant occasions for consumption. The Now You Can campaign addresses this by positioning Heineken® 0.0 as a cool non-alcoholic choice for all traditionally non-beer moments, responding to the growing trend of healthy living. The campaign premise is based around the inclusiveness of Heineken® 0.0 to all moments and social occasions, which might call for a great tasting beer but not for the alcohol.
As pioneering brewers, we are committed to promoting our innovative products and campaigns to meet consumer needs. We’ve seen phenomenal growth in the Low & No Alcohol category and the Now You Can campaign allows us to communicate all the different drinking occasions where Heineken® 0.0 can be enjoyed.
With our approach, we target the ‘Can’ters’ and ‘Don’t Wanters’, who are specifically professionals, active parents and the health conscious, who can’t drink alcohol or simply do not want it at the moment because they are a gym goer or have a after lunch meeting and so on. Heineken® 0.0 opens-up great new possibilities by transforming traditionally non-beer moments into opportunities to enjoy a beer, without the alcohol of course.
Heineken 0.0 contains an extremely small amount of alcohol, maximum 0.03% ABV (alcohol by volume) means that any entity of Heineken 0.0 contains a maximum of 0,03% alcohol. This is a as comparable or lower level of alcohol vs.other food products such as bread, bakery products and juices, bananas due to the natural fermentation of the ingredients (cereals, fruits)Heineken 0.0’s label and ingredient declaration is in line with local food laws and regulations.
We take our responsibility extremely seriously and, a Although Heineken 0.0 does not contain alcohol, we do not target consumers below the legal drinking age as we take our responsibility seriously.
No, as a responsible alcohol producer and although the product does not contain alcohol, our products are solely aimed at those above legal drinking age.
Heineken® believes there needs to be a non-alcoholic beer that can be part of a beer moment, whilst adapting to the conscious lifestyle trend. With this new campaign, Heineken® 0.0, we want to show the importance of staying in control whilst having fun. We want to encourage people to think about their own behaviour when it comes to drinking alcohol during a night out and the beer moment and by introducing a non-alcoholic beverage to illustrate that moderation can be cool.
