Beer powder: Klosterbrauerei dares disruption and wants to revolutionise traditional brewing technology

Take: Neuzeller beer powder plus water: Looks like beer! Tastes like beer! Is beer! With a real head of foam! Alcohol-free for the time being!

After almost two years of research (funded by the BMWi), the Neuzelle monastery brewery and its technology partners have developed a beer powder (Dryest Beer) that can already be marketed in small quantities in this form, but will still be tested on the market until mid-2023.

This is a dextrin-rich beer from the monastery brewery specially brewed using conventional technology and processed into a beer powder/granulate that is soluble in water.

"The time is ripe to also put classic beer production and logistics to the test in view of the way we treat our environment," comments the partner of the Klosterbrauerei Neuzelle, Helmut Fritsche, on the revolutionary project. "Billions of litres of water are transported to the consumer worldwide, because beer consists of up to 90 percent water. From an environmental point of view, we are therefore already saving on transport, but not yet on the use of resources and the costs of production."

Therefore, the present beer powder is also only the first step. The monastery brewers want to further develop the production process of the basic product for the beer powder so that the traditional brewing process is compressed and transformed in terms of process technology and is thus no longer necessary. This should save a maximum of costs and resources already in the manufacturing process of the basic product (input materials, labour input, energy, etc.). In addition, alcohol is to be bound in the beer powder in the next step.

"We also know that classic Pils drinkers and all craft beer enthusiasts, especially in Germany, will be sceptical about our product at first," adds the managing director of the Klosterbrauerei, Stefan Fritsche. "It's also not just about launching a new product on the market, but disrupting the beer business model. We therefore see our core target group not predominantly among classic German end consumers, but among global resellers (Dryest Beer confectioners) who do not necessarily have to have brewing knowledge, but who can make the granulate suitable for use by end consumers. Geographically, we are primarily targeting transport-intensive export markets with our alcohol-free beer powder, such as countries in Asia and Africa. Of course, the beer powder should also be marketed in Europe and turn a niche into an independent market in the medium term.

To this end, talks are now being held with investors who will enter into test marketing together with the monastery brewery on the one hand and further optimise the process of producing the beer powder on the other. In addition to the existing technology partners, the monastery brewers need these investment partners to jointly implement and finance the visionary business model.