Beer powder that can be poured with water would reduce the environmental impact of liquid bread

Summer is here, at this time many people down a few pints of ice-cold beer on weekends. Yes, but the packaging and delivery of the popular drink involves a rather serious environmental burden, which is why the German Neuzelle brewery is trying a revolutionary solution, reports Euronews.

According to the Impact CO2 carbon footprint calculator, up to 70 percent of beer’s environmental footprint can be accounted for by packaging and transport, as the significant weight of bottles, beer cans and beer kegs accordingly increases the fuel consumption of transport vehicles.

The solution is that if we reduce the weight and size of the goods to be transported, the environmental impact of beer production can be significantly reduced.

Stefan Fritsche, the owner of the Neuzelle brewery, therefore came up with a surprising solution at first glance: he experimented with beer powder that can be poured with water, which everyone can make at home. For the perfect consistency, you need to mix the water and powder with a whisk, so the liquid will have foam similar to traditional beer.

This process makes beer production significantly cheaper: according to Fritsche, beer powder can be transported up to 90 percent cheaper than liquid bread.

The finished drink currently has the characteristic color, bittersweet taste and foam of beer, although for now there is still a non-carbonated and only non-alcoholic version of it. However, Frische is working to prepare beer powder containing alcohol as soon as possible, to which, of course, he would like to add carbonic acid in some form.

However, the owner of the brewery is currently focusing on non-alcoholic beer fans, as he calculates that there may be hundreds of millions of people on the planet who like the taste of beer, but would not drink alcohol. Of course, he also means those who are fans of the alcoholic version, but this will require further development. On the other hand, he wants to launch the non-alcoholic beer powder on the market in four months, mainly in Asia and Africa, where the goods would have to be transported over long distances.

By the way, beer powder is produced under laboratory conditions, which is faster than traditional brewing.

Otherwise, the German brewery may have trouble with local laws, especially with the 500-year-old beer purity law, the so-called Reinheitsgebot. The distribution of beer in Germany is subject to extremely strict rules, according to which only a product whose ingredients include malt, hops, yeast and water can be called beer.

Fritsche refuses to make his concept public, but he says the world needs his invention for sustainability. It is interesting that among the large breweries there are several companies that deliver the beer to its destination in the form of a jelly-like concentrate, which is then diluted with water.

According to Benedikt Meier, a member of the Association of Private German Breweries, beer powder is not a bad innovation, but he does not think it will threaten the business of traditional breweries.

By the way, last autumn we reported that a beer crisis was emerging, because, absurdly, the problem in this industry was precisely that there was not enough carbon dioxide.

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