Phenolics and related substances in alcohol-free beers

The present study examines and compares the phenolic compositions of several commercially available alcohol-free and standard beers. In general, the values for the contents of the phenolic components in the alcohol-free beers are lower than the values for the standard beers; this is attributable to differences in the duration of fermentation and the yeast strains employed in brewing alcohol-free beers (e.g., the case of tyrosol) and to losses brought about by the dealcoholization processes employed (e.g., p-coumaric acid, caffeic acid, vanillic acid, etc.). The values for the other low-molecular-weight compounds considered, such as 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural and tryptophol, are also lower in the alcohol-free than in the standard beers.