Barley wine is a specialty beer that could possibly be fermented with non-Kosher wine or champagne yeast and would definitely require Kosher certification. Two new additions have recently emerged in contemporary brewing, non alcoholic beer and micro-breweries. The production of non alcoholic beer is similar to regular beer with one additional step. After the wort is fermented, the alcohol is distilled off through boiling or other distilling techniques. The product that remains is non alcoholic beer.
Micro breweries produce beer on a far smaller scale than the giant breweries.
Usually, a smaller operation gives more cause for scrutiny. In the case of a micro brewery, the micro brewery gives more scrutiny to natural beer making than their larger counterparts. Micro breweries are often strict adherents to traditional, additive free, brewing methods. Of course, the best case scenario is to purchase beer with Kosher certification. However, our research has shown that all the raw ingredients and additives used in Domestic beers, Norwegian beers, and German beers do not present Kashrus concerns.