# Effect of Production Technique on Pilsner-Style Non-Alcoholic Beer (NAB) Chemistry and Flavor
## 3 Results and Discussion  
Investigating the Effect of Production Techniques on the Basic/Physiochemical Chemistry of the Different NABs  
From a legal perspective, ethanol content is the most important analytical parameter when considering NAB quality. According to German legislation, the ethanol content of NAB must not exceed 0.5% ABV, while NAB labeled as \"0.0\" must be <0.05% ABV. Amongst the selected products four beers (C1, C2, M1, and V2) were labeled as \"0.0\" NAB. The ethanol content of these products ranged from 0.01% ABV to 0.04% ABV (Table 1). The remaining 16 NABs ranged between 0.08% ABV and 0.43% ABV. These values are in line with the values reported in previous studies which have also investigated pilsner-style NABs [13; 15; 18]. The NABs produced by restricted fermentation in this study were the group of NABs with the lowest ethanol content on average, ranging from 0.1% ABV to 0.25% ABV. This illustrates that restricted fermentation is a suitable technique to limit ethanol formation, but as will be discussed later, the effect of this treatment on NAB quality might still be a concern. In this study, the NABs produced using MI yeasts, from physical dealcoholization, and from combined/blended treatments tended to have higher ABV on average (i.e., having mean ABVs of 0.39%, 0.31%, and 0.36% respectively after excluding 0.0% NAB). The composition of the residual extract (i.e., concentration of dextrins and fermentable carbohydrate levels) varied significantly amongst the different NAB production types, whereas the protein content did not vary significantly (one-way ANOVA based on technique, \(p<0.05\), data not shown) (Figure 1A and Table 1). In agreement with previously reported results [13], NAB made with RF and with the usage of MI yeast contained higher levels of real extract (i.e., 5.6-7.9 g/100 g) and fermentable carbohydrates (i.e., 3.64-4.98 g/100 mL). In addition, in agreement with [PERSON], [PERSON], and [PERSON] [13], with the exception of V2, the NAB produced through vacuum distillation treatments were low in real extract (i.e., 3.7-5.3 g/100 g) and contained very low or even nondetectable levels of fermentable carbohydrates (i.e., <0.1 g/100 mL-1.16 g/100 mL). The same was true for M1, a \"0.0 NAB\" which was the only NAB tested produced using membrane dealcoholization. This NAB had one of the lowest real extracts in the sample set and contained no detectable amounts of fermentable carbohydrates. Consequently, it also had the lowest calorie content of the NABs tested. Across all samples tested, the calories range from 54 kJ/100 mL (M1) to 141 kJ/100 mL (V2). Previous research has shown that health and well-being are some of the main factors motivating consumers choose to drink NAB [1; 15]. Therefore, both ABV and calorie content are important considerations for designing and/or marketing NAB. When considering the percent contribution of each carbohydrate, the profiles of fermentable carbohydrates were generally similar across the NABs evaluated in this study (Figure 1B). On average, maltose and maltotriose accounted for approximately 83% of the total fermentable sugar profile in the NABs tested. However, in agreement with the extract values, significantly lower concentrations of the individual carbohydrates were observed in the physically dealcoholized samples (one-way ANOVA based on technique, \(p<0.05\), data not shown). The NABs produced with MI yeast yielded the most unique fermentable carbohydrate profiles because they contained lower levels of glucose but the highest concentrations of sucrose, maltose, and maltotriose. These observations also agree with prior studies [13; 18] that have investigated the fermentable carbohydrate profile of pilsner-style NABs. Overall, the importance of maltose and maltotriose to the fermentable carbohydrate profile was expected because all the NAB in this study were produced with 100% malt and without any added sugar/adjuncts (i.e., wheat, oats, etc.). The use of natural artificial sweeteners (i.e., erythiritol, stevia, xylitol, monk fruit, etc.)