Boozeless Bonanza

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Time was when beer without alcohol just wasn't real beer, and big breweries weren't interested in selling it. How long ago that now seems. The turning point came when two of America's top brewers, Miller and Anheuser-Busch, went looking for an area of growth in the shrinking beer market and found big-time potential in the nonalcoholic segment. Now it appears as if half the shelf space in the supermarket beverage section is filled with a score or more of nonalcoholic brand names, many of them a substantial taste improvement over the pioneers of yore. Miller has sold 5.5 million cases of its Sharp's brand, after just a year on the market, vs. 3.3 million cases of A-B's new brand, O'Doul's.

The main reason for the plethora of boozeless brew is a health-conscious society trying to consume less alcohol and lose more weight. But drinkers still want taste. New technology has improved nonalcoholic beer (made by the same process as beer, with most of the alcohol removed either through a vacuum process at the end or by limiting the rate of fermentation), making it more palatable to the discerning drinker. The appeal of Sharp's is its yeasty, rich flavor, while Heileman's Kingsbury, once the market leader, is somewhat metallic but still very drinkable. Kaliber, an import from Guinness, has a fine, toasty aroma, and O'Doul's has the straightforward and pleasant taste of a regular domestic beer.

Which to choose? Steve Byers, beer critic for the Milwaukee Journal, says a consumer should see if a brew has the characteristics he or she likes in regular beer. Byers favors a full-bodied taste with a malty flavor. "You want something that you react to," he says. Amid the avalanche of boozeless brands, almost any reaction is now available.