Nonalcoholic beer yeasts evaluated for fermentation activity, flavor profiles

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Small organisms can have a big impact. That’s why researchers explored nearly a dozen nontraditional yeast strains to find out which ones could brew the best nonalcoholic beers for a rapidly growing market.

The Center for Beverage Innovation and Lafontaine Lab — including researchers with the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas and the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station — evaluated 11 commercially available yeasts to identify their strengths based on chemical analysis and sensory panel opinions. The study was published in the ACS Food Science and Technology journal on April 15. The experiment station is the research arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

“These findings provide brewers with actionable insights to select yeasts that align with desired nonalcoholic beer characteristics and enable them to produce style-specific, high-quality nonalcoholic beers,” said Scott Lafontaine, assistant professor of food chemistry in the food science department, co-director of the Center for Beverage Innovation and corresponding author of the study.

Most of the yeasts that were tested in the study are strains that have been developed or screened to not ferment maltose, the primary sugar created from malted barley in the beermaking process.

While physically extracting and removing alcohol from ordinarily fermented beverages requires costly equipment, biologically limiting alcohol from forming during the fermentation process opens the nonalcoholic beer space to a wider group of small-scale brewers, Lafontaine noted.

Andrew Maust, a Bumpers College graduate student working in the Lafontaine Lab/Center for Beverage Innovation, and lead author of the study, said that while these “maltose-negative” yeasts still ferment simpler sugars like glucose, fructose and sometimes sucrose, not fermenting maltose results in low- or nonalcoholic beer.

“Typically, when people think of the role of yeast in brewing, they only think of the creation of ethanol and carbon dioxide from the consumption of sugars,” Maust said. “That reaction occurs, but the beauty of yeast is that they also produce a wide range compounds that become the soul of beer.”

Classic yeast-driven flavors include fruity, spicy and floral notes, as well as the ability to biologically transform the rest of the raw materials in the brewing process, Maust added.

“Over several hundreds of years, we’ve domesticated and evolved these organisms to act exactly how we want them, often leading to yeast choice as a driver of regional beer flavors and styles,” Maust explained.

Growing market

The timing of this study and its findings are critical, Lafontaine said, as nonalcoholic beer remains one of the few bright spots in the craft beer segment amid the category’s rapid expansion. In the United States, nonalcoholic beers are defined as containing 0.5 percent alcohol by volume or less, while international definitions typically range from 0.05 to 1.2 percent.

Consumer demand for nonalcoholic beer has surged due to health and wellness trends. According to a 2024 Statista forecast published in 2024, nonalcoholic beer production in the U.S. has grown for 10 consecutive years and is projected to increase another 13.5 percent by 2029. In Germany, nonalcoholic beer makes up roughly 5 percent of the beer market and is even marketed as a post-workout beverage.

Despite this momentum and although brands are getting much better, Maust said, flavor remains a key hurdle. “A common barrier to adoption in the U.S. is the perception that nonalcoholic beers lack flavor and depth compared to their full-strength counterparts,” Maust said.

Lafontaine has been studying nonalcoholic beer since 2019, with earlier work focused on characterizing commercial products to understand which flavor chemistry and sensory attributes of existing nonalcoholic beers best matched consumer expectations. This new study marks a significant evolution, Lafontaine said, by moving from analyzing finished beers to actively developing and evaluating nonalcoholic beer formulations in the lab. The work builds on Lafontaine’s previous research published in 2020 looking at factors that influence flavor and American consumer preference toward nonalcoholic beer.

Targeting beer styles

Up to this point, Lafontaine said, most beverage design work in the nonalcoholic beer category has been to develop them as “lager-like “But the Lafontaine Lab team wanted to see what maltose-negative yeasts might be suitable to replicate other full-strength commercial styles, including pale ale, lager and wheat beers. To match up their experimental maltose-negative beers with these commercial styles, the researchers used sensomics, a combination of chemical and sensory analyses.

Two Berkeley Yeast strains — NA Cabana and NA Classic — shared tropical fruit and citrus-floral characteristics akin to pale ales.

NAY also aligned with pale ale profiles, with banana and melon notes that align with previous Lafontaine Lab research showing a North American preference for nonalcoholic beers with fruity esters.

Yeast strains like NA All Day from White Labs and Torulaspora delbrueckii produced cereal, wort, and dried fruit aromas associated with lager styles. Meanwhile, LA-01 from Fermentis scored high in the wheat beer category due to its spicy and clove-like notes.

“Characterizing these flavor profiles created by nontraditional yeasts gives brewers a more precise palette to work with as they craft distinct beer styles,” Lafontaine said. “It opens the door to new flavor possibilities and more intentional product design.”

Fermentation speed and production insights

One of the study’s production-level takeaways was the variation in fermentation onset. Some yeasts began fermenting almost immediately and were finished in about 12 to 24 hours. Others took a bit longer to finish fermentation around the 48 to 72-hour mark.

“Faster fermentation can help brewers turn over tanks quicker, increasing throughput,” Maust said. “That’s a key operational advantage.”

While full-strength beer production often involves reusing yeast, Maust noted that this practice is discouraged in nonalcoholic beer brewing due to concerns about unwanted maltose fermentation and spoilage organisms.

“It’s a tradeoff — you lose adaptive potential, but gain consistency and safety,” he said.

A resource for brewers

By systematically analyzing yeast performance across alcohol content, fermentation speed and sensory outcomes, Lafontaine said the study delivers a practical resource for brewers navigating the nonalcoholic beer space.

“This work bridges academic research and real-world brewing needs,” Lafontaine said. “We’re providing a roadmap for brewers to select the best yeast for the style, flavor profile and production process they’re targeting.”

Food-safe NABs

Considering the lack of alcohol to kill foodborne pathogens in nonalcoholic beer, Lafontaine and Maust will be examining food safety aspects of nonalcoholic beer in their next experiments.

“Alcohol is a powerful preservative, and without it there are some questions about how best to safely process these products,” Maust said. “Upcoming experiments will focus on quantifying the anti-microbial activity of ingredients and processing decisions, providing further clarity on how to design these beverages to be both safe and flavorful."

With work such as this, Lafontaine said the Center for Beverage Innovation at the University of Arkansas is being positioned as a destination for cutting-edge research, technical expertise, or a collaborative partner to bring beverage ideas to life.

To learn more about the Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website. Follow us on X at @ArkAgResearch, subscribe to the Food, Farms and Forests podcast and sign up for our monthly newsletter, the Arkansas Agricultural Research Report. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit uada.edu. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit uaex.uada.edu.

About the Division of Agriculture

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.

The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on three system campuses.

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

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Media Contact: John Lovett
U of A System Division of Agriculture
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station
(479) 763-5929
jlovett@uada.edu

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