Germany’s booze-free beer boom

Beer bottles filled with non-alcoholic “Naked” beer pictured at the BRLO brewery in Berlin’s Spandau district. — AFP

ALL the fun of the Oktoberfest, without the hangover: Germans are swapping traditional beer for non-alcoholic brews, driven by health concerns and the increasing quality of booze-free options.

Beers containing less than 0.5% alcohol – the legal limit to be classed as non-alcoholic – are no longer an uncommon sight in the country’s famous beer gardens.