The First 0.0% Beers Reach the German Market

In 2006, Warsteiner became one of the first German breweries to market a beer explicitly as containing 0.0 percent alcohol. Warsteiner Premium Alkoholfrei 0.0 entered national and international distribution in January 2007, and Bitburger introduced Bitburger Alkoholfrei 0.0 later in 2007. Their launches created a clearly identified 0.0 segment within Germany’s established alcohol-free beer market. The distinction mattered because German beers sold as “alcohol-free” could still contain up to 0.5 percent alcohol by volume. Products labeled 0.0 were subjected to more extensive dealcoholization and contained less than 0.05 percent alcohol, allowing the value to be rounded to 0.0 on the label. The new designation therefore offered consumers a more explicit promise than the broader alkoholfrei category, although technically detectable traces could remain.