superb-owl

Alcohol-free beer without compromising on taste: Superb-Owl

The flight of alcohol-free beer is undeniable. In 2020, sales of alcohol-free beer rose 8.5%. A windfall for brewers, in a year in which overall sales dropped 14% due to the enforced on-trade closure. With the growth in sales of alcohol-free beer, the assortment is also growing. As with alcoholic beers, alcohol-free-drinking consumers are in demand for more beer styles than a 0.0 variant of lager alone. Clearly visible in the figures: in fact, in 2020 , sales of alcohol-free specialty beers grew by over 65%.

 

Nice man, all those numbers. But what does it mean for us at Uiltje? Simple. The time is ripe for our own first alcohol-free IPA: the Superb-Owl. A light IPA with a full hoppy taste, but extremely low in alcohol and calories. We speak to our own Bart van Kleef (Head of Marketing at Uiltje) about the creation of the latest addition to our core range of beers.

Getting used to it

"It took a while for us to get to that point," Bart opens the conversation. "First of all because we all had to get used to the idea of putting an alcohol-free beer on the market. The trend to be more conscious about alcohol as well as more conscious about the number of calories you consume in a day has slowly gained ground not only among consumers. We have gone through the same process. So much so, that we now also feel that this beer deserves a place in our core range; the range of beers that we will always continue to brew and thus remain available." Fine, the desire is there. But then you have to be able to produce it.

 

Bart continues: "brewing an alcohol-free beer is technically quite complicated and requires a completely different brewing process with different equipment. So that means we are brewing the Superb-Owl somewhere else, but still retaining the quality of the Uiltje beers; so with distinct and bold flavors. Our stamp is unmistakably on it."

Just twice as much 

Just twice as many hops

That distinct flavor, that still wants to be the challenge. Critics will say that the absence of the alcohol, means the beer is missing its soul. "We tasted a lot of non-alcoholic beers in preparation, of course." Bart explains about the creation of the Superb-Owl. "And basically our approach was: we combine all the elements we like from other non-alcoholic IPAs and then we call for twice as many hops in it. Of course with an end product that stays balanced, which is really a bigger challenge when the alcohol is missing."

 

But did they succeed? The first sample packs via Bierista were sold out in no time and on the online social beer network Untappd the opinions are predominantly positive. And with that, the main objective seems already succeeded: brewing an enjoyably distinct IPA, without alcohol.

 

At least as characteristic of the beers of Uiltje, besides that distinct taste, is the recognizable design. Whereby, with the arrival of the Superb-Owl, a new and lasting character had to be added to the existing group of owls of the core range. "In our exploration of other non-alcoholic beers, we quickly noticed that the color scheme used by many brands for this is blue and white. We wanted something with that. Moreover, our thoughts quickly turned toward a sporty and fit Owl. That combination led us to the American Football theme. And, of course no one at all believes this, totally coincidentally, the release ended up coinciding with Super Bowl weekend of 2021."

 

True. No one believes that, but a good story it is. "We hope with Superb-Owl especially just to put down a nice alcohol-free alternative. So that you can also enjoy a distinct IPA in a conscious way when you don't feel like alcohol or too many calories for a while."

In conclusion

So with this first alcohol-free IPA, has Pandora's box been opened? Can we expect more variants in time? "We are very pleased with the initial response to the Superb-Owl. The demand for other non-alcoholic variants of the various beer styles is clear. We definitely want to listen to that in the future. So, with our already rich tradition of New England IPAs, I don't rule out the possibility that we will eventually develop an alcohol-free variant for that as well." so concludes Bart, a tad mysteriously, the conversation.

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