Abstract: The invention provides a method of producing an alcohol-free beer, said method comprising: providing a vessel containing wort; inoculating the wort with yeast and allowing the yeast to form a settled layer on the bottom of the vessel or a floating layer below the surface of the wort; fermenting the inoculated wort at a temperature of ?3 to 5° C. for a period of at least 8 hours to produce a fermented wort; separating the fermented wort from the yeast to produce alcohol-free beer; wherein: one or more pitchings of additional yeast into the inoculated wort are applied during the fermentation; or one or more disruptions of the layer of yeast are applied during the fermentation; or at the beginning of the fermentation the wort is inoculated with at least 3×106 yeast cells per mL of wort. The present method offers the advantage that it yields an alcohol-free beer in which undesirable ‘worty’ flavour notes are substantially reduced.

Abstract: The invention relates to a starch-derived beverage comprising 4-20 wt. % carbohydrates, said beverage containing, calculated by weight of carbohydrates: 5-65 wt. % of glucose; 0-65 wt. % of fructose; 0-50 wt. % of sucrose; 0.1-30 wt. % of maltose; 0.03-8 wt. % of maltotriose; 3-35 wt. % of oligoglucose having a degree of polymerisation in the range of 4-10; wherein the combination of glucose and fructose constitutes at least 20 wt. % of the carbohydrates. The beverage according to the invention is similar to existing non-fermented malt beverages, such as “Malta”, except that similar sweetness is achieved with a lower carbohydrate content. The invention further relates to a process of producing the aforementioned beverage.