Canada, ON: Labatt Brewery in London now making alcohol-free beer

The Labatt Brewery in London is making an alcohol-free beer to quench the growing thirst for non-alcoholic drinks, London Free Press reported on March 19.

The Richmond Street plant, located south of downtown, is now producing Busch De-Alc, a lager with a 0.4 per cent alcohol content. The alcohol in the beer � brewed from American hops, fine barley malt, cereal grains and pure water � is removed through a low-temperature process to retain flavor.

�Exclusively made in London in Canada, this launch expands Labatt�s portfolio of non-alcoholic and dealcoholized offerings, while reinforcing its commitment to brewing locally,� Labatt officials said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

Sales for non-alcoholic drinks in Canadas grew to $199 million between June 2023 and June 2024, an increase of 24 per cent from the previous year, with non-alcoholic beer accounting for more than three-quarters of those sales, according to NIQ, a global marketing research firm.

Labatt has invested $26.6 million into the London brewery, the company�s oldest brewery in Canada, in the last year, boosting capacity by 597,000 hectoliters annually, Labatt officials said.

The addition of the booze-free beer production at the Richmond Street operation drives innovation, makes the plant an essential part of the company�s brewing network and fuels local jobs, officials said.

Founded by Irish immigrant John Kinder Labatt in London in 1847, the plant produces 40 per cent of Labatt�s domestic supply.

And this isn�t the first time Labatt has produced non-alcohol drinks in London. The brewery periodically halts beer production to can water for its Canadian disaster relief program, created to provide safe drinking water to help communities nationwide.

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