Beer
Erdinger Alkoholfrei
82/100 How we score
Verdict
The most widely available non-alcoholic wheat beer in the world, and the one that set the standard: spicy malt, caramel sweetness, isotonic positioning, and honest Bavarian brewing.
At a glance
- Flavor profile
- Fruit
- Structure
- Off-dry
- Modest bitterness
- Light body
- Short finish
- Perfect for
- Post-sports recovery (the isotonic pitch), Bavarian food, and the wheat beer drinker who wants the real thing.
Tasting notes
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01
Nose
Spicy malt notes with caramel-sweet nuances and the distinctive banana-clove wheat beer signature.
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02
Palate
Round and spicy; the wheat body gives it more substance than most NA lagers, with the hop bitterness balanced by malt sweetness.
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03
Finish
Clean and lightly fruity — the wheat beer finish that reads as authentic.
The beer
Erdinger Weissbräu’s Alkoholfrei is Bavarian wheat beer at non-alcoholic strength, sold as a naturally isotonic recovery pour. AP reported in 2011 that it is made in the same Erding brewery as Erdinger’s conventional wheat beers — that is a site fact, not a process. The factory floor stays secret: in 2010 marketing director Josef Westermeier told WELT the recipe and brewing process stay private. Residual alcohol under 0.5% is intentional for flavor; the technique is Unclassified / Withheld.
On the nose, spicy malt with caramel-sweet edges and the banana-clove wheat signature. On the palate, rounder than most NA lagers: wheat body, hop bitterness balanced by malt sweetness. The finish is clean and lightly fruity.
It is the category’s default Weissbier for a reason — widely available, Reinheitsgebot-framed, and still recognizably wheat beer in the glass. Serve cold in a wheat beer glass with a proper head.
How to drink it
Cold, in a wheat beer glass with a proper head.
How it was made
Classification: Unclassified — Method Unclassified. On-record secrecy (Westermeier / WELT 2010). AP (2011) reports Alkoholfrei is made in the same Erding brewery as Erdinger’s conventional wheat beers — site only, not a process. Producer materials keep residual alcohol under 0.5% for flavor; they do not name dealcoholization vs limited fermentation. Do not cite industry-general vacuum/RO pieces as Erdinger’s method.
Evidence status: Withheld
Sources
Product facts are only as strong as their sources. Editorial tasting notes are opinion.
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ABV
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Producer · Country
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Classification
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Origin · Region
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Availability
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Bottle verified Bottle / can label Barcode recorded from packaging or producer listing
Barcode (EAN/GTIN)
Barcode recorded from packaging or producer listing
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Method
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Price · Volume
Keep tasting
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82/100 How we score