Summit Brewing Perfects Non-Alcoholic Beer with Fermentis SafBrew™ LA-01 

Producing non-alcoholic beer (NAB) has become a winning strategy for craft breweries of all sizes. But’s the best way to go about it? In this article, we provide resources and take a deeper dive into the method of using the maltose-negative yeast strain Fermentis SafBrew™ LA-01 to produce NAB, complete with experience-based advice from the brew deck of Summit Brewing Company and their Nialas series of NAB. 

How Does Maltose-Negative Yeast Work? 

As you can see in our Practical Guide to NABLAB Production, there are many methods by which craft brewers produce NAB: vacuum distillation, reverse osmosis filtering, halted fermentation. All come with their unique pros and cons, not to mention potential capital investment in specialized equipment. The most practical approach for many breweries is by using maltose-negative yeast, such as Fermentis SafBrew™ LA-01. This specialized yeast strain ferments only glucose—not maltose or maltotriose—so with proper recipe development and process the beer naturally stays below 0.5% ABV, while still developing some fermentation character. It’s the best option for brewers who want a cost-effective, scalable solution for NA beer production—especially those ready to dial in their process and manage packaging stability for distribution.  

Fermentis SafBrew™ LA-01 In the Brewhouse: Summit Brewing Company 

Damian “Damo” McConn is the Chief Brewing Officer at Summit Brewing Company in Saint Paul, Minnesota, producer of a series of NAB under the name Nialas (pronounced knee-uh-lis, Irish Gaelic for “zero”). Nialas Latitude is a crushable lager-style beer brewed with 100% Weyermann® Barke® Pils and dry-hopped with Saaz and Loral. Nialas IPA features Rahr Standard 2-Row, Malted White Wheat, and U.S. hops like Citra and Amarillo plus experimental hops in the kettle and dry hop. Nialas Ambler is a fest-worthy bock-style NA beer brewed with Weyermann Malts. The darkest offering, Nialas Irish-Style Dark features Simpsons Malt products like Simpsons Chocolate Malt and Simpsons Crystal Dark, with UK hops.  

Before launching its NA program two years ago, Summit’s brew team and lab staff went through a year of R&D on the brewery’s 2-hectoliter pilot system, testing many different ingredients and NA production processes before landing on a set of methods and techniques they believe produces the best-tasting beer with most consistent results, which includes fermentation with the maltose-negative Fermentis SafBrew™ LA-01 yeast strain. We sat down with Damo to talk about fermenting with the unique yeast strain, recipe development, and other tips for NABLAB production. 

Ed. note: We should also mention he’s a native Irishman who previously worked for Guinness, and an all-around damn fine bloke. 

RahrBSG: We want to talk about the Nialas portfolio and recipe development of NAB. But first, what is your general opinion of Fermentis SafBrew™ LA-01? 

Damian McConn: LA-01 has been stellar to work with. It’s clean and easy to work with on the process side. The results in fermentation have been consistent: we know we can dry hop on this day, we can chill on this day, and we know the turnaround time for each tank. That sort of consistency is very important when making these types of beers. During R&D, we worked through a lot of different options, and we’ve been very pleased with Fermentis overall. 

That strain is reasonably flexible when it comes to fermentation temperature. The Irish-Style Dark is fermented at 20°C (68°F), and we go all the way down to 12-13°C (53-55°F) for the lager-style Latitude. You do get slightly different esters popping through there. Latitude is cleaner, while the Dark has a bit more fruity character from fermenting at a warmer temperature. IPA is fermented around 16°C (61°F); both it and Latitude are dry-hopped.  

The yeast strain is very important, but we place a premium on the blend of malts and how they are balanced with specific hop varietals. The mashing process is very important. The gravities – both original and final gravity – are important. For example, for that residual sweetness and body our Irish-Style Dark needs to be slightly higher gravity than the Ambler and IPA, which are both slightly higher again than Latitude. 

RBSG: You’ve talked about how difficult it can be to maintain roundness and promote body in NAB, which can often come across thin, even watery, due to their low OG and FG. How do you develop recipes to maintain some roundness and some mouthfeel complexity? 

McConn: There are a number of elements, as with any beer, you have to be able to integrate: water chemistry, malt, hops, yeast, and the fermentation profile, which is always a wee bit different. With the Irish Dark, it’s the highest OG (and FG) of the four beers. So, we aim for residual sweetness to help balance out the roasted malts. It is a challenge because you want a certain amount of color, you want that dark chocolate, coffee, roasted malt character, but we didn’t want it to be acrid or really dry. When we first brewed this beer it was a lot of leather and tobacco that came through. I thought it was great, but others on our team thought it was a little off-putting. We dialed back the roast character overall. Now, there’s no Roasted Barley in this; we use Simpsons Chocolate Malt and a fair amount of Simpsons Crystal Dark. Using the Chocolate Malt instead of Roasted Barley or Black Patent Malt softened that smoky note that was there, allowed more of that chocolate note to come through, and reduced that acrid, slightly scorched finish that you can sometimes gMet from the Roasted Barley. All UK hops. 

We use dry-hopping in two of the beers to help add complexity to the mouthfeel and body – really the whole drinking experience. And, how LA-01 interacts with dry hopping is very interesting. We do cooler dry hopping with Latitude; we begin the chilling process then dry hop the beer with those lager hops Saaz and Loral. We get a nice, clean aromatic profile. We dry hop at a slightly higher temperature for the IPA so we get more of that fruit character popping through it. It’s worth experimenting with. 

Learn much more about Fermentis SafBrew™ LA-01 in our Guide to Clean, Confident NABLAB Brewing. 

Watch: Just Say NA! Risks and Learning in Non-Alcoholic Beer Production
Speaker: Ashton Lewis, RahrBSG Manager of Training and Technical Support 

RBSG: It seems like your method of NAB production really is closer akin to traditional brewing, but with some very different points to consider. 

McConn: We considered other methods and, in the end, found fermenting with LA-01 is a cleaner, more linear, and efficient way of making a really nice NA beer. There is actual fermentation – be it a small amount – so you get that biotransformation effect. You’re also not beating the hell out of it with steam or what have you, which we found drastically affects the end result. We’re not stripping anything out of our NAB, we’re building them from the ground up through recipe development and process. We mash higher than 160°F. You’re not looking for any kind of fermentability in your wort. The mash is short and it’s hot. You’re just looking for starch conversion. In fact, if you have it in there too long you’re looking at some potential off-flavors. So, get it in, get it out, get on with your life. This is not the place for complex, multi-step infusions or decoction mashes. [laughs]  

RBSG: Summit currently only distributes NAB in cans where the beer is still subject to some heat treatment in your tunnel pasteurizer. How does that work into the bigger picture of flavor? 

McConn: You have to consider your PU (Pasteurization Units) profile – that is the temperature and time spent in the tunnel. We keep it about as low as we can go where a) we have microbial stability and b) it has a very limited impact on the overall flavor profile. The way it’s set up, it’s a bit lower temperature for a slightly longer period of time, so it’s a bit more gentle on the overall process. Being too aggressive with the pasteurization process can lead to a finish that is more harsh and sharp, and then you’ve got the potential for those cardboard type notes that pop pretty quickly. Because that heat can act as a catalyst for some staling characteristics.  

 [Ed. note: Check out this Fermentis video on easy pasteurization techniques for smaller breweries.] 

RahrBSG: Sounds like the brew and lab teams have learned a lot during this process. What have been the most eye-opening lessons in your recipe development of NAB? 

McConn: The BU piece of it. The hopping rates and the alpha acid of those varieties is absolutely critical. That’s something I learned from my Guinness days. You can make a 45 BU IPA at 6% ABV, and it’s going to taste great even if it’s a little bit on the lower side for perceived bitterness. A beer like our Nialas IPA is more like 28 BU. There’s not as much malt, there’s no alcohol, you don’t have the body to support that bitterness so you have to be careful about the varieties you use, how clean a bitterness they provide, the number of BUs, and the sensory component of it – the perceived bitterness – is very important. Then how does all of that hop character play with the malts you have in there? There’s a lot of integration required, and you don’t have as much room to maneuver with these factors as you would in a full-strength IPA.  

My advice to anyone making NAB: drop those BUs – cut them in half. You think it should be 50 for an IPA? Put them at 25-30. You’ll get the same perceived bitterness even though the BUs are much lower. Of course, you can also play around with whirlpool hopping, dry hopping, you can still get the hop flavor and aroma that you associated with a full-strength beer. But, the BU part of it can be a little tricky. The first few brews of these we made with 60 BUs were undrinkable because the perceived bitterness was so intense. 

RBSG: Any final advice for brewers looking to brew NAB, specifically using Fermentis SafBrew™ LA-01? 

McConn: Think of the overall character of the beer that you’re making, what kind of ester profile you’re looking for in the finished beer, and how you can potentially manipulate that yeast strain in the fermentation process to get that ester profile. There is room to play around with fermentation and how that yeast strain will impact the sensory piece of the beer. Literally, explore, experiment, do your R&D work. We found that different temperatures really change the sensory nature of the profile provided by that yeast. It’s really interesting. There is some degree of manipulation with that strain, which is great because it gives some flexibility when it comes to different styles. It’s not just about the biotransformation that occurs during the fermentation, there’s also a sensory element to it that’s very important.  

RBSG: Last question. Why is innovation in the NABLAB segment important? 

McConn: Eventually, as the US craft beer scene matures, we’re going to see more and more of these lower-ABV beers. Here in the US, craft beer has only been around since the late 1970s, so about 50 years. There’ve been low-ABV beers in the UK and Germany for 150, 200 years. Now they weren’t always that low. But, I think, over time you’ll see more of a desire for fully flavored beers that have less ABV in them. Yes, there’s always going to be a place in the US for a 7.5% ABV IPA, but I think we’re going to see more demand for beers with 4.5% ABV and less. I know I’d like to see more of that; that was the tradition in the UK, where I was educated and lived a long time. 

How Low Can You Go? 

RahrBSG is excited to provide breweries with Fermentis SafBrew™ LA-01 for an easy way to get into NABLAB production. Contact your sales rep to add the yeast to your order. Learn more from our experts on Basic Maltose-Negative Yeast Approach and download the Fermentis BrewHacks Complete Solutions for Low and No-Alcohol Beers. 

Key Takeaways: Fermentis SafBrew™ LA-01

Fermentis SafBrew™ LA-01, is a maltose-negative yeast that has been specifically selected for the production of low and/or non-alcoholic beverages. 

 Pros: 

• Doesn’t require expensive de-alcoholization equipment—works in standard fermentation vessels 

• Produces NA beer with more authentic beer-like aroma and flavor than arrested fermentation method, which can leave final beer tasting residually sweet “wort-y” 

• Faster, more scalable, and easier to implement than many advanced methods 

Cons: 

• Leaves unfermented sugars behind, increasing the risk of spoilage or refermentation in package 

• Pasteurization or other method of stabilization is required to prevent refermentation 

• Requires tight control over process variables and packaging for best shelf stability 

Best For: Brewers who want a cost-effective, scalable solution for NA beer production—especially those ready to dial in their process and manage packaging stability for distribution.