Paulaner

The brewery takes its name from Francis of Paola, founder of the Minim order, and has operated continuously from its Bavarian home for nearly four centuries. Ownership today sits with the Paulaner Brewery Group, a joint venture between the Schörghuber Corporate Group (50.1%) and the Heineken Group (49.9%). Paulaner is one of only six breweries permitted to serve beer at the Munich Oktoberfest, a distinction that underlines its standing within Bavarian brewing culture.

The alcohol-free range has roots stretching back to 1986, when Paulaner launched what it describes as the world's first non-alcoholic wheat beer, originally sold under the name Waitzinger Alkoholfrei before being brought under the main Paulaner brand. That heritage gives the non-alcoholic line an unusually long development history for a category that most breweries entered only in the 2010s. The current range spans several variants, including the flagship Hefe-Weißbier Non-Alcoholic and a 0.0% Weissbier, both produced using a dealcoholisation process applied after full fermentation and maturation. For fitness-focused drinkers and runners in particular, the Hefe-Weißbier Non-Alcoholic has been positioned around its isotonic properties and naturally occurring B vitamins, making it a recurring reference point in alcohol-free beer for athlete recovery discussions.

The dealcoholisation approach Paulaner uses, removing alcohol only after the beer has fully matured, is documented as central to the brand's quality rationale for its 0.0% products. For readers curious about how that process compares to other methods, the brewer's toolkit for alcohol removal covers the main techniques in detail.

In the UK, Paulaner's alcohol-free variants are available through specialist alcohol-free retailers, sitting in the premium bracket relative to mass-market AF lagers. The brand's scale and distribution heritage mean it occupies a different position from the newer wave of dedicated AF-only breweries: it brings the credibility of a nearly 400-year brewing tradition to a category that is still establishing its own canon.