Suntory to enter alcohol-free beer market in September

Wednesday 19th August, 05:33 AM JST

TOKYO —

Suntory Liquors Ltd said Tuesday it will launch an alcohol-free drink with a beer taste—‘‘Suntory Fine Zero’’—in late September, adding to the already keen competition among nonalcoholic drinks by Japanese brewers. The new drink will hit the market on Sept 29, following Kirin Brewery Co’s ‘‘Kirin Free’’ launched in April and Asahi Breweries Ltd’s ‘‘Asahi Point Zero’’ to debut Sept 1.

Suntory Liquors, a subsidiary of Suntory Ltd, said the new product contains 0.00% alcohol, but the brewer realized a ‘‘brisk flavor of beer’’ by using 1.3 times more malt. A 350-milliliter bottle will be sold for about 140 yen.

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Latest 15 of 22 Total Comments Show All

Sarge at 12:24 PM JST - 19th August

"Real beer with no alcohol"

That's not real beer.

Is this alcohol-free "beer" going to priced the same as as regular beer?
gogogo at 01:17 PM JST - 19th August

0.00% alcohol

I love how they put it, in Japan if it contains 0.001% you can be arrested, they should say it contains 100% no alcohol, saying 0.00% just means it might contain a tiny tiny tiny amount to which you can still be stung for from the cops.

but the brewer realized a ‘‘brisk flavor of beer’’ by using 1.3 times more malt

wow... talk about fattening!
gogogo at 01:19 PM JST - 19th August

Actually interesting question, can kids buy and drink this? Do you have to be 20 to buy and consume this drink?
Airion at 01:26 PM JST - 19th August

True enough 0.00% alcohol could contain as much as 0.0049% alcohol. But if I'm not mistaken, Japan's drunk driving laws are not literally set at 0% BAC. Practically speaking it's zero tolerance for drinking, but it's not so strict as to prevent you from drinking a 0.0049% beer such as this.
timeon at 01:28 PM JST - 19th August

actually I started to appreciate alcohol-free beer. my girlfriend is driving and she loves beer, so anytime we are going on a trip I felt bad about having all those beers alone. now she can join me with that beer-like stuff and I don't feel that guilty anymore
gogogo at 01:48 PM JST - 19th August

Airion: I've heard of people that have drunken 4-5 non alcohol beers being done for drink driving, fined 200,000 yen or something like that. The alcohol testers the cops use will register any alcohol consumption even this small, ask the cops they will say the same thing.

If this product is still not able to be sold to people under 20 there is your answer about its alcohol content.
Airion at 01:59 PM JST - 19th August

gogogo: Interesting. Do you know if those were in fact 0.00% beers? Even if it were just below 0.005%, five of them would only equal the equivalent of a 0.025% beer. There's other "non-alcoholic" beers with 0.5% alcohol. 5 of those would equal about half a beer, which is significant.
onewrldoneppl at 02:35 PM JST - 19th August

hmm ... i think due to the OBON holiday rush & the amount of time thirsty drivers spent sitting in traffic, there was some surge in the sale of non-alcoholic beers. it seems that Suntory may have missed the boat but, let's see if the trend continues during the OSHOGATSU rush in late december. i'm somewhat skeptical though because i think the BOUNENKAI and SHINNENKAI effects will dominate/overpower the sale of non-alcohols, driving alcohol sales through the roof. drunks will puke on you in crowded trains so, watch out!
timeon at 02:55 PM JST - 19th August

as I remember, Kirin were advertising that they are the only (in Japan?) 0.00% beer. of course, from a maths point of view, they aren't lying even if it's 0.003 for example
bgaudry at 03:06 PM JST - 19th August

I still prefer Coke.
sunny117 at 05:03 PM JST - 19th August

The above comment is the best .........of all
Cliffy at 09:20 PM JST - 19th August

What's the point of drinking beer when there is no alcohol? As for Coke, I have found that the Coke when I was a child tasted better than the one today. It still kind of too sweet though, so lots of ice. Diet coke tastes the worst with some strange after taste. Coke Zero is kind of in between. Cherry Coke tastes like cough syrup, yuck! Well, at least a lot better than Dr. Pepper which I found it totally horrible. I tried one sip and I sworn to never ever drink it again.
ZetaSagittarii at 11:52 PM JST - 19th August

I found myself in the same position as timeon, except that we both drive. This summer I decided to switch to Kirin Free and although it hurt a little in the process of getting used to it (it's not Carlsberg...), in the end I found the change quite convenient.

That's because no matter what its lovers say, Coke just won't go well with the yakiniku on my campfire for neither of us.
Betting at 01:10 AM JST - 20th August

How can anyone say beer with alcohol is beer? What'll be next ..... coke with no fizz?
sf2k at 04:51 AM JST - 23rd August

"Fine Zero"?? what on earth is that supposed to mean? I hate English used to not mean anything. It also makes it difficult to interact with Japanese who "learn" English only to chop it up into meaningless bits