A non-alcoholic abbey beer will be brewed in Belgium for the first time in 2019

Belgium will make history when the first non-alcoholic version abbey beers is brewed this year.

Abbey beers are often brewed by monks, although they can also be licensed. They are part of Belgium’s cultural heritage and connoisseurs admire their high alcohol content, strong complex taste, and texture.

There has been a heated debate regarding the new non-alcoholic version of the beer but brewers have stood their ground stating that drinking attitudes are changing, mainly out of health concerns.

Abbey beers are somewhat similar to the Trappist beers, except they do not have the right to bear the label. One of the reasons is that part of the profits made by Trappist brewers must go to charity.

AB InBev will begin the distribution of its non-alcoholic Leffe beer early in 2019. Ab InBev has predicted that more than 15% of the world’s beer production will be non-alcoholic by the mid 2020’s.