It looks like beer, smells like beer and even tastes like a very, very light beer.

But there's not a smidgen of alcohol in it.

De-alcoholized beer has been available in Canada for about 20 years but German brewer Warsteiner says it has introduced the first true zero-alcohol beer to B.C.

Warsteiner Premium Fresh boasts an alcohol content of 0.0 per cent, compared with 0.5 per cent for many low-alcohol beers.

"As far as we know, we're the only zero-alcohol beer in this market," Warsteiner Brewery Canadian director Lothar Heinrich said in an interview at the company's Coquitlam warehouse.

The beverage, introduced in Germany last year, is created from a unique brewing process that increases production costs by about 30 per cent.

Regular fully aged and fully fermented beer is placed under high pressure in a vacuum and heated with low electric heat to a maximum of 30 C to remove alcohol and retain flavour.

The product is only available in government liquor stores and licensed outlets. Heinrich said it's the only de-alcoholized lager to be listed at B.C. liquor stores.

He said the product is not available in supermarkets now because it's too costly to buy decent shelf space.

Heinrich feels the demand for the product in Canada is similar to the trend in Germany, where low-alcohol beer accounts for about three per cent of the total market, with annual sales growing by about 10 per cent.

"The trend is shifting and people are looking for it now," he said.

"Even beer with just 0.5-per-cent alcohol can be dangerous to people who shouldn't be drinking alcohol. We even see it as being an alternative to soft drinks."

Heinrich said consumer research in Germany revealed nearly one in two people did not realize "alcohol-free" beer can actually contain up to 0.5-per-cent alcohol by volume.

Warsteiner Brewery, founded in 1753, is the largest privately owned brewery in Germany.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008