Coopers Ginger Beer ('non-alcoholic') And Alcohol Content

[lukemarsh]

Evening brewers! I just had a question about the alcohol content in 'non-alcoholic' ginger beer. I was told that even commercial Bundaberg Ginger Beer that you buy in just about every shop thesedays is actually some percent alcoholic, however very very small. It is so low that it actually doesn't register as an alcoholic beverage (probably something like 0.1%) but technically does contain some alcohol. It does not state this anywhere on the bottles though, unlike Coopers Birrel which says in very fine print that it is 0.5% abv.

I just made a non-alcoholic Ginger Beer using the Coopers GB can and following the instructions on the can. You mix the can in and make up to 18L, then add yeast and leave for 2 - 3 hours, then stir lots and bottle (stirring as you bottle). It doesn't say anywhere that this will make a small amount of alcohol, but it is pretty clear that the natural conditioning methods used will create some alcohol. Is there any way to determine exactly how much there would be in this brew? No sugar is added to the brew, only carbonation drops for each bottle (which I think is meant to add about 0.5% more alcohol).

If it was, say, 0.5% abv... would I be able to drive after drinking one of these? I am on P plates, so am not allowed to have any blood alcohol level register on the breatho. Would 0.5% register?

Cheers

 

[bum]

I am on P plates, so am not allowed to have any blood alcohol level register on the breatho.

In what way would it be worth the risk of it showing up?

My understanding of the commercial non-alcoholic GBs is that most (if not all) have the alcohol removed (by heat and sometimes some vacuum thingermajigger).

 

[Wolfy]

The only way you can get 'naturally carbonated' Ginger Beer is by yeast converting sugars to alcohol and CO2, so there will always be a small amount of alcohol if its carbonated (if you were in a commercial situation you could try to remove the alcohol that by various methods).
So , yes it would show up if you were drinking them before driving.
However your body should quickly metabolite such a small amount of alcohol within 1 hour, and so it would not be detectable if you waited that long before driving.
However, if it was my license, I know I'd not risk it.

 

[lukemarsh]

Yeah I didn't want to risk it either, I just wanted to see other's opinions on it because it is such a small amount, I never imagined it would be detectable through a breatho. It would be interesting to see how quickly your body processes it out though... for example, if you had your own police-grade breatho machine and test yourself every 10 mins or so after drinking one and see when it stops detecting it. But I'm sure there's virtually no way of doing this as any breatho machine you get from a store is never reliable, and the only way of testing it on a police-grade one is usually in a situation you'd rather not be in!

 

[dabre4]

If one drop is about 4g, and you are putting it in 375g of Ginger beer, that comes out just shy of 0.4%.