Behind the Brew
We brew real craft beer: mash, boil, hops, real fermentation. The yeast we use keeps the alcohol under 0.5% from the start. No shortcuts, no fake beer. Here is the whole process.
Six Steps, Zero Shortcuts
Milling & Mashing
Barley malt is milled, then steeped in hot purified water. Enzymes convert grain starch into fermentable sugars, producing a sweet liquid called wort. The malt bill differs per beer — pale malt for the Lager, oats and wheat for the IPA, wheat for the Belgian Wit, roasted barley and chocolate malt for the Stout.
The Boil & Hopping
The wort is boiled and hops go in. Early additions build gentle bitterness; late additions layer in aroma. We import all our hops — noble European varieties for the Lager, Citra and Mosaic from the US for the IPA, English Fuggle for the Stout. The Belgian Wit gets orange peel and coriander in the whirlpool.
Fermentation
This is the step most NA beers skip, and the reason they taste like sweet malt water. SOMA goes through a real fermentation. Yeast works through the wort, building the esters, depth, and character that make beer taste like beer. What comes out of the tank is a fermented beer, not a mixed malt drink.
The Maltose-Negative Yeast
The trick is in the yeast. We ferment with a maltose-negative strain, a brewer's yeast that cannot eat maltose, the main sugar in beer wort. It ferments the simple sugars and leaves the maltose alone, so the alcohol stays under 0.5% ABV from the start. Nothing has to be taken out later, and nothing gets lost.
Carbonation & Dry Hopping
The beer is carbonated to style: a lively fizz for the Lager and Wit, a softer bead for the Stout. SOMA IPA gets its dry hop at this stage, loading in fresh hop aroma at the last possible moment before packaging.
Pasteurizing, Canning & Lab Testing
Every batch is pasteurized and filled into 250ml and 500ml aluminium cans. Before it ships, each batch is lab-tested for ABV (it must read below 0.5%), microbiological safety, and taste consistency against our reference batch. If a batch misses the mark, it does not leave.
Why Fermentation Matters
There are two kinds of drink sold as non-alcoholic beer. One is a mixed malt drink: a malt base that never really ferments, sweetened and flavored to taste roughly like beer. It tastes like sweet, wet cereal, because fermentation is where beer becomes beer.
The other is fermented beer. Mash, boil, hops, and yeast doing real work in a tank. That is what SOMA is. Our yeast is a maltose-negative strain, a brewer's yeast that cannot eat maltose, the main sugar in beer wort. It ferments the simple sugars, builds the esters and depth of a fermented beer, and leaves the alcohol under 0.5% ABV. Nothing is stripped out and nothing is faked.
It costs more than the shortcut. Small batches, aroma hops, a specialized yeast, pasteurization, and lab testing on every single batch all add up. The yeast does the hard part, and we would rather pay for that than fake it.
Quality Control
Every batch pasteurized and tested for ABV, microbiological safety, taste consistency.
Every batch is pasteurized. ABV verification confirms every batch is below 0.5%. Microbiological testing confirms it is safe — important for NA beer, which lacks alcohol's natural preservative effect. A trained taste panel compares each batch against our reference to catch drift before you ever taste it.
Questions about the process are always welcome — email getsoma.store@gmail.com.
The Ingredients
Four core ingredients, the same ones in the German purity law of 1516. Every style also carries natural flavours. The craft is in what we do with them.
Water
Purified water
The water is purified in several stages before it reaches the mash, and its chemistry is adjusted for each style: softer for the IPA and harder for the Stout.
Malt
Barley malt, with wheat, oats or roasted malt by style
Malt gives the beer its colour, body and sweetness. Each style has its own blend, from pale malt for the Lager to roasted malt for the Stout.
Hops
American and European varieties
The Lager uses noble hops, the IPA uses Citra and Mosaic, and the Stout uses Fuggle.
Yeast
Maltose-negative brewer's yeast strain (cannot ferment maltose, the main sugar in wort)
Our house strain is maltose-negative: it cannot eat maltose, the main sugar in wort, so it builds the esters and depth of a fermented beer and leaves the alcohol under 0.5%. Banked and re-propagated for every batch.
Natural flavours
Citrus, orange and caramel
Custom natural flavours, added on top of the four core ingredients.
Recipes with natural spices such as clove, which has been shown to enhance digestion and reduce bloating.
Tastings coming soon
We are brewing test batches now, and we will put them in front of people in Bangalore before launch. Join the waitlist and we will tell you when and where.
Join the WaitlistTaste the process
All that work fits in a 500ml can. ₹229 at launch, delivered in Bangalore.
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