Kehrwieder

The name carries local significance. "Kehrwieder" is the traditional Hamburg farewell called out to departing sailors, urging them to come back safely. It's fitting for a brewery that blends international craft beer influences with deep roots in the city's Harburg district.

Kehrwieder started as a gypsy operation, brewing wherever equipment was available. Wesseloh eventually set up his own kit using repurposed milk tanks salvaged from dairy farmers. The resourcefulness paid off. The brewery has since produced over 100 different beers and collected a cabinet full of international awards.

The alcohol-free range represents a serious commitment, not an afterthought. Around half of Kehrwieder's output is now alcohol-free, built around three core beers: an IPA, a coffee stout, and a juicy pale ale. The flagship ü.NN (short for "über Normal Null", meaning above sea level) was Germany's first non-alcoholic pale ale.

The brewing approach here is worth noting. Rather than removing alcohol from finished beer, Kehrwieder uses a special yeast that cannot ferment malt sugars. This allows a completely normal brewing process without producing alcohol, which means the beer retains body and complexity that dealcoholised versions often lose. The ü.NN gets dry-hopped with Simcoe and Mosaic for citrus and pine character, pouring hazy orange with genuine depth.

Wesseloh runs the brewery as a family business with his wife Julia. He remains active in the wider beer world as a founding member of Deutsche Kreativbrauer, the German craft brewers' association, and judges at the World Beer Cup and European Beer Star.

Kehrwieder's alcohol-free beers are available through specialist retailers in the UK including Dry Drinker. A Hamburg craft operation with serious pedigree, and one of the few German breweries that has put genuine thought into its AF range.