Toolkit
Product Spotlight • OYL-410

Guide to NA

OYL-410
Efficiency NA Next Propper Thiolized ToolKit
3 min read

Exploring NA production? Here's a quick guide to get things jump-started.

When the alcohol is gone, everything else has to work harder.

Non-alcoholic beer production is a fickle beast. Two problems are at the center. First, safety: NA beer can be a generous medium for spoilage organisms, even at 4.0–4.5 pH. Second, flavor: cut the alcohol and body, aroma, and liveliness can go with it. Our suggestion to brewers: rethink your recipe and approach and don’t treat NA like normal beer. 


The NA Toolkit is built to help you navigate this path. Engineered yeast allows maltose-negative fermentation with an optional tropical lever. It’s paired with stability enhancers to complement pasteurization and lab services to validate your process.

Toolkit at a glance

Four tools, one workflow. 

Yeast Strains

01 the engine

 Solsta (OYL-410) is the maltose-negative ale strain engineered for NA. Pinnacle Low Alcohol is the dry, pitch-and-go alternative.

Propper Phantasm

02 the tropical lever

 A liquid thiol precursor that activates Solsta’s Thiolized pathway to passion fruit, grapefruit, and guava with naturally sourced New Zealand ingredients.

Propper Chiber

03 the protection

 A chitosan fiber antimicrobial that limits spoilage organisms in NA beer’s pH window. It pairs with pasteurization to strengthen shelf stability.

Lab Services

04 The proof

 NA Micro Panel, forced-stability testing, and Chiber compatibility provides the validation behind a safe NA release.

 

The yeast strains

Maltose-negative by design

Solsta carries NA modification, which disrupts the genetic pathway that ferments maltose, the primary sugar in wort. The yeast ferments far less of it, so the beer finishes low in alcohol while the malt and hop character stays in the glass.

Solsta

oyl-410

 Solsta (OYL-410) is maltose-negative strain that was engineered for distinctive NA: clean and neutral by default, or with a Thiolized pathway.

Pinnacle Low Alcohol

PIN-005

 A maltose-negative yeast, specifically selected to produce a clean low alcohol beer with very low levels of worty and grainy notes. The clean aroma and absence of phenolic off flavors make it suitable for wide variety of beer styles.

 

The Technology Behind it

NA technology disrupts the genetic pathway that ferments maltose. With those sugars off the menu, there’s a route to a wide range of styles with minimal alcohol.

Thiolized technology unlocks bound thiol precursors when paired with Propper Phantasm, biotransforming them into vivid tropical aromatics.

Making it tropical

If you want to activate tropical thiol expression

Propper Phantasm is a liquid thiol precursor that activates Solsta’s Thiolized pathway. An extra dose of precursor and Solsta releases vivid tropical aromatics: passion fruit, grapefruit, and guava. Made with naturally sourced New Zealand ingredients, Propper Phantasm gives NA IPAs an expressive lever to pull without leaning entirely on dry hopping. Lowering the load of polyphenols from dry-hop additions will help the effectiveness of Propper Chiber downstream.

Ensuring shelf stability

Shelf stability, Propperly achieved  

Propper Chiber is a chitosan fiber from white button mushrooms that physically disrupts spoilage organisms where conventional preservatives underperform. Chitosan carries a positive charge; microbial membranes carry a negative one. When they meet, the membrane fails. It is not an immediate kill step or guaranteed substitute for pasteurization. Think of it as a strong, every-batch assistant that strengthens your food safety program and pairs especially well with pasteurization.

Source 

 White button mushroom chitosan

Standard dose

 0.2% = 2 mL/L

Effective PH

 3.0-6.5

Heat Stability

 to 260 °C / 500 °F, 30 min

Cost in use 

 ~$0.01 / can

Availability

 Overnight

Status 

 FDA GRAS · TTB · Vegan · Allergen-free

Every batch

1. Clarify and remove yeast
2. Dose with Propper Chiber prior to packaging
3. Test product and monitor activity
4. Validate and document that every batch is food safe before release 


A word of warning: Propper Chiber’s positive charge binds anything negative, including hop polyphenols, haze proteins, and some gums, so it won't work in all styles and recipes. To verify it will be effective with a recipe, clarify the beer first and run a 24-hour interaction test on every batch. 


Quality Assurance

Partner up with the lab

NA brewing requires a credible food safety program including pasteurization, validated preservation methods, and micro testing on every batch before public release. Our Lab Services can support micro testing needs but brewers are responsible for their own food safety plan.

Matrix Compatibility Test

24 hr observation

 Visual interaction tests for your actual batch dosed with 0.1% and 0.2% Chiber to confirm no adverse reactions before you dose at scale. Available pre-purchase.

NA Micro Panel

~ 1 week from receipt 

 Finished packaged product: total yeast, total bacteria, maltose-positive yeast, E. coli, Enterobacter. Confirms absence of growth after Chiber treatment.

NA Forced-Stability Test

Shelf confidence

 Stress-tests finished NA beers to identify stability risks before they reach the shelf.

 

Putting it all together

From pitch to release.

  1. Ferment with Solsta or Pinnacle Low Alcohol: Create your clean NA base below 0.5% ABV. Add Propper Phantasm if you want the tropical thiol pathway.
  2. Clarify, then test: Clarify to remove yeast and run the 24-hour Chiber interaction test or order a Matrix Compatibility Test if you want the lab to confirm it.
  3. Dose & Monitor: Dose Propper Chiber at packaging, then monitor micro until no growth is observed. Propper Chiber targets a wide range of organisms, but some will require more time.
  4. Validate & Release: Confirm with the NA Micro Panel or a third-party lab. Plan 4–5 weeks from package to release on your first batch.