Patenting is in the works for a non-alcoholic fermented beverage that smells and tastes like coffee but has the body of beer. Nestec, a branch of Nestlé in Switzerland, says creating the beverage was no easy feat. Fermentation processes had to be carefully controlled to prevent alcohol from forming. Preserving the taste of coffee by creating coffee oil with a cryogenic condenser was needed as well. Nitrogen is also injected into the drink to make it foam. All this is according to Barry Fox's Invention column. Fox also has a link to the Nestec patent. England's Meantime brewery also offers a coffee beer (pictured here), although this appears to be more of a blend of beer and Rwandan coffee than an actual fermentation of coffee products.
Kind of reminds me of that time the Simpsons went to Australia: "Coff-ee...Be-er."
