Carlsberg unveils the world’s smallest beer

Carlsberg has unveiled what it calls the “world’s smallest beer”, a non-alcoholic innovation at just 12 millimeters tall, created to promote responsible and moderate drinking. Developed in collaboration with research institute RISE, glass specialist Glaskomponent and miniature artist Åsa Strand, the minuscule bottle contains only 0.005 centiliters of non-alcoholic beer which amounts to about a single drop.

“To promote responsible drinking, we present our most moderate idea ever. The world’s smallest beer holds only one-twentieth of a millilitre and is so small that it’s easy to miss. But the message is much bigger: we want to remind people of the importance of drinking responsibly,” said Casper Danielsson, Head of Communications at Carlsberg Sweden.

Casper added, “Some might think the bottle doesn’t exist, or that the images are AI-generated. But it’s actually a product of craftsmanship, innovation and a close collaboration between us and several experts.”

The project combined cutting-edge research and artistic precision, with RISE using fibre-optic precision capillaries to fill the bottle, Glaskomponent developing the glass design and Åsa Strand handcrafting the cap, label and colouring. “Crafting and applying the colour, cap and label for a bottle just 12 millimeters tall has been incredibly challenging and great fun. There was no established way of doing this, but with precision, patience and creativity we managed to make it work,” said Åsa.

To celebrate the launch, Carlsberg has teamed up with Tekniska Högskolan Studentkår (Student Union at KTH Royal Institute of Technology) for a competition challenging students across Sweden to create an even smaller beer. “Like Carlsberg, we students usually focus on the big questions but we know that we can also grow even more from the smaller and trickier challenges, or as KTH would call them, intractable problems. I’m excited to see how KTH students take on this one,” said Lydia Boij, President of Tekniska Högskolans Studentkårer.

The winner will receive a prize of SEK 10,000 and an exclusive visit to the Carlsberg Research Laboratory in Copenhagen.