Welcome to Learning English, a daily 30 minute program from the Voice of America.

I'm Ashley Thompson.

And I'm Mario Ritter Jr.

This program is designed for English learners,

so we speak a little slower and we use words and phrases especially written for people learning English.

On today's program you will hear reports from John Russell and Mario Ritter Jr.

Brian Lynn presents this week's Technology Report.

We close the show by hearing today's lesson of the day from Jill Robbins and Andrew Smith.

But first, this Report. The head brewmaster for Vayenschoffin, the world's oldest brewery, has a secret.

The secret is that he really likes to drink alcohol-free beer.

Tobia Solo is quick to say that he enjoys real beer more.

Still, the expert brewer says he enjoys alcohol-free beer when he is working.

Alcohol-free beer has the same taste as usual beer but has fewer calories, he said.

The caloric reduction is a result of the brewery's process of evaporating the alcohol.

You can't drink beer every day, unfortunately.

He joked recently at the Bavarian state brewery in the German town of Friesing, located about 31 kilometers

north of Munich.

Zolo is not alone in his enjoyment for alcohol-free beer.

The drink has been gaining popularity in recent years

as interest in the alcoholic version decreases.

Christian monks established Vienstoffen as a brewery in 1040.

The operation began to produce non-alcoholic wheat beer and lager in the 1990s.

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