Brewing is used to convert the starches in the malt to sugar, which is then usable by the yeast later in the brewing process. Doing the latter rest at the lower end of the range favours β-amylase enzymes, producing more low-order sugars like maltotriose, maltose, and glucose which are more fermentable by the yeast. This in turn creates a beer lower in body and higher in alcohol. A rest closer to the higher end of the range favours α-amylase enzymes, creating more higher-order sugars and dextrins which are less fermentable by the yeast, so a fuller-bodied beer with less alcohol is
Low-alcohol beer commercial brewery, San Francisco's Anchor Brewing Company, also produces their "Anchor Small Beer" using the second runnings from their Old Foghorn Barleywine. The term is also used for commercially produced beers which are thought to taste too weak. The Middle East accounts for almost a third of worldwide sales of nonalcoholic and alcohol-free beer. Notable Islamic clerics in Saudi Arabia and Egypt have issued fatawa permitting the consumption of "alcohol-free" beers that can be proven to contain zero traces of alcohol. Alcohol-free beers such as Holsten, Barbican and Moussy are often available in stores and restaurants throughout the Arab world.