But Assistant Professor Rod White from the University of Nottingham warns there's a long road ahead when "messing with something very special to people".
"Even if it tastes okay, I've worked in brewing a long time before I did this job, and you mess with people's beer at your peril," the former Molson Coors UK lead technical auditor told 9News.com.au. "Your beer is very, very emotive — you don't need anyone to tell you that as an Australian — beer is emotive, it's, it's regional."
While Fritsche is confident of widespread success leading bigger brewers to follow his lead, White would be "shocked" if such a "conservative" industry accepted such a radical change.Instead, he sees a potential market among campers, hikers and in other areas where weight is an issue, and thinks the real benefit is not so much in stripping the water out of the beer but cutting back on packaging.
If beer makers and drinkers want to do something to cut back on their carbon footprint, White has two suggestions."I think we'd be far better off as a society drinking less but drinking more in pubs socially, you know, trying to fight social exclusion," he said."And I think swigging cans at home in front of the telly probably doesn't have a great deal of value other than, you know, maybe you want a beer on a Friday after a heavy week.