Enzymes in Brewing
Enzymes in Brewing
Enzymes in Brewing
Exchanging part of the malt with barley has been popular because using barley in
combination with commercial enzymes gives the same beer quality as with malt.
Introducing a higher content of starch hydrolysing enzymes offer the possibiliti
es of producing light beer also called low calorie beer .
An enzyme solution for diacetyl control after fermentation improves vessel utili
zation, save energy and ensures a high beer quality after a reduced maturation t
ime.
Operation
Enzymes
Enzyme action
Function
Decoction vessel (cereal cooker)
a-amylase
Hydrolyse starch
Adjunct* liquefaction.
Reduce viscosity
-glucanase
Hydrolyse glucans.
Aid the filtration.
Mashing
a-amylase
Hydrolyse starch.
Malt improvement.
Amyloglucosidase
Increase glucose content.
Increase % fermentable sugar in light
beer.
Debranching enzyme
Hydrolyse a-1,6 branch points of starch.
Secures maximum fermentability of the wort.
Proteases
Increase soluble protein, and free amino- nitrogen (FAN).
Malt improvement
Improved yeast growth.
-glucanase
Hydrolyse glucans.
Improve wort separation.
Pentosanase/xylanase
Hydrolyse pentosans of malt, barley, wheat.
Improve extraction and beer filtration.
Fermentation
Fungal a-amylase
Increase maltose and glucose content.
Increase % fermentable sugar in
light
beer.
-glucanase
Hydrolyze glucans.
Reduce viscosity and aid filtration.
a-acetolactate- decarboxylase (ALDC)
Converts a-acetolactate to acetoin directly.
Decrease fermentation time by avoiding formation of diacetyl.
Conditioning tank
Protease
Modify protein-polyphenolic compounds.
Reduce the chill haze formed in beer.
* Adjunct is starchy cereals such as maize, rice, wheat, sorghum, barley or pure
starch materials added to the mash.
Table 1. Steps of the brewing operations where microbial enzymes are used.
Brewing with barley
Traditionally, the use of barley has been limited to 10-20% of the grist when us
ing high-quality malts. At higher levels of barley or using undermodified malts,
processing becomes more difficult. In these cases the mash needs to be suppleme
nted with extra enzyme activity if the brewer is to benefit from the advantages
of using unmalted barley while still maintaining brewing performance.
Brewers can either add a malt-equivalent blend of a-amylase, -glucanase and prote
ase at the mashing-in stage or add the enzymes separately as required.
As an example of the production of 6000 litre pilsner type beer from malt, barle
y and maize grits, the following raw materials, liquefaction - and mashing enzym
es can be used:
Raw materials:
Malt
475 kg
Barley
475 kg
Maize grits
400 kg
Liquefaction enzyme:
TermamylBrewQ
0.15 kg
Mashing enzymes:
CeremixPlus
0.50 kg
UltrafloMax
0.20 kg
TermamylBrewQ is an enzyme preparation containing a thermophilic a-amylase.
CeremixPlus is an enzyme preparation containing -glucanase, xylanase, a-amylase an
d protease
UltrafloMax is an enzyme preparation containing -glucanase and arabinoxylanase.
Figure 5. Mashing diagram for barley brewing (an example).
The mashing diagram is shown in figure 5. The maize grits are liquefied separate
ly with help of the a-amylase TermamylBrewQ at 96?C for 30 minutes, through a sho
rt holding time at 70?C. It is stabilised by approximately 100 ppm Ca++ at a wat
er-to-adjunct ratio of approximately 4:1. Milled malt and barley are mashed-in a
t a temperature of 50?C. After 30 minutes the adjunct mash from the decoction ve
ssel is added to increase the temperature to 63-66?C. After 60 minutes the mash
is heated to hold at 76-78?C until starch-negative (no blue colour is formed wit
h iodine in potassium iodide). Hereafter the wort separation is made in the laut
er tun.
Brewing with high amounts (>50%) of barley instead of malt is now possible thank
s to the introduction of the new enzyme system UltrafloMax (2).
Enzymes to improve fermentation
Small adjustments in fermentability can be achieved by adding amyloglucosidase a
lone or in combination with debranching enzymes at mashing-in or a fungal a-amyl
ase at the start of fermentation.
To describe to which extent the extracted sugars are fermentable brewers define
degree of attenuation, which is synonymously with degree of fermentation or ferm
entability.
Figure 6. Total fermentable sugar production with different dosages of Attenuzym
e (kg per ton malt) and extended mashing at 63 C
Beer types with very high attenuation ("light beer" or low calorie beer ) are most
often produced using amyloglucosidase alone. Extended mashing at 63C and high dos
ages of enzymes is necessary to produce extremely high attenuated beer (see figu
re 6).
Fungal a-amylases are used to produce mainly maltose and dextrins whereas amylog
lucosidase produces glucose from both linear and branched dextrins.
Diacetyl control
An important question for brewers is When exactly is a beer mature? , because this
determines when they can rack the beer to make way for the next batch. The simple
answer to the above question is when the diacetyl level drops below a certain li
mit (about 0.07 ppm). Diacetyl gives beer an off-flavour like buttermilk and one
of the main reasons for maturing a beer is to allow the diacetyl to drop to a l
evel where it can t be tasted.