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Fermentation/Maturation
Monitoring the sugar trend | Dry hopping can change beer after apparent final gravity has been reached. Hop-associated enzymes may release fermentable sugars from residual dextrins, allowing viable yeast to restart fermentation. Monitoring the sugar trend provides an earlier control signal for cooling, packaging and release.
Fermentation/Maturation
National fungus | Sake is an ancient alcoholic beverage made from a mash of steamed rice. However, because rice, unlike barley, lacks enzymes for converting its own starch into fermentable sugars that yeast can metabolize, mashing rice to produce a fermentable extract requires the introduction of exogenous enzymes. This article tells the story of how Japanese alcohol makers have mastered this challenge and, by implication, how today’s brewers can make sake with modern equipment.
Fermentation/Maturation
Novel approach | Lagering – the extended cold maturation phase after primary beer fermentation – has long been considered indispensable for producing the clarity, stability, and refined flavor profile that define traditional lager beers. This process, typically lasting from 1 day to several months (beer type dependent), allows for the reduction of off-flavors, precipitation of haze-forming compounds, and, for certain beers, development of the right taste. However, the economic and operational drawbacks are significant: prolonged vessel occupancy, high energy costs for refrigeration, and delayed time-to-market. Recent advances in brewing science are challenging this paradigm. A novel approach, described in a recent patent application, introduces the use of umami flavor–producing enzymes to accelerate flavor development during lagering. By promoting the release of free amino acids and nucleotides, these enzymes develop essential sensory benefits of traditional prolonged lagering in a fraction of the time – potentially reducing the process to less than a few days without compromising quality.
Fermentation/Maturation
Alternative yeasts | The exploration of non-Saccharomyces yeasts in brewing continues to expand. This study investigates Zygosaccharomyces bailii as a potential alternative fermenting yeast, focusing on its capacity to metabolise wort sugars and influence aroma formation in monoculture and co-fermentation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Fermentation/Maturation
Quality assurance | Phenolic aroma compounds can significantly impact the aroma profile of beverages. Depending on beer style and consumer expectations, they are regarded both as valuable aroma compounds as well as off-flavours. The latter case is referred to as phenolic off-flavour (POF).
Fermentation/Maturation
Viability and vitality | Yeast physiology plays a crucial role in producing good-quality beer. Premium-quality beer can only be brewed when the yeast is highly vital and the proportion of dead yeast cells in the pitching yeast is low. Apart from economic factors such as fermentation and maturation duration or technological-qualitative aspects such as clarification and flocculation behaviour during beer production, yeast influences beer qualities such as sensory attributes, as well as foam and haze stability, among other factors.
Fermentation/Maturation
Process Optimization | The non-alcoholic beverage segment is growing rapidly and will probably continue to do so in the foreseeable future. Therefore, breweries would be well-advised to expand their product palette to offer their customers these beverages. In the production of non-alcoholic beer in-house, whether in accordance with the Reinheitsgebot or not, achieving a high level of microbiological stability while also making a highly drinkable and flavorful product is not easy. The following technical considerations should provide a basis for overcoming these challenges.
Fermentation/Maturation
Decoding barrel ageing | Wood-ageing shapes the flavour and colour of alcoholic drinks like whisky, wine, and sour beers. Fermented beers aged in barrels for months to a year develop complex flavors, influenced by both wood compounds and (wild) microorganisms [1–3]. To improve consistency, a lab-scale system was developed to study microbial communities and beer chemistry during ageing. This study summarizes findings previously published BrewingScience in 2023 [4].
Raw materials
Quantity and timing | There are many different categories of beer on today’s global beer market, and consumers have certain expectations when they choose a particular type. Most dry-hopped beers are top-fermented e.g. (New England) India Pale Ales, and a certain turbidity is an essential part of these beers’ character. To investigate how haze is affected by dry hopping, a study was conducted to evaluate the influence of pellet quantity and the time of dosage in the cold side of the brewing process.
Fermentation/Maturation
Raising long-term stability | Part 1 of this two-part series of articles (BRAUWELT International no. 2 2025, pp. 82–86) compared stability of top-fermented, hop accentuated beers and a Pilsener beer. Part 1 also underlined the vital role of esters influenced by hops. Product development, selection of raw materials or production techniques (selection of hop variety, variety mixes, hopping technology etc.) can be a first step towards product stability. This second part of the contribution provides an outlook on which type of stabilisation can be used to reduce any negative changes prior to consumption as far as possible.
Over a pint
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