Well-balanced | On 16 March 2021, AB Vickers, part of the Lallemand Brewing Business Unit and a global leader in the field of brewing process aids, released its new yeast nutrient solution YeastLife O™.

Enzyme activity | Under the German Purity Law 40 different types of malt, over 200 strains of yeast, more than 250 hop varieties and the way in which the brewing process is performed alone provide many ways of developing styles of beer [1]. Besides water and malt, yeast and hops are the key factors in determining the flavour and aroma of a beer. Research has shown that not only do the quantity and timing of the hop dosage play an important role here but also the biochemical interaction with the strain of yeast used.

Testing the rule of thumb | The average beer drinker is still usually not familiar with the concept of original gravity or original extract. It is a common rule of thumb though that the ratio of 2½ (original extract, OE divided by the alcohol, as ABV) would be “about right” in most bottled beers. The authors have decided to find out in what way the rule of thumb factor of 2½ holds true and have, during the course of this investigation, discovered links to attenuation and inferred drinkability especially in lager type beers. These concepts were also checked against the portfolio of beers produced by Schilling Beer Co., a craft brewery situated in the northern part of New Hampshire, USA.

Yeast breeding | Renaissance BioScience Corp., a leading global bioengineering company based in Vancouver, Canada, is pleased to officially announce the publication of a landmark paper on lager yeast development in the February 2021 issue of Applied and Environmental Microbiology (Volume 87, Issue 3).

Enzymes | In November 2020, Kerry, the international Taste & Nutrition company from Ireland, released a technical report detailing the results of a sustainability life cycle assessment (LCA) conducted on Kerry’s range of brewing ingredients and enzymes (a study already mentioned in BRAUWELT International no. 5, 2020, pp. 348-351).

Hard Seltzer | Omega Yeast®, known for custom propped liquid yeast pitches, announces the November release of Propper Seltzer™, a yeast nutrient for non-malt, sugar-based fermentation. Propper Seltzer nutrient is compatible with any strain of yeast including beer yeast, champagne yeast, wine yeast and distillers yeast, and was designed to make things easier for brewers looking to create their own hard seltzer.

Fermentation cellar extension | Exceptional beers require extraordinary design. Retrofitting new outdoor tanks and process technology at the Jopen Brewery near Amsterdam has created new opportunities for further developments in beer production while simultaneously increasing process reliability.

Yeast research in focus | Please note: in the April 2021 issue of BrewingScience, we will focus on yeast once again. The 3rd BrewingScience Yeast Special will be published on April 30, 2021. All researchers working in the field of brewing yeast research are invited to submit their scientific articles by Monday, 11 January 2021, at the latest.

Dealcoholization | In August of 2019, “Ghost Ship 0.5 %”, a pale ale with strong citrus notes brewed by the British brewery Adnams in Southwold, UK, sailed back to the island nation with the gold medal it earned at the World Beer Awards. The award rounded off a year of meticulous product development with the new GEA AromaPlus dealcoholization system.

Kokumi-activity | Insight into the biochemical forces governing beer maturation has been lent further support by the “kokumi-active” conjecture. A further objective was to innovate a more time-efficient maturation process which replicated the flavour-enriched outcome of traditional lagering. The proposal is that pressure fermentation may lead to such a solution.

Over-attenuating yeast | At the turn of the century, hardly anyone in Germany was familiar with this yeast. Nowadays, Saccharomyces diastaticus has virtually become a household name, especially among craft brewers. Some use it to brew novel beers in the style of those from Belgium. Others, however, fear this yeast and despise it as a beer spoiler, conducting extensive analyses to detect the merest traces of its presence in an effort to eradicate it in their breweries.