Malt is an important industrial product with a huge market outlet. The diverse microbial communities naturally colonizing barley grains greatly influence malt quality and subsequently other products in the malt value chain, in particular beer. In this manuscript, an overview is given of current knowledge of barley and malt-derived microorganisms and their impact on malt properties. In addition, emphasis is put on strategies to enhance the malting process, including the use of starter cultures and the management of endogenous microflora. Molecular studies on microbial community composition and function throughout the process will contribute to efficient implementation of these strategies, ultimately leading to more efficient wort production and enhanced beer flavour quality and stability..

The coherence of particle size distribution and reaction behaviour is well-known in process engineering as well as in the brewing industry [15, 17, 21]. Additionally, the particle size distribution can give precious information about the status quo of several processes. Usually, in the brewhouse, only the particle size distribution of the malt grist is measured by sieving [4]. But, the particle size distribution changes during the mashing process. To measure these changes, wet sieving methods are possible but too complex to get fast and authentic results. Thus a fast and reproducible method is missing for mash. Therefore, an analysis method with laser diffraction was developed, which give brewers now the possibility to analyse the status of the mashing process..

A rapid analysis of the amounts of flocculent and powdery yeasts is of major significance for improving brewing process management and for the quality of high attenuating beers. In the context of a research project B88 of WIFÖ Wissenschaftsförderung der deutschen Brauwirtschaft [EV] (Science Foundation of the German Beer Brewing Industries), a method has been developed that can differentiate between the sugar structures of the cell walls of the two yeast strains. This, however, will work only under defined laboratory conditions. The reasons are discussed below.

Hop pellets, conventional hop extracts (ethanol and CO2), isomerized kettle extracts (IKE, PIKE) and light stable kettle extracts (LSKE) are the products usually used in the brew house. Besides excellent storage stability, hop extracts are homogenous and therefore can be dosed precisely to add mainly bitterness to the beer.

British hop growers have the most exciting prospects since the 1960s, said Simon Jackson, Chief Executive of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling (IBD), speaking at the presentation ceremony for the Institute’s annual “English Hop Competition”.

Our new CO₂-Extraction plant in Mainburg, which has a capacity of approx. 4,000 tons of hops per year, started up in autumn 2010. This new investment is an extremely important addition to our well-established Ethanol-Extraction plant.

Due to its high oxidative potential, ozone is a highly reactive molecule that is able to oxidize and mineralize inorganic and organic materials. In water, ozone decomposes into oxygen for which reason it seems to be an ideal candidate for removal of persistent substances and microbes during water treatment. Today, ozone is widely applied in water processing of drinking and process water. Other possible applications for treatment and disinfection of surfaces in medical areas and food processing are currently under development and will be further described in the next part of this article series. This review gives an overview over the current state-of-the art in ozone production and possible operational areas.

BrewingScience - Monatsschrift für Brauwissenschaft, 64 (January/February 2011), pp. 8-12

The present study reviews changes in the requirements for malting quality and collection of malting barley varieties in the Czech Republic in 2010. It gives micromalting results and results of malt and wort analyses of 22 most widespread and new malting barley varieties registered in the Czech Republic. Varieties causing haze were withdrawn from the collection. The actual collection includes two groups of malting barley varieties. The varieties with high activity of hydrolytic enzymes and high attenuation and the varieties recommended for production of beer with the Protected Geographical Indication Czech Beer, i.e. varieties with lower degree of final attenuation, lower values of Kolbach index, friability, etc.

BrewingScience - Monatsschrift für Brauwissenschaft, 64 (January/February 2011), p. 1-7

To many settlers and later immigrants St. Louis became a synonym for the first step into the unknown, but also for an independent future. It took a lot of energy, initiative and confidence in their own abilities to be able to take this risky step and break new ground – the typical American dream. For brewers, this holds true to the present day. The U.S. craft brewers community provides a fascinating and unconventional environment, full of spirits– a hotbed of ideas. This sounded so attractive that a young German brewer and his American colleague, David Wolfe, dared to take the first steps into self-employment. BRAUWELT International talked with Florian Kuplent about his personal American dream.

How bitter are the beers we drink? And how much has the bitterness changed over the years? Although beer production has been growing worldwide for several years now, hops have been used less on average per hl of beer. The trend towards less bitter beers started several decades ago and should be seen in connection with the global distribution of certain brands of beer and the resultant homogenisation of the taste experience. In order to establish how marked this trend is and where it will lead, the Barth-Haas Group began to conduct annual analyses of various brands of beer to examine bitterness in 2006. The results of these analyses are presented in the article below. For the sake of clarity, only the results of the 2009 surveys have been taken.

Hops are one of the most interesting areas of research worldwide and all possible applications for hops are far from having been identified. The Barth-Haas Group awards grants for research projects into hops each year. The grants are intended for students who are looking for a topic for their seminar papers, thesis or Master’s thesis dealing with hops and their applications in the brewing industry. The results of the 2008 research are presented below.