Whole grain conditioning for malt

It has already been successfully tested in the laboratory. Now, the first installation in a brewery confirms the advantages of whole grain conditioning also in the field. This process, jointly developed by Buhler and Ziemann and now also patented, allows the brewing capacity to be increased as well as the beer quality to be improved without affecting the inherent taste of the beer. Large and small breweries aiming at reducing their production time and cutting their costs will greatly profit from this new process.

The transfer of hop aroma compounds during the brewing process

In order to achieve a perceptible hop aroma in beer, late hop additions near the end of the boil or in the whirlpool have become standard practice. It is common knowledge that the bittering substances contained in hops fluctuate from year to year, and, as part of standard brewhouse practices, this is taken into account when calculating hop additions. However, the impact of the fluctuations in hop aroma compounds stemming from seasonal and varietal differences on the beer are rarely taken into consideration, to such an extent that this sometimes leads to significant variation in sensory quality.

An invitation to Pilsen

In 2008, the 34th seminar for brewers and maltsters took place at the Pilsener Urquell Brewery from the 22nd to the 24th of October. Around 300 people from the Czech Republic as well as from neighboring countries took the opportunity to meet with colleagues and listen to the presentations.

There are several options available for brewers to produce beers with hop aroma.

Spring 2008 witnessed an acreage increase that had not been seen for over thirty years.

This work investigated the gushing phenomenon in wort samples by applying commonly used gushing tests (Weihenstephaner and modified Carlsberg test) in order to identify conditions for the development of gushing. The mashing and boiling procedures were modified (Weihenstephaner test), and the amount of wort and time of shaking of the bottle were increased (modified Carlsberg test). For the experiments one malt sample was applied that was identified as gushing-positive (Weihenstephaner test). A changing pattern of the mashing process revealed that gushing was induced after heating up to 97 °C while no gushing was observed until 80 °C. Heating up the mash from 80 °C to 100 °C and boiling it for 5 min afterwards sufficed for gushing to be induced in the wort sample..

Commercial fluxcalcined kieselguhr or coarse kieselguhr is produced using sodium carbonate as fluxing agent. This coarse kieselguhr contains crystalline structures of silicon dioxide, mainly cristobalite and opal-CT. These crystalline structures are, in respirable form, classified as carcinogenic material and thereby cause concern in occupational health and disposal of spent material. In this paper the influence of the formation of crystalline material during fluxcalcination of kieselguhr using various fluxing agents is described. Additionally characteristics of the kieselguhr samples, concerning the suitability as filter aid have been investigated. Samples were heat treated from 900 °C to 1050 °C for 1h to 4h in a muffle kiln..

Response surface methodology was used to investigate the influence of three malting parameters, degree of steeping, germination time and temperature, on the quality of triticale malt. Each predictor variable was tested at three levels. Germination times were set to 5, 6, and 7 d, degrees of steeping to 42, 45, and 48 %, and germination temperatures were 15, 18 and 21 °C. The initial kilning temperature for all malts was set to 50 °C and gradually increased to 80 °C. A series of malt quality attributes were investigated including extract, viscosity, arabinoxylan, apparent attenuation limit, α- and β-amylase activity, limit dextrinase activity, α-amino nitrogen (FAN), Kolbach index, soluble N and dimethyl sulfide precursor (DMS-P).8 % extract, 78.305 mPa × s viscosity..

Going for the stars

The European Beer Star was set up in 2004 and has become a renowned competition by now where international independent experts award beers in their respective categories. In 2009 the event will take place for the sixth time, attracting brewers from all over the world. BRAUWELT International talked with Dr. Werner Gloßner of the Association “Private Brauereien Bayern [EV]” about the initial objectives of the European Beer Star, its history and success and its commitment to a traditional and authentic art of brewing.

Total nitrogen content of barley, malt and beer was usually measured by Kjeldahl method. In brewing science this method has been used for many years to measure total protein (N x 6.25 = protein concentration) in beer, but it measures nitrogen rather than proteins. Kjeldahl method determines total nitrogen but is prone to interference from non-protein and nitrogen-containing compounds, and fails to detect subtle changes in the protein content of wort and beer.

A prerequisite for the production of lightstable beers is the use of reduced hop products, iso-alpha acids which have been converted into rho-, tetra- and hexa-hydro-iso-alpha acids.