Enzymes for Brewing
Traditionally production of beer is by mixing crushed barley
malt and hot water in large vessel known as mash copper. This
process is known as ‘mashing’. Apart from malt, other
starch-based cereals such as maize (corn), sorghum, rice and barley,
or pure starch itself, are added to the mash. These are known
as adjuncts. After mashing, the mash is filtered in a lauter tun
and the liquid, known as 'sweet wort', is then run off to the
copper, where it is boiled with hops. The 'hopped wort' is cooled
and transferred to the fermentation vessels where yeast is added.
After the fermentation, the so-called 'green beer' is matured
before the final filtration and bottling.
Liquefying Adjuncts
Adjuncts are used as an extra source of starch in brewing and
usually consist of cereals. Protein also plays a vital role in
fermentation by providing soluble nitrogen compounds that the
yeast needs. Since the protein proportion in some types of adjunct
is very small, it may be necessary to provide extra protein in
the wort. This can be done by utilising the protein in the malt
more efficiently. By adding a protein splitting (protease) enzyme,
more protein can be solubilised and made available to the yeast.
In their natural form, starchbased cereals such as maize
grits and rice are boiled before being added to the malt mash.
The boiled (gelatinised) cereals are very viscous and need to
be thinned (liquefied) before they can be pumped into the mash
copper. This is done using an alpha amylase. Heat-stable alpha
amylases are also available that are effective even at 100?C to
ensure full liquefaction of the starch
Filtration
Slow rate of filtration is generally a problem when the mash
is run off in the lauter tun and also during the final filtration
of the beer. This is due to the presence of certain polysaccharides,
mainly betaglucans and pentosans, which are found in barley
and poorly modified barley malt. The solution is to break down
the betaglucans using a betaglucanase added during mashing
or at the start of the fermentation process.
Maps offers a range of amylases, glucoamylase, proteases for
distilling depending on the processes and applications.
| Palkolase HT |
Heat-stable alpha amylase for starch liquefaction |
| Palkodex |
Glucoamylase for starch saccharification |
| Palkoamylo |
Fungal alpha amylase for starch saccharification |
| Palkotase NUP |
Bacterial neutral protease for better yeast growth and
reducing fermentation time |
| Palkobrew BG |
Beta glucanase for improved wort separation and beer filtration |
| Palkobrew APG |
AAlpha amylase, protease and beta glucanase for brewing
high level djuncts |
| TOP |
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