Category Archives: Brew

Is Your Beer Making You Sick? – #365papers – 2018 – 55

Pradenas, Galarce-Bustos, Henriquez-Aedo, Mundaca-Uribe, and Aranda, 2016, Occurrence of biogenic amines in beers from Chilean market: Food Control, v. 70, 138-144

What’s it about?

Brewing beer is serious organic chemistry, and beer can have some not-really-healthy chemicals in them from various sources. The authors of this paper discuss the occurrence of amines (a type of biologically produced chemical) in beers produced in Chile that can, at high concentrations, have negative effects on the health of the beer drinker.

There are two general sources of these amines, either from microbial contamination (like small quantities of bacteria in the beer) or could have been present in the raw materials used to make the beer (barley, yeast, and hops). Continue reading “Is Your Beer Making You Sick? – #365papers – 2018 – 55”

The Relative Amounts of Essential Oils in Hops Gives Them Unique Flavor and Aroma – #365papers – 2017 – 73

#365papers for March 14, 2017

Auerbach, Dost, and Davidson, 2000, Characterization of verietal differences in essential oil components of hops (Humulus lupulus) by SFC-FTIR spectroscopy: Journal of AOAC International, v. 83, p. 621-626.

What’s it about?

This paper discusses a spectroscopy method to explore what makes the flavors and aromas of different hop varieties distinct. They focus on the three most common components of hop essential oils: humulene, caryophyllene, and myrcene.Continue reading “The Relative Amounts of Essential Oils in Hops Gives Them Unique Flavor and Aroma – #365papers – 2017 – 73”

Conservation in Beer: Barley, Hops, and Finished Beer – #365papers – 2017 – 71

#365papers for March 12, 2017

Jerumanis, 1985, Quantitative analysis of flavanoids in barley, hops, and beer by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC): Journal of the Institute of Brewing, v. 91, p. 250-252.

What’s it about?

This paper takes a liquid chromatographic approach to determining where compounds important to the success of beer come from. Polyphenols (including flavanoids) can contribute to haze, coloration, and taste in beer. The authors describe methods to extract the polyphenols and analyze them.

This is just a methods paper, so they really don’t draw conclusions from the analyses that they did. Should such a paper be published today, there would have to be an important research question associated with it. Science has changed in the last 30 years…Continue reading “Conservation in Beer: Barley, Hops, and Finished Beer – #365papers – 2017 – 71”

What Makes Aroma Hops So Fragrant? – #365papers – 2017 – 70

#365papers for March 11, 2017

Nance and Setzer, 2011, Volatile components of aroma hops (Humulus lupulus L.) commonly used in beer brewing: Journal of Brewing and Distilling, v. 2, p. 16-22.

What’s it about?

The authors use gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GCMS) to determine what makes the aromatic nature of different varieties of hops so distinct. They use the similarities and differences to show which hop varieties are more closely related to each other.Continue reading “What Makes Aroma Hops So Fragrant? – #365papers – 2017 – 70”

Brewing with Hybrid Yeast – #365papers – 2017 – 42

#365papers for February 11, 2017

Krogerus, Magalhaes, Vidgren, and Gibson, 2017, Novel brewing yeast hybrids: creation and application: Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, v. 101, p. 65-78.

What’s it about?

This paper discusses the state of knowledge about yeasts used in brewing. It focuses especially on yeasts used for brewing lagers (bottom-fermentation at low temperature).Continue reading “Brewing with Hybrid Yeast – #365papers – 2017 – 42”

Solar Powered Brewing – #365papers – 2017 – 18

#365papers for January 18, 2017

Bair, 2014, Solar Powered Brewing of Beverages: United States Patent Application, Pub. no. US 2014/0186493 A1.

What’s it about?

This patent is for a unique method of harnessing solar energy for malting, boiling, and fermenting beer and other fermented beverages.Continue reading “Solar Powered Brewing – #365papers – 2017 – 18”

Malts for Gluten-Free Beer – #365papers – 2017 – 15

#365papers for January 15, 2017

De Meo, Freeman, Marconi, Booer, Perretti, and Fantozzi, 2011, Behaviour of Malted Cereals and Pseudo-Cereals for Gluten-Free Beer Production: Journal of the Institute of Brewing, v. 117, p.541-546.

What’s it about?

One of the reasons why other grains aren’t used so much as barley for making beers is that they tend not to yield as much fermentable sugar as does barley. This paper investigated various techniques for malting gluten-free grains to be able to get enough sugar for good fermentation.Continue reading “Malts for Gluten-Free Beer – #365papers – 2017 – 15”

Brewing with Unmalted Sorghum – #365papers – 2017 – 10

#365papers for January 10, 2017

Holmes, Casey, and Cook, 2016, Mashing with unmalted sorghum using a novel low temperature enzymes system: Impacts of sorghum grain composition and microstructure: Food Chemistry, v. 221, p. 324-334.

What’s it about?

Sorghum is a grain that can be used to make gluten-free beer. By using un-malted sorghum, you can save the step of malting, but you need to use high temperatures and add enzymes to get the sugars (which are later fermented) from the starch in the grain. This paper discusses a low temperature alternative to get sugar from the starches in sorghum grain.Continue reading “Brewing with Unmalted Sorghum – #365papers – 2017 – 10”

Vegemite Beer? – #365papers – 2017 – 8

#365papers for January 8, 2017

Kerr and Schulz, 2016, Vegemite Beer: yeast extract spreads as nutrient supplements to promote fermentation: PeerJ, 4:e2271 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2271

What’s it about?

Vegemite is a food spread that is made from brewer’s yeast extract. Apparently, it has been used as a source of yeast for illegal brewing. This paper looks at the use of vegemite for this and any other benefits vegemite may offer to brewing. It turns out that there’s no living yeast in vegemite, but it is a decent nutrient for yeast if it comes from somewhere else.Continue reading “Vegemite Beer? – #365papers – 2017 – 8”

Mass Spectrometry and Brewing Beer – #365papers – 2017 – 4

#365papers for January 4, 2017

Vivian, Aoyagui, de Oliveira, and Catharino, 2016, Mass spectrometry for the characterization of brewing process: Food Research International, v. 89, p. 281-288.

What’s it about?

This paper presents a means by which beer, in various stages of its production, can be easily tested for off-flavors and other faults without having to wait for the final product to ferment and carbonate.Continue reading “Mass Spectrometry and Brewing Beer – #365papers – 2017 – 4”