Brewing

Most of the sugar present in plant materials is in the form of complex polysaccharides such as starch and cannot be readily utilised. Traditionally these nutrients are 'released' by the process of malting whereby barley is allowed to partly germinate during which endogenous enzymes are released which degrade starch and protein to simple sugars and amino acids which can be utilised by the yeast cells.

The malting process is a relatively expensive way of manufacturing enzymes and is not always easy to control. Industrial enzymes such as amylases, glucanases and proteases can be added to unmalted barley resulting in the same simple sugars and amino acids that malting would liberate but in a more controlled fashion.

Enzymes also play an important role as filtration improvers. Slow filtration of the mash or final beer often results from the presence of viscous polysaccharides such as xylans and glucans. Pretreatment with xylanases or glucanases break down these viscous polysaccharides thereby increasing filtration rates and preventing fouling of filtration membranes.

ESC has many years experience in the brewing sector. Contact us for all your requirements including:

• Enzyme activity analysis for quality control
• New product development
• Enzyme stabilisation
• Raw material analysis
• Process optimisation
• Finished product analysis