Alcoholic Beverages

Alcoholic beverages have been produced throughout recorded human history. They are manufacture world-wide from locally available fermentable materials, which are sugars derived either from fruit juice, or from hydrolyzed grain and root starch. Some alcoholic beverages are drunk fresh, but more commonly they are aged to modify their flavor, whereas others are

 distilled to increase alcoholic strength. Yeasts are primarily used for fermentation. Their fermentation products are ethanol, a range of desirable organoleptic compounds(flavor and aroma) and CO2 (provides carbonation for some products). Alcoholic beverages means drinks with alcohol content more than 1%, mainly three categories,

 1) Beer 2) Wine, (non distilled, low alcohol content, produced by fermentation of sugar or starch) 3) Spirits (distilled one with higher alcohol content). E.g. Brandy, Whisky, Gin, Rum, Vodka, Tequila etc.

Beer Brewing
The term beer is given to non distilled alcoholic beverages made from partially germinated cereal grains, referred to as malt. They include ales, lagers and stouts which normally contain 3-8% ethanol. Their other main ingredients are hops, water and yeast.

Brewing Process
1.Malting: Malting is the partial germination of cereal grain for 6-9 days to form malt. This is the primary beer ingredient and contains mostly starch, some protein and hydrolytic enzymes. 2.Mashing and wort preparation: Involves the production of the aqueous fermentation medium, known as wort. It contains sugars, amino acids and other nutrients, and is prepared by solubilizing malt components through the action of endogenous hydrolytic enzymes.

 A proportion of adjuncts are now also added, which are unmalted cereal and non cereal starch sources and sugar syrups. The resulting liquid wort is then sterilized by boiling, at the same time hops are added to impart their bitter flavor and characteristic aroma. Overall wort preparation takes approximately 5-8h.

 3. Yeast fermentation is a non aseptic batch process that uses a starter culture of a selected brewing strain of S.cervisiae. The inoculated wort undergoes an alcoholic fermentation to produce ethanol,CO2 and minor metabolites that contribute to flavor and aroma. Fermentations usually last for 2-7 days depending upon the type of beer being produced.

 4. Post fermentation treatments are conducted to mature or condition new beer to make it ready for consumption, which may take from one to several weeks.

Malt and Malting

Malting involves the controlled partial germination of barely grain. This modifies the hard vitreous grain into a easily crushed form containing more readily degradable starch and generates hydrolytic enzymes especially amylases, -glucanases and proteases. Barely grains contain approximately 65% starch located within the endosperm region.

 Malting begin by soaking or steeping the barely in water for 2 days at 10-16 C, to increase moisture content to around 45% Draining of water Germination for 3-5 days at 16-19 C, by spreading the grain on malting floors or on grain bed (mechanized system). Grain modification can be promoted by abrasion or by application of gibberalic acid. Sufficiently modified malt is kilned via a two stage process.

 First is dried at 50-60C and then cured at 80-110 C. 2 days process Functions of kilning Arrest embryo growth and enzyme activity, while minimizing enzyme denaturation, and develops flavor and colour. At final moisture content 2-3%, the malt is biologically stable for several months.

Wort Preparation Mashing System 1)Infusion mashing 2)Decoction mashing 3)temperature programmed mashing Biochemistry of mashing Wort boiling

Fermentation
Yeast Characteristic Top fermenting strain(flotational flocculation behavior ) Bottom fermenting strain(sedimentry flocculation behavior) S.carlsbergensis Yeast management
A stock sample of yeast is grown up through a specific propagation procedure to produce suitable quqntity for inoculation, known as pitching.

Yeast nutrition Fermentation process Metabolic products of yeast Glycerol Higher alcohol-Butanol, hexanol, propanol,2-phenyl ethanol Esters-ethyl acetate, isoamyl acetate, isobutyl acetate etc Aldehyde-Acetaldehyde(ethanal) Diketones-diacetyl, pentane 2,3-dione.

 Sulphur compound dimethyl sulphide Post fermentation treatment and maturation Cask and bottle conditioning of ales Krausening Lagering Storage ageing Protein haze control Prevention of oxidation Packaging

Microbiological problems during brewing

Thermophilic lactic acid bacteria Coliforms Acetic acid bacteria Wild yeast