Researchers make non-alcoholic beer taste like regular beer

Date:
February 11, 2022
Source:
University of Copenhagen - Faculty of Science
Summary:
Finally, researchers have found a way to brew non-alcoholic beer
that tastes just like regular beer. Even more, the method is far
more sustainable than the existing brewing techniques.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
Even though sales of non-alcoholic beer have risen substantially
in Denmark and Europe in the last couple of years, there are
still many people that won't follow the healthy trend because they_find_the_taste_not_to_be_quite_as_good_as that_of_regular_beers.


==========================================================================
Some people find the taste to be flat and watery and this has a natural explanation, according to Sotirios Kampranis, a Professor at the
University of Copenhagen.

"What non-alcoholic beer lacks is the aroma from hops. When you remove
the alcohol from the beer, for example by heating it up, you also kill
the aroma that comes from hops. Other methods for making alcohol-free
beer by minimizing fermentation also lead to poor aroma because alcohol
is needed for hops to pass their unique flavor to the beer," he says.

But now, Kampranis and his colleague Simon Dusse'aux - both founders
of the biotech company EvodiaBio - have cracked the code of how to make non-alcoholic beer that is full of hop aroma.

"After years of research, we have found a way to produce a group of
small molecules called monoterpenoids, which provide the hoppy-flavor,
and then add them to the beer at the end of the brewing process to
give it back its lost flavor. No one has been able to do this before,
so it's a game changer for non- alcoholic beer," says Sotirios Kampranis.

Instead of adding expensive aroma hops in the brewing tank, just to "throw away" their flavor at the end of the process, the researchers have turned baker's yeast cells into micro-factories that can be grown in fermenters
and release the aroma of hops, they state in a_newly_published_study.



========================================================================== "When the hop aroma molecules are released from yeast, we collect them
and put them into the beer, giving back the taste of regular beer that
so many of us know and love. It actually makes the use of aroma hops
in brewing redundant, because we only need the molecules passing on the
scent and flavor and not the actual hops," explains Sotirios Kampranis.

***** A lot more sustainable ***** On top of improving the taste of non-alcoholic beer, the method is also far more sustainable than the
existing techniques, according to the researchers.

First of all, aroma hops are mainly farmed in the west coast of the U.S.,
which causes the need for extensive transportation and cooling down the
crops in refrigerators.

Secondly, hops demand lots of water - more accurately you need 2,7 tons
of water to grow one kilogram of hops. This combined makes it a not very climate- friendly production.

"With our method, we skip aroma hops altogether and thereby also the
water and the transportation. This means that one kilogram of hops aroma
can be produced with more than 10.000 times less water and more than
100 times less CO2," says Sotirios Kampranis.

***** Good news for society ***** The researchers are pleased to be
able to contribute to a much healthier lifestyle and hope that their
new invention will help more people cut down on alcohol because now they
will have equally delicious alternatives.

"Long term, we hope to change the brewing industry with our method -
also the production of regular beer, where the use of aroma hops is also
very wasteful," concludes Sotirios Kampranis.

The method is already being tested in breweries in Denmark and the
plan is to have the technique ready for the entire brewing industry in
October 2022.

special promotion Get a free digital "Metabolism Myths"
issue of New Scientist and discover the 7 things we
always get wrong about diet and exercise. Claim_yours_now_>>> ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Copenhagen_-_Faculty_of_Science. Note: Content may be
edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Lisa Melton. Synbio salvages alcohol-free beer. Nature
Biotechnology,
2022; 40 (1): 8 DOI: 10.1038/s41587-021-01202-0 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220211102729.htm

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