New Developments in the Brewing Industry Using Immobilised Yeast Cell Bioreactor Systems*

Abstract

The use of immobilised yeast cell systems in industry has been extensively reported in the literature. The brewing industry is closely examining immobilisation technology and evaluating its merits. Various immobilisation methods are available to researchers and the nature of the application often dictates the choice of an immobilisation matrix. Industrial scale systems utilising immobilised yeast cells adsorbed to pre-formed carriers have been used for the production of low alcohol beers and for maturation or secondary fermentation of beer. Research relating to the primary fermentation of beer continues and several groups have developed laboratory scale systems. An overview of the respective technologies is provided and several relevant industrial applications cited.

Primary beer fermentation by immobilised yeast—a review on flavour formation and control strategies

“…25,27,32,34,35 This decrease has been attributed to limited cellular growth in immobilised cell systems, leading to poor nitrogen removal. In contrast, rapid yeast growth leads to enhanced anabolic production of amino acid precursors with concomitant overflow of higher alcohols, oxo acids, organic acids and vicinal diketones.…”

Carrageenan: a review

“…Mensour and colleague described the immobilisation system of yeast cells (Saccharomyces sp.) for beer production using κ-carrageenan beads continuously produced by a static mixer process (Mensour et al 1996(Mensour et al , 1997. Ethanol production from glucose using cells of Zymomonas mobilis immobilised in κ-carrageenan was investigated in a fluidised bed fermenter.…”

Continuous Primary Beer Fermentation with Brewing Yeast Immobilized on Spent Grains

“…Although the advantages of a continuous fermentation process were recognized early, there are still only a few continuous brewing processes in successful operation worldwide 7 . The reasons why continuous systems with immobilized yeasts have not yet become adopted in the brewing industry include increased complexity of operations compared to batch process, flavour problems, risk of contamination, yeast viability, carrier price and the inconvenience of immobilization 14 . Matrices most commonly used for yeast immobilization include gel type materials such as alginate, calcium pectate and carrageenan 5 , porous structures namely glass beads, silicon carbide and gluten pellets 17,18,22 and cellulose based materials 10,11,22 .…”