Technological innovation and improved beer quality

Over the last 20 years, beer consumption in Italy has greatly increased (13 lives per capita in 1975 to more than 26 litres per capita in 1995). In spite of this, beer consumption and sales in Italy are still the lowest in Europe. As a result of genetic engineering, maltsters can now use selected varieties of barley with high and homogeneous vitality, lower β-glucan content and improved enzyme potential together with brewers' malts with improved colloidal, flavour and stability. With regard to wort production, various methods have been devised to reduce the energy needs of the wort boiling process and separate the liquid (wort) from the spent grain. The evolution in genetics and yeast molecular biology has made it possible to adapt the yeast strain to the brewer's needs. This approach could lead to simplification of the brewing process. Several research laboratories have studied the possibilities of yeast immobilisation for beer fermentation and maturation and have vied to develop the system on an industrial scale. In Italy high gravity brewing has been authorised since 1990: worts of higher than normal extract (usually by 15-40%) are fermented and subsequently diluted with deoxygenated water to selling gravity before packaging, obtaining considerable energy savings. Cold sterilisation of beer has been considered as an alternative to pasteurisation in recent years. The main driving force behind this technology has been market differentiation of products and the elimination of subtle but negative taste changes possibly imparted by pasteurisation. Several factors (demand for healthy drinks, more severe drink-driving legislation, etc.) have caused considerable growth in the market for low-alcohol beers during the last few years and many production processes have been proposed to this end. These can be divided into two main groups. The first involves physical treatment of the beer to remove the ethanol produced, the second is an adaptation of existing brewing and/or fermentation processes with the aim of limiting ethanol production. The new technologies are an indispensable tool in the development of these new products.