Controlling beer filtration process through implementation of enzymatic and microbiological techniques

The best practice for filtration optimization process is to control biological and non biological particles at every stage of beer chain production. There are several processes that can be used to control beer filtration process, such as settlement of non-biological and biological particles through sedimentation, centrifugation, extended stabilization periods, addition of flocculants and clarifiers to reduce both, yeast and haze loadings etc. Filtration process is controlled by yeast, proteins and carbohydrates. Cell yeast number in suspension determines which is going to dominate filtration process. If yeast cell number is less than a million, filterability is dependent mainly from physico-chemical beer characteristics, otherwise biological phase control filtration process. In this paper we have proposed some enzymatic and yeast management techniques to improve filtration process. Experiments were carried out in laboratory and industrial scale. There were used free and immobilized enzymes and yeast. It was noticed a good correlation between laboratory and industrial application findings. Immobilized yeast in batch processes not only make easier yeast management but also increase beer filterability, excluding some energy consuming processes like centrifugation and long conditioning time