AU2023100011B4

AU2023100011B4 - Beverage production

Info

Publication number: AU2023100011B4
Application number: AU2023100011A
Authority: AU
Inventors: David Langlands; Joshua Peter Uljans; Kevin John te Wierik
Original assignee: Moon Dog Brewing Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Moon Dog Brewing Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2020-12-03
Filing date: 2023-02-02
Publication date: 2023-06-01
Anticipated expiration: 2029-08-18
Also published as: AU2023100011A4; AU2021218101A1

Abstract

P1737AUI1 ABSTRACT A method, of dispensing alcoholic beverage, comprising operating a post-mix beverage dispenser 501i to select and dilute with dilutant a subset of a plurality of alcoholic precursors 401i, 403i connected to the post-mix beverage dispenser.

Description

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BEVERAGE PRODUCTION FIELD

The invention relates to producing beverages.

BACKGROUND

In the context of commercial establishments such as public houses (or "pubs" as they are more frequently known) efficiently producing a wide assortment of beverages is a commercial imperative.

Pre-mixed drinks are delivered to such establishments in essentially their finished form in either single-serve containers (e.g. a drink can) or multi-serve containers (e.g. a wine bottle or a beer keg) whereby beverage is produced onsite by simply opening or dispensing from the containers.

Post-mixed drinks are typically produced on site by diluting concentrated precursor (often referred to as "syrup") with carbonated water.

The invention aims to provide improvements in and for the production of beverages, or at least to provide a useful alternative.

SUMMARY

One aspect of the invention provides a method, of dispensing alcoholic beverage, comprising operating a post-mix beverage dispenser to select and dilute with dilutant a subset (e.g. one) of a plurality of alcoholic precursors connected to the post-mix beverage dispenser.

The dilutant may be water. Preferably the dilutant is carbonated.

Preferably two or more of the alcoholic precursors are beers.

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Another aspect of the invention provides an alcoholic precursor consisting of beer having at least 12% abv and being dilutable with water to form a beverage having a least 1% abv, at most 10% abv and preferably an SRM of less than 3.

Another aspect of the invention provides an alcoholic precursor having at least 12% abv, at most 24% abv, at least 4 IBUs and at most 4% by weight of sugars and being dilutable with water to form a beverage having a least 1% abv, at most 10% abv and preferably an SRM of less than 3.

The alcoholic precursor preferably comprises at most 1% abv derived from distillation. Most preferably, it is substantially free of sugar.

Optionally the beverage has a concentration in a range of 2% to 6% abv (inclusive). The beverage may have at least 4 IBUs. Optionally, the beverage has an SRM of less than 1. Optionally the beverage has specific gravity of less than 1. Optionally the beverage has no dominant, or more preferably no discernable, malt character in the flavour profile. Optionally hops are not used as a primary flavouring agent. Optionally the beverage has minimal yeast characteristics (esters, phenols, etc). Optionally the beverage has flavour primarily derived from addition of one or more of fruit, fruit like flavours and acids. Optionally the beverage is clear. Preferably it resembles carbonated water, although some variants may have slight colour taints (e.g. either from the fermented ingredients and/or from added colouring agent). Preferably the beverage is a headless beverage, i.e. a beverage that (unlike typical beer) does not form a persistent head or foam when dispensed. Optionally the beverage has minimal residual dextrins. Preferably it is substantially free of dextrins.

Preferably the alcoholic precursor has at most 90 IBUs, e.g. at most 50 IBUs or more preferably at most 40 IBUs. Most preferably the precursor has at most 30 IBUs, e.g. about 18 IBUs. Optionally, the beverage has an SRM of less than 1.

Another aspect of the invention provides a transportable container containing at least one single volume of at least 2L of the alcoholic precursor.

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Preferably the at least one single volume is of at least 5L, or more preferably at least 8L, e.g. at least 10L. Preferably it is at most 30L, e.g. at most 25L, or more preferably at most 18L.

The container may comprise a sealed bag defining the volume. The container may comprise a support structure to support the bag. Preferably the container is a bag-in box container. The container may comprise a dry-break connector.

Another aspect of the invention provides a method of producing an alcoholic precursor.

The alcoholic precursor may have an alcohol content of at least 12% abv and be dilutable with water to form a beverage having at least 1% abv and at most 10% abv.

The method may comprise

fermenting to form fermentation product from which at least 90% of the alcohol content is derived;

clarifying the fermentation product as a liquid to form clarified product; and

adding flavouring to the clarified product.

The alcoholic precursor may be beer. Preferably the fermenting is fermenting mostly cereal. The flavouring is preferably fruit flavouring (e.g. artificial fruit flavouring).

The clarifying may comprise centrifugal separation. The clarifying may comprise carbon filtration. The clarifying may comprise reverse osmosis. Cross-flow filtration is another option. The clarifying may be to an SRM of not more than 5, e.g. not more than 3, or preferably not more than 1.

Another aspect of the invention provides a beverage system comprising

a post-mix beverage dispenser; and

a plurality of alcoholic precursors connected to the post-mix beverage dispenser.

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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Figures 1 and 2 are flow charts illustrating a method of producing a dispensed beverage; and

Figure 3 schematically illustrates a beverage system.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Various specific details are disclosed below. The invention is not limited to these details.

Figure 1 illustrates a method 1 of producing a dispensed beverage. The method 1 comprises a method 3 of producing a contained precursor. The method 3 comprises the method 5 of producing the precursor.

Fermenting step 100 commences with the supply 101 of raw materials 101i. The raw materials 101i comprise fermentable sugar. Sugar syrups derived from cereal (such as wheat, corn, sorghum and rice) are preferred. In one variant of the method, the starting materials comprise 41 Be Glucose Syrup sold by the Manildra Group of Companies. The glucose may be mixed with sucrose. The raw material may further comprise hops. In one implementation, the raw materials may be predominantly sugar and comprise a small amount of hops. Dextrose may be used in place of sucrose.

In this example, the raw materials further comprise yeast and nutrients added to assist fermentation and yeast health. The yeast is preferably distillers' yeast such as Fermentis Safspirit T M HG-1. Preferred process aids include KCO3, CaSO4, CaC12, proprietary yeast nutrients, disodium phosphate and diammonium phosphate. The choice of proprietary yeast nutrients is not critical.

At step 103, these raw materials are mixed with water and pasteurised. The pasteurised material is then cooled at step 105, preferably through a heat exchanger. The cooled liquid is dosed with oxygen at step 107 and with high-alcohol-tolerant yeast at step 109 to produce a high-gravity material 111i complete with nutrients. In a

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variant, dried yeast is used without adding oxygen. Steps 103 to 109 are supplied with a charge of raw materials 101i to provide an initial charge of material 111i to the fermenter 109i. A sugar-simplifying process aid such as amyloglucosidase enzyme is preferably added. Preferably, the material 111i comprises the process aid, e.g. the initial charge of raw materials 101i may comprise the process aid. Alternatively, the process aid might be added directly to the fermenter 119i.

Raw materials 101i' may mirror raw materials 101i and steps may 103', 105' mirror steps 103, 105, save for the incorporation of less water (at step 103' than in step 103) to produce an ultra-high-gravity wort 111i' at 2.5 times the concentration of the material 111i. This ultra-high-gravity wort 111i' is fed as a batch to a feed tank 113i. More preferably raw materials 101i comprise sucrose rather than 41 Be Glucose Syrup.

In a preferred implementation, substantially all fermentable sugar within the initial charge 111i comes from the 41 Be Glucose Syrup and substantially all fermentable sugar within the feed 111i' is sucrose.

As the fermentation process 119 proceeds, the wort 111i' is fed, at feeding step 117, to the fermenter 119i. By controlling the feed rates at which the wort 111i' and oxygen 115i are supplied to the fermenter 119i, the osmotic stress placed on the yeast can be controlled and more consistent high-gravity fermentation can be achieved with less undesirable "off"flavours. Preferably the feed rates are controlled to keep the pH and gravity within the fermenter 119 substantially constant until the feed tank 113i is depleted. For this purpose, the feed rate may be adjusted so as to supply per day a volume in the range of 5% to 8% (inclusive) of the volume of the initial charge of the material 111i. Most preferably, the total feed volume is 30% to 40% (inclusive) of the original and is fed over an initial period in the range of 24 to 60 hours (inclusive). This is an example of batch fed dynamic fermentation. Other batch fed dynamic fermentation processes are possible.

Some variants of the fermentation process proceed without the oxygen 115i. Preferred variants the fermentation process 119 proceed to terminal gravity at which the sugars are fully consumed. The use of sugar-simplifying process aids breaks

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down long chain carbohydrates into simpler sugars more readily consumed by the yeast to assist in this regard.

The process parameters are controlled to produce fermentation product 121i preferably comprising about 18% alcohol by volume. Generally speaking, higher concentrations can lead to efficiencies, such as by minimising the inventory, transport and handling costs associated with the water content of the product. More concentrated alcohol is associated with improved microbial and flavour stability. As such, a concentration of at least 15% abv is preferred. On the other hand, concentrated alcohol can present a fire hazard - as such, a concentration of at most 24%, e.g. at most 21%, is preferred. Furthermore, alcohol concentrations of this order, in combination with a dilution ratio in the range of 2:1 to 5:1 (inclusive), or more preferably in the range of 3:1 to 4:1 (inclusive), e.g. of 3.25:1 or 3.5:1 (convenient for the reasons discussed below) result in a beverage with an alcohol concentration preferred by many consumers. Preferably, the fermentation product 121i has a specific gravity of less than 1.

One example of the process is implemented with an overall wort concentration of 27 Plato and dynamic fermentation to speed fermentation and reduce the impact of ethanol toxicity. To manage the stress of osmotic pressure, a batch-fed process is utilised. A stock of 44 Plato wort is gradually fed into the main fermenter at a rate which matches the rate of extract consumption by the yeast. The feed stock is introduced when the osmotic pressure of the fermenting beer is low (between 5 and 7 degrees Plato). This technique manages to reduce the level of yeast stress and yields a clean and neutral fermented base with relatively low levels of undesirable fermentation byproducts.

The clarification process 200 commences with the addition 201 of clarifying materials 201i, 201ii to the fermenter 119, or more specifically to the fermentation product 121i therein.

In this example, the clarifying material 201i is activated carbon. The terms "activated carbon" and "activated charcoal" are used interchangeably in the context of beverage processing. Other high surface area materials such as diatomaceous earth are

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possible. The clarifying material 201ii preferably comprises divalent cations, e.g. the clarifying material may comprise CaCl2.

The resultant mixture 201iii is then processed through a centrifuge 203i, a trap filter 205i, a reverse osmosis filter 207i, and subjected to carbon depth filtration 209i to produce clarified fermentation product 209ii.

There are other methods by which the fermentation product 121i may be clarified. Filtration is preferred. The addition and subsequent removal of activated carbon is known in beverage processing as "carbon filtration" and as such is an example of "filtration" as that word is used in beverage processing and in this document. Alternate forms of filtration comprising the addition and subsequent removal of high surface area particulate are possible. The filtration may comprise one or more of cross-flow filtration, carbon filtration, reverse osmosis, membrane filtration, passing through a centrifuge, powder filters, plate and frame filtration, candle filters, leaf filters, colloidal stabilisation, cartridge filters, sheet (pad) filtration, deep bed filtration, using activated carbon, bag filtration, or depth filtration (e.g. using diatomaceous earth and/or perlite). The filtration may proceed with or without the aid of vacuum technology. Preferably, the filtration process is completed at under 78C.

By way of example, another advantageous clarification sequence entails a) clarification using activated carbon, b) flocculate carbon, c) centrifuge to remove carbon and other particulates, d) a trap filter to remove particulates and e) carbon depth filtration.

The clarified fermentation product 209ii is then pasteurised at step 601 before being cooled at step 603. Alternatively, the product may be cooled prior to clarification. Preferably, the material is cooled to ambient. Most preferably, it is cooled through a heatexchanger.

The cooled material may be degassed to remove dissolved carbon dioxide to form cool degassed material. Optionally, the degassing employs any convenient commercially available degassing unit, e.g. one or more in-line units may be placed

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between the heat exchanger 603 and the bright tank 300i. Preferably, the degassing entails nitrogen purging, e.g. in a bright tank.

The cooled material (e.g. cool degassed material) is subject to flavouring process 300. The cooled material is supplied to a vessel 300i whereat flavouring 303i is added to form beverage precursor 305i. The clarification step 200 advantageously strips raw materials and process aids, whereby the clarified material is a neutral base to which flavours can be added to create an almost unlimited array of differently flavoured beverages. In this sense, the clarified material provides a clean slate to give manufacturers freedom to produce different products to meet and drive consumer demand. Moreover, producing a range of beverages from a common base leads to economies of scale. Advantageously, different batches of clarified material (such as the cooled material 603i) may be treated with different flavourings to produce a range of different flavoured beverage precursors. Flavourings such as monkfruit extract, sugar, natural sweetener, natural flavourings, acid (e.g. citric acid) and hops (and/or other bittering agents) are preferred. The hops may be in the form of isohop or tetrahop. Tetrahop is preferred because it is light stable.

Four exemplary flavoured precursors may be produced by dosing the clarified material with the following flavourings:

Strawbs and Cream Fizzer

Flavouring Dose (g/L) Liquid Monk Fruit 6 Strawberry and cream flavour 20 Citric Acid 4

Piney Limey Fizzer

Flavouring Dose (g/L) Liquid Monk Fruit 9 Pineapple and lime flavour 20 Citric Acid 4

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Coco Mango Fizzer

Flavouring Dose (g/L) Liquid Monk Fruit 9 Coconut mango flavour 25 Citric Acid 4

Tropical Crush Fizzer

Flavouring Dose (g/L) Liquid Monk Fruit 9 Citric Acid 4 Tropical fruit flavour 21.25

The clarified fermentation product 209ii (and in turn the cooled product 603i) are preferably pale, or more preferably substantially colour-free. By way of example, the material may have an SRM of at most 5, or more preferably an SRM of at most 3, or most preferably an SRM of at most 1. This clarity provides for colourless beverages preferred by many consumers. It also provides a clean slate to which colourings may be added to produce coloured beverages. In other implementations of the concept, the material 209i, 603i may be coloured and modified by the addition of colourings.

The alcoholic precursor 305i is preferably beer. The Australian Tax Office explains that beer is a beverage that is brewed and:

is the product of the yeast fermentation of an aqueous extract of predominantly malted or unmalted cereals, but may also contain other sources of carbohydrates;

contains hops, or extracts of hops, or other bitters so that the beverage has no less than four international bitterness units (or comparable bitterness if other bitters are used);

may have spirit distilled from beer added to it, but only if that spirit does not add more than 0.5% to the total volume of the final product;

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may have other substances (including flavours) added to it, but in the case of other substances that contain alcohol (other than beer spirit), the alcohol does not add more than 0.5% to the total volume of the final product;

contains no more than 4% by weight of sugars (monosaccharide and disaccharide);

does not contain any artificial sweeteners; and

has an alcohol content of more than 1.15% by volume.

Whilst flavouring the clarified material is preferred, other variants of the method 5 may entail adding flavouring prior to the clarifying step, e.g. prior to or after the fermenting step 100. Bag-in-box containers are preferred. The box is an example of a bag support structure. Other support structures are possible, e.g. the container might be a bag-in-keg container. Whilst support structures are preferred, in another implementation, the container can take the form of a simple bladder. Kegs and bottles are also possible.

The alcoholic precursor 305i resultant from the process 300 is then packaged at step 400. Preferably, each package contains in the range of 2L to 30L of the precursor. Containers in this range are big enough to be handled far more efficiently than a corresponding number of individually packaged serves of beverage, but are not so big as to prohibit safe manual handling. Convenient sizes are 10L and 15L.

Preferably, each package 401i, 403i is subsequently connected to a post-mix dispenser 501 to facilitate dispensing at step 500. For this purpose, preferably each container carries a single volume as opposed to, say, a cardboard container of 12 bottles carrying 12 separate volumes of fluid. In this way, each container need only be connected to the dispenser once. For this purpose, each container is preferably equipped with a dry-break connector. Connectors associated with the trade marks COCA-COLATMand PEPSITMaresuitableoptions.

Preferably, a transport step occurs between steps 400 and 500. Most preferably, the transport comprises road transport. Whilst in principle the process 1 could be

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completed on one site, preferably method 3 is completed on a first site to produce the containers containing the alcoholic precursor, and then those containers are transported from the first site to a second site (e.g. from a factory to a pub).

Figure 3 illustrates a preferred beverage system 503i comprising containers 401i, 403i carrying two different alcoholic precursors (e.g. container 401i may hold 1OL of "Strawbs and Cream Fizzer" and container 403i may contain 1OL of "Piney Limey Fizzer"). Preferably, there are at least three, e.g. at least five, different precursors connected to the dispenser 501i.

The dispenser 501i may take the form of a post-mix gun comprising a single outlet nozzle and an array of buttons corresponding to the selectable flavours. By way of example, one button might be pressed to select precursor from the container 401i, dilute that precursor with carbonated water, and produce beverage 505i. Preferably, the dilution ratio is 3.25:1 water:precursor. As such, preferred variants of the method 500 (and the method 1) result in a beverage (or more specifically in a served beverage, e.g. served in a glass) having in the vicinity of 4% abv. Whilst economically available post-mix dispensers do not maintain entirely accurate dilution ratios, a target dilution ratio in the vicinity of 3.25:1 enables economically available post-mix dispensers to be used whilst maintaining the alcohol concentration of the beverage within acceptable tolerances.

The beverage may be beer. Preferred variants of the resultant beverage are hard seltzers. Hard seltzers are also known as alcoholic seltzers, spiked seltzers and hard sparkling water. Sometimes "soda" is used in place of "seltzer". Applying the preferred 3.25:1 dilution ratio to a precursor having in the vicinity of 17 IBUs results in a beverage having about 4 IBUs. About 4 IBUs is preferred in the context of hard seltzers and similar beverages to give the beverage character distinct from typical soft drinks. About 20 IBUs in the beverage is a preferred maximum above which the bittering is distinctly detectable. A precursor having 90 IBUs diluted in accordance with the 3.5:1 ratio results in a beverage having 20 IBUs.

Post-mix guns are sometimes known as post-mix soda guns or post-mix bar guns. The post-mix dispenser might take other forms, such as a post-mix tower, ice

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beverage dispenser (IBD), post-mix font, post-mix countertop dispenser, superchiller, post-mix unicorn font, ice-cooled drop-in dispenser, or post-mix valve dispenser. Indeed, other variants of the method 500 may entail manual dilution.

Many variants of the technologies disclosed herein are possible. Whilst high-gravity fermentation is preferred to directly produce a product having an alcohol concentration substantially equal to the alcohol concentration of the alcoholic precursor, there are other options. By way of example, raw materials may be fermented to form a lower alcohol content intermediary which may then be concentrated by filtration.

One potential implementation entails filtering a first material to produce an alcoholic permeate and then adding that permeate to a relatively less alcoholic second material. The first and second materials may be identical. By way of example, the fermentation product 121i might be divided into two streams, and a first of those streams might be filtered to produce an alcoholic permeate that is then combined with the second of the two streams.

Preferably, the material is processed as a liquid throughout the method 5. Processing as a liquid (as opposed to distillation processes that rely on the relative volatilities of different fractions) preserves the character of the material. That said, some variants of the precursor may incorporate a minor fraction of distillate, and yet other variants of the method 500 may be employed with entirely different precursors. Precursors such as vodka and whisky are possible. By way of example, some variants of the containers 401i, 403i may comprise precursor predominantly consisting of distillate.

The term "comprises" and its grammatical variants has a meaning that is determined by the context in which it appears. Accordingly, the term should not be interpreted exhaustively unless the context dictates so.

Claims

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1. A method, of dispensing alcoholic beverage, comprising operating a post-mix beverage dispenser to select and dilute with carbonated water a subset of a plurality of alcoholic precursors contained in a bag-in-box containers and connected to the post-mix beverage dispenser.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the dilution is to a dilution ratio in the range of 3:1 to 4:1 (inclusive).

3. The method of claim 1 or 2 wherein the alcoholic precursors each have a concentration in the range of 15% to 24% abv (inclusive).

4. A beverage system comprising

a post-mix beverage dispenser; and

a plurality of alcoholic precursors contained in bag-in-box containers and connected to the post-mix beverage dispenser;

wherein the post-mix beverage dispenser is operable to select and dilute with carbonated water a subset of the plurality of alcoholic precursors.

5. The beverage system of claim 4 wherein the dilution is to a dilution ratio in the range of 3:1 to 4:1 (inclusive) and the alcoholic precursors each have a concentration in the range of 15% to 24% abv (inclusive).