BE1025452A1 - Process for preparing an alcoholic fermented beverage using nutrients and using such nutrients - Google Patents

Abstract

A process for preparing an alcoholic fermented beverage, the process comprising the steps of: a. Suspending a starch source in water; b. Then liquefying the starch to obtain a wort or must; c. Optionally boiling the wort or must and then diluting the boiled wort or must with water; d. Fermenting the wort or must; e. After fermentation, process the fermented wort or must to obtain the alcoholic beverage; characterized in that water-extracted nutrients from cereal germ are provided in either the starch source in water suspension or in the wort or must.

Description

Process for preparing an alcoholic fermented beverage using nutrients and using such nutrients

Technical area

The present invention relates to a process for preparing an alcoholic fermented beverage, wherein nutrients are provided during fermentation that improve yeast performance during the fermentation process.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Use of auxiliary cereal grains during brewing is believed to help achieve certain flavor profiles, increase extraction efficiency and beer stability, and reduce brewing costs. Corn grits are often used in the United States, especially for lager beers. The main challenge of using auxiliary grain in the brewing process is protein thinning in wort. Most of the excipients used in industry, including corn grits, have a very low soluble protein content and cause protein dilution in fermentation wort. The protein dilution influences the growth and functioning of yeast during fermentation. The problem is often addressed by adding external power. The purpose of this invention is to develop economic process strategies to improve fermentation performance during the brewing process by providing these nutrients from other, preferably cereal-based, origins.

BE2017 / 5902

Summary of the invention

The present invention is defined in the appended independent claims.

Preferred embodiments are defined in the dependent claims. In particular, the present invention relates to a process for preparing an alcoholic fermented beverage comprising the steps of:

a. Suspending a starch source, preferably a grain starch source in water;

b. Then liquefying the (grain) starch to obtain a wort or must;

b. Optionally boiling the wort or must and then diluting the boiled wort or must with water;

d. e. Fermenting the wort or must; After the fermentation it processing of the fermented wort or must it obtain from the

alcoholic drink;

characterized in that water-extracted nutrients from grain germ are provided in either the (grain) starch source in water suspension or in the wort or must.

The water extracted nutrients can be provided as a liquid solution, a concentrated solution, a paste, gel or in a dry phase.

The nutrients are preferably extracted from cereal germ by soaking the cereal germ in water for at least 2 hours, preferably for at least 12 hours or even at least 24 hours

BE2017 / 5902 between 20 ° C and 60 ° C, whereby germinating water is obtained, moreover the nutrients can be concentrated or dried in the germinating water.

The germinating water can be treated with / subjected to at least one protease allowing degradation of proteins in the germinating water into amino acids.

The process of the present invention may further include filtering the grain germ / water mixture to obtain germ water.

The process of the invention may also include suspending the cereal starch source in water comprising water-extracted nutrients from cereal germ and then liquefying the cereal starch with an enzyme mixture comprising a protease.

The root vegetable that is used as a starch source is preferably selected from the group comprising:

corn, wheat, barley (including malt), rice, sorghum, oats, cassava and / or mixtures thereof. The cereal germ is preferably a germ obtained from maize, wheat, thereof is in barley, rice, sorghum, oats and / or mixtures and may be a finished germ.

The process of the present invention is particularly useful when the grain used as a starch source for preparing the beverage comprises between 0 and 80 wt.% Malt.

The process of the present invention may include suspending a first (grain) starch source and a second (grain) starch source separately from each other in water, wherein at least one

BE2017 / 5902 of the first and second (starch) sources is suspended water containing water-extracted nutrients from grain germ. In such a case, the first (grain) starch source is preferably malt and the second (grain) starch source is preferably: i) suspended in water containing water-extracted nutrients from grain germ and ii) liquefied; prior to mixing the second starch source with the malt.

In a process according to the present invention, B vitamins can be added to the suspension in steps a) or b), to the must or wort in step c) or during fermentation (step d).

The present invention also relates to the use of water-extracted nutrients from non-malt grain germ as a fermentation aid in the preparation of a beverage and beer in particular. Brief description of the drawings

For a more complete understanding of the nature of the present invention, reference is made to the following detailed description in combination with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 shows a flow chart of various process steps of a process according to the present invention;

Figure 2 shows a graph with ethanol and sugar concentrations during fermentation with and without (control) water extracted germ nutrients during a process for preparing an alcoholic beverage as shown in Figure 1;

BE2017 / 5902

Figure 3 shows a flow chart of various process steps of an alternative process according to the present invention;

Figures 4 and 5 show a graph with ethanol and maltose concentrations, respectively, during fermentation with and without (control) water extracted germ nutrients during a process for preparing an alcoholic beverage as shown in Figure 3;

Figure 6 shows a graph of the ethanol production rate during fermentation with and without (control) water extracted germ nutrients during a process for preparing an alcoholic beverage as shown in Figure 3;

Figure 7 shows the same graph as Figure 6, but now for the ethanol production rate during fermentation with and without (control) water extracted germ nutrients during a process for preparing an alcoholic beverage as shown in Figure 3 and moreover for a fermentation with both water extracted germ nutrients as B -vitamins;

Figure 8 shows a further alternative process of Figures 1 and 3 according to the present invention. Definitions

In the interest of the present invention, cereal germ is defined as the embryo of a cereal grain. Cereal germ, in particular corn germ, is recovered in commercial dry-milling and wet-grinding processes. Corn germ can also be obtained in a dry-milling process (used for bioethanol production) using the method described in US2005009133 (Johnston & Vijay) and includes soaking

BE2017 / 5902 of corn kernels in water for producing

soaked corn kernels, the grinding from the soaked corn kernels in front of it produce from a grinded corn suspension , and it incubate from the grinded corn suspension with at at least one enzyme (amylase (s), protease (s), cell wall degrading enzyme! (and), or blends

and thereof, to increase the specific gravity of the suspension to about 10-about 16 Baume so that the corn germ and coarse corn fiber float to the top of the suspension, thereby restoring the corn germ.

Germinating water is defined as water comprising soluble nutrients extracted from a cereal germ by means of water extraction, preferably at a temperature ranging between 20 ° C and 60 ° C, preferably between 30 ° C and 55 ° C.

Grain germ and corn germ in particular are used for oil extraction, such as by solvent extraction (e.g., ethanol, acetone, ether, hexane, etc.), wherein oilseed flour is produced as a by-product. For the present invention, this oil seed meal is further referred to as spent germ. Detailed description of the invention

The present invention relates to a process for preparing an alcoholic beverage with the aid of nutrients and comprises the steps of:

a. Suspending a (grain) starch source in water;

b. Then liquefying the (grain) starch to obtain a wort or must;

BE2017 / 5902

b. Optionally boiling the wort or must and then diluting the boiled wort or must with water;

d. Fermenting the wort or must;

e. After the fermentation process the fermented wort or must to obtain the alcoholic beverage.

In particular for brewing processes for which a large amount of excipients is used as a starch source, it is known that fermentation can slow down considerably or get stuck due to a decrease in yeast viability. The decline in yeast viability can have various reasons, including a lack of available nutrients to ensure that the yeast metabolism functions properly. It is known in such cases that the addition of nutrients to the fermentation can solve the above problem. However, yeast nutrients are known to be expensive.

The object of the present invention is to develop process strategies to improve fermentation performance in alcoholic beverage production. The essence of the invention is the finding that the presence / addition of water-extracted nutrients from the cereal germ to the (grain) starch source in water suspension or in the wort or must increases the fermentation rate and / or the RDF (actual fermentation rate).

Figure 1 illustrates some process steps of a process according to the present invention wherein an alcoholic fermented beverage is prepared on the basis

BE2017 / 5902 from two different starch sources. The first source of starch, to be seen on the right, is a malt that is first ground, then soaked (suspended) in water and supplied in a mixing vessel. Mashing is performed to convert starch in the grain into sugars to make a malt-like liquid called wort. The second starch source is a non-malted (auxiliary) grain that is processed by dry milling, wet milling, dry milling or other fractionation processes that separate the starch from the bran, germ and aleurone. The starch fraction is then suspended in germinate water (food source), liquefied by enzymatic action (degradation of the starch polymer in, primarily, oligosaccharides), and hydrolyzed by enzymatic action (degradation of oligosaccharides in fermentable sugars such as glucose). This suspension is combined with wort obtained from mashing malt and can then be boiled. After the optional boiling step, the wort is preferably filtered while being transferred to the fermentation vessel for carrying out the fermentation.

By adding the water extracted germ nutrients to the auxiliary suspension or during liquefaction of the auxiliary starch, the water extracted germ nutrients can be subjected to an enzymatic treatment, which in the event that protease activity is present, degrading even more of the germ proteins and peptides into short makes amino acid chains or free amino acids possible,

BE2017 / 5902, which prevents the precipitation of these nutrients during an optional boil or malt boil.

In this case, the water-extracted cereal germ nutrients are added as so-called germ water, but it is clear that the nutrients can also be added as a concentrated solution, a paste, a gel or in a dry phase such as powder.

The malt / auxiliary ratio used to prepare the alcoholic beverage of the present invention preferably ranges from 0/100 to 80/20. The amount of germ used to extract the germ nutrients preferably varies between 20 and 60% by weight, preferably between 20 and 50% by weight, of the amount of excipient used. Germinate water is added to the auxiliary suspension or during the liquefaction of the starch per kilogram of auxiliary substance, so that preferably 180 to 720 mg of FAN (free amino nitrogen) is added to the auxiliary suspension or during the liquefaction of the starch per kilogram of auxiliary substance. The germ water contains clearly different nutrients than FAN, but the nutrients in the germ water are usually rich in FAN (for the ratio 1:10 germ: water used for extraction, FAN concentrations of 90 to 120 ppm were observed).

An advantage of using germinating water as a food source is that the germinating water contains low amounts of lipids. The amount of raw FAT from cereal germ is preferably not higher than an amount of 350 mg per kg of additive,

BE2017 / 5902 is preferably even lower than 200 mg per kg of adjuvant and even more preferably even lower than 35 mg / kg of adjuvant (for the ratio 1:10 germ: water used for extraction, crude fat concentrations of less 5 to about 35 ppm, whereas in the same germ water the FAN concentrations varied between 90 and 120 ppm).

Starch sources that can be used as adjuvants include corn, wheat, barley, rice, sorghum, oats, cassava and / or mixtures thereof. The grain germ used for the extraction of nutrients can come from the same or a different grain source as the auxiliary starch and preferably comes from maize, wheat, barley, rice, sorghum, oats and / or mixtures thereof, with maize most is preferred.

The cereal germ used in the present invention may also be a so-called finished germ, which is a by-product of oil extraction, such as by solvent extraction (e.g., ethanol, acetone, ether, hexane, etc.) of cereal germ, thereby turning oil seed meal produced that is referred to in this patent as finished germ. Alternatively, in the case that normal cereal germs (not so-called finished germs) are used in a present invention, the solids remaining after water extraction of the nutrients from the cereal germ can be used for oil extraction. By leaching micronutrients and soluble proteins (by water extraction), the oil concentrations in the germs solids increase by about 25% in

BE2017 / 5902 comparison with unprocessed germ, which would improve its economic value.

Figure 2 shows a graph with ethanol and sugar concentrations during fermentation with and without (control) water extracted germ nutrients during a process for preparing an alcoholic beverage as shown in Figure 1 with a malt / auxiliary ratio of 60/40 and where the grain germ is a corn germ.

As can be clearly seen from the graph, the addition / presence of water-extracted grain germ nutrients significantly improves the degradation rate of maltose (indicating an increased fermentation rate (the rate)) and increases ethanol production (the yield).

Figure 3 illustrates some process steps of an alternative and conventional brewing process according to the present invention wherein an alcoholic fermented beverage is prepared based on two different starch sources. The first source of starch, to be seen on the right, is a malt that is first ground, then soaked (suspended) in water and supplied in a mixing vessel. The second starch source is a non-malted (auxiliary) grain that is processed by dry milling, wet milling, dry milling or other fractionation processes that separate the starch from the bran, germ and aleurone. The starch fraction is then suspended in seed water and liquefied by enzymatic action (degradation of the starch polymer into, mainly, oligosaccharides). The liquefied auxiliary starch is then used

BE2017 / 5902 is added to the malt suspension in the mash and is mown to break down the starch and the Oligosaccharides in the grain into sugars to create a malt-like liquid called wort or must, which can then be cooked.

After the optional boiling step, the wort is preferably filtered as it enters the fermentation vessel

is transferred in front of it performing the fermentation. Once again, in this case turn into the

water-extracted cereal germ nutrients added as so-called germ water, but it is clear that the nutrients can also be added as a concentrated solution, a paste, a gel or in a dry phase such as powder so that the nutrients can be added without diluting the wort or must .

Figures 4 and 5 show a graph with ethanol and maltose concentrations during fermentation with and without (control) water-extracted germ nutrients during a process for preparing an alcoholic beverage as shown in Figure 3 with a malt / auxiliary ratio of 60/40 and where the grain germ is a corn germ. The amount of germ used to extract the germ nutrients is in this case 50% by weight of the amount of excipient used (soaking the germ in water (1/10 wt% germ / water ratio) for 12 hours at 52 ° C with continuous shaking at 125 rpm and subsequent filtering).

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These graphs clearly indicate a higher fermentation rate if water extracted germ nutrients are supplied to the wort / must (increased rate of alcohol production and increased rate of

The ethanol production rate for the above experiment is also illustrated in the graph of Figure

6.

It was further noted that the addition of B vitamins in combination with the addition of water extracted germ nutrients can further increase the fermentation rate. Figure 7 shows a graph of ethanol production rates during fermentation in a process according to the present invention for a process without the addition of nutrients (control), a process in which only water-extracted germ nutrients were added and a process in which, in addition to water-extracted germ nutrients, also B vitamins in the wort / must were provided.

A B-vitamin complex mainly comprises coenzymes involved in a carbohydrate metabolism that provides metabolic precursors for yeast growth.

Figure 8 illustrates an alternative process of Figure 1 and

3, wherein the water extracted germ nutrients are added to the malt slurry prior to, during, or after addition of the liquefied auxiliary starch thereto. By adding to the malt slurry, the water extracted germ nutrients are not exposed to the relative

BE2017 / 5902 high temperatures (85 ° C) of the auxiliary starch liquefaction process and they are subjected to the enzyme treatment of the mashing process (malt enzymes or additional external enzyme mixtures) which makes it possible to further break down the proteins in the germ nutrients into short amino acid chains or free amino acids that do not precipitate when boiling the wort / must.

Although the above description is particularly directed to the process of the invention for preparing an alcoholic fermented beverage and beer in particular, it is clear that the use of water-extracted nutrients from non-malt cereal germ as a fermentation aid in the preparation of a beverage and beer in particular also forms part of the present invention.

It is clear that water extracting nutrients from cereal germ (including spent germ) for obtaining germ water, this germ water or a concentrated form thereof (concentrated solution, paste, gel or dry form) can be stored, transported and used as a fermentation aid to increase fermentation rates and / or increase ethanol production during beverage production.

In accordance with the present invention, the germinate is preferably prepared by:

i) Soaking cereal germ (possibly finished germ, a mixture of germ from different grain sources or a mixture of finished germ with

BE2017 / 5902 other germs) in water (eg at a weight ratio ranging from 1: 5 to 1:20 germ: water) ii) Incubating the germ in water mixture at a temperature between 20 ° C and 60 ° C, preferably between 30 ° C and 55 ° C, for at least 12 hours or even 24 hours and preferably with continuous stirring or shaking; and then iii) Preferably filtering the mixture to obtain the germ water.

It is noted that in accordance with the above method for preparing the germ water, the use of water is preferably limited, therefore a ratio of 1: 5 germ: water is preferable to a ratio of 1:20 germ: water, at provided that the same absolute amount of nutrients can be extracted from the germ in the water.

For the 1:10 germ: water ratio used for extraction, FAN concentrations of 90 to 120 ppm were observed in the germ water, while the crude fat concentrations remained below 50 ppm and in most cases 35 ppm or even 5 ppm not exceeded.

Claims (13)

CONCLUSIONS A process for preparing an alcoholic fermented beverage, the process comprising the steps of: Suspending a starch source, preferably a grain starch source in water; Then liquefying the starch to obtain a wort or must; and then Optionally boiling diluting the wort or must cooked boil or must with water; d. Fermenting the wort or must; it e. process the After the fermentation fermented wort or must for it obtain the alcoholic drink; with it characteristic Which water extracted nutrients from grain germ turn into provided in either the starch source in water suspension either in the wort or must. The process according to claim 1, comprising providing the water extracted nutrients as a liquid solution, a concentrated solution, a paste, gel or in a dry phase. 3.- The process of conclusion 1, comprising extracting nutrients from cereal germ by soaking the cereal germ in water for at least 2 hours, preferably at least 12 hours or even at least 24 hours between 20 ° C and 60 ° C, whereby germ water is obtained. BE2017 / 5902 4.- It process according to claim 3, encompassing the step from it concentrate and / or dry from it germinating water. 5.- It process according to claims 3 or 4 encompassing it : treating the germ water with at at least one protease that allows degradation of proteins in the germ water into amino acids. The process according to any of claims 3 to 5, comprising filtering the cereal germ / water mixture to obtain germ water. The process according to any of claims 1 to 6, comprising suspending the starch source, preferably the cereal starch source in water, water-extracted nutrients from cereal germ and then liquefying the cereal starch with an enzyme mixture comprising a protease. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the starch source is preferably selected from the group comprising: corn, wheat, barley (including malt), rice, sorghum, oats, cassava and / or mixtures thereof. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the cereal germ is a germ obtained from corn, wheat, barley, rice, sorghum, oats and / or mixtures thereof. The process according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the cereal germ is a finished germ. The process according to any of the present claims, wherein the grain used as a starch source for preparing the drink contains between 0 and 80 wt.% Malt. BE2017 / 5902 12. The process of any one of the present claims, comprising suspending a first starch source, preferably a grain starch source, and a second starch source, preferably a grain starch source, separately from each other in water, wherein at least one of the first and second starch sources are suspended in water comprising water-extracted grain germ nutrients. The process of claim 10, comprising the first starch source being malt and the second starch source being: i) suspended in water comprising water-extracted nutrients from cereal germ and ii) liquefied; prior to mixing the second starch source with the malt. The process according to any of the present claims, comprising adding B vitamins to the suspension in steps a) or b), to the must or wort in step c) or during fermentation (step d). Use of water-extracted nutrients from non-malt grain germ as a fermentation aid in the preparation of a beverage and beer in particular.