Abstract
The non-alcoholic and low-alcohol beer market has grown significantly in recent years and is predicted to continue growing. However, non-alcoholic and low-alcohol beers have organoleptic problems and are not recognized by many consumers. The increasing popularity of alcohol-free beers (AFBs) fosters the industry's interest in delivering the best possible product. Yet, a remaining sensory issue of AFBs is the over-perception of wort flavor, caused by elevated concentrations of small volatile flavor compounds (i.e.aldehydes)still remains. Previously, molecular sieves (hydrophobic ZSM-5 type zeolites) were found as most suitable to remove these flavors by adsorption with high selectivity from the AFBs. In this work, a flavor-improved beer is produced at a pilot-scale using this novel technology, and its chemical composition, sensory profile, and stability are evaluated against a reference. Aldehyde concentrations in the flavor-improved product were found 79–93% lower than in the reference. The distinct difference was confirmed with a trained sensory panel and could be conserved even after three months of ageing at 30ºC. Future work will focus on the process design to scale up this technology. It is established that the release of a new kind of beer is economically profitable, since the expansion of the range contributes to a more complete use of production capacity, and consequently, reduced costs per unit of production, which ultimately leads to an increase in the profit of the enterprise.