Production of low-alcohol or alcohol-free beer with pichia kluyveri yeast strains

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016010042-A1
Application number	US-201414773239-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 7, 2014
Priority date	Mar 7, 2013
Publication date	Jan 14, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

It has unexpectedly been found that a low alcohol or alcohol-free beverage, with a flavor profile very close to a beer of at least 4% (vol/vol) alcohol, can be produced by using Pichia kluyveri yeast strains. In particular, Pichia kluyveri yeast strains only use the glucose in the wort, and have the ability of converting this substrate into a high concentration of specific flavor compounds, which are normally produced by Saccharomyces ssp. yeast strains used for the brewing of beer. In this way the Pichia kluyveri yeast strains can be used to produce either a low alcohol or alcohol-free beverage, depending on the glucose levels in the wort. The main flavor compounds produced by Pichia kluyveri in the fermentation of wort are isoamyl acetate, isoamyl alcohol, ethyl butyrate, ethyl hexanoate and ethyl octanoate.

First claim

1 - 9 . (canceled)

10 . A method of preparing a low-alcohol or alcohol-free beverage with an alcohol content of no more than 1.2% (vol/vol), comprising:
a) providing a wort; and b) fermenting the wort with at least one Pichia kluyveri yeast strain to obtain the low-alcohol or alcohol-free beverage.

11 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising
a1) adding to the wort at least one hop variety prior to fermenting the wort with the at least one Pichia kluyveri yeast strain.

12 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the fermentation of the wort with the at least one Pichia kluyveri yeast strain is carried out for at least 7 days.

13 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the fermentation of the wort with the at least one Pichia kluyveri yeast strain is carried out at 18-22° C.

14 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising
c) bottling and bottle pasteurizing the low-alcohol or alcohol-free beverage.

15 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one Pichia kluyveri yeast strain is capable of fermenting glucose but not maltose or maltotriose.

16 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one Pichia kluyveri strain is selected from the group consisting of the Pichia kluyveri PK-KR1 (JT1.28 or strain A) strain that was deposited on 24 Aug. 2006 at the National Measurement Institute, 541-65 Clarke Street, South Melbourne, Victoria 3205, Australia, by University of Auckland, School of Biological Sciences, Auckland 1142, New Zealand, under accession numbers V06/022711, and the Pichia kluyveri PK-KR2 (JT3.71) that was deposited on 24 Aug. 2006 at the National Measurement Institute, 541-65 Clarke Street, South Melbourne, Victoria 3205, Australia, by University of Auckland, School of Biological Sciences, Auckland 1142, New Zealand, under accession numbers V06/022712.

17 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the low-alcohol or alcohol-free beverage is a beer.

Assignees

• Chr Hansen As

Inventors

• Saerens Sofie
• Swiegers Jan Hendrik

Classifications

• C12C12/006

  Yeasts (processes for seeding C12C11/02) · CPC title

• C12C12/04 Primary

  Beer with low alcohol content (methods for reducing the alcohol content after fermentation C12H3/00) · CPC title