Experiences with laboratory and pilot plant preparation of millet and buckwheat beer

Currently gluten-free beer is not produced in Hungary for coeliacs. The goal of our research was to develop brewery products made of domestically grown millet (Alföldi 1) and buckwheat (Oberon) that are similar to traditional beer of barley malt regarding taste, aroma, consistency, colour, foam stability and alcohol content.On a micromalting equipment malts were made of buckwheat and millet. Beer was produced on pilot plant scale (50 l) with decoction process (mashing program with rests at 50 °C, 65 °C and 72 °C) and was supplemented with a highly heat-stable bacterial α-amylase, a fungal α-amylase and β-glucanase. Malts were evaluated by congress mashing (extract content, extract difference, pH, and colour); wort and final beer analyses were performed as well (pH, extract, iodine test, FAN, colour, bitterness, alcohol and extract content). Finally, sensory characterization was carried out. Difficulties with lautering were encountered during the brewing process with buckwheat. The analytical results indicated that the buckwheat and millet beer had different values compared with a typical barley beer with regard to pH, FAN, fermentability, and total alcohol. The extracts of the buckwheat and millet wort were lower, resulting in a final attenuation of 61.5% and 73.2%.In laboratory experiments optimal temperature of β-amylase found in domestically grown buckwheat (64 °C) and millet (62 °C) was determined by detecting maltose production with HPLC. Data was used to set the rest temperature of the enzyme during mashing. Inhibiting effect of certain substances on proteolytic enzymes was investigated by measuring the extract, FAN, and soluble nitrogen contents. Inhibition was detected in case of both raw materials, although to a different extent. Inhibition is influenced by tannins and polyphenols found in the grain (Chethan et al., 2008)