ANDREA E. FALTERMAIER (1), Thomas Becker (2), Elke K. Arendt (1), Martina Gastl (2)
(1) School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, National University of
Ireland, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland; (2) Technische
Universität München-Weihenstephan, Lehrstuhl für Brau- und
Getränketechnologie, Freising, Germany
Wheat has a long tradition as a raw material for the production of
malt and beer. Nevertheless, it has been studied to a much less extent
than barley. Currently, wheat is used for the production of wheat beer, a
beer style which still is increasing in sales. The two main countries
producing this type of beer are Germany and Belgium. In increasing
amounts, specialty brewers in the United States are creating American
Wheat beers which are comparable to the German and Belgium style. In
2009, about 700 million metric tons of wheat were produced worldwide,
but until now only a very low percentage is used for brewing purposes.
Many wheat varieties are not suitable for brewing, since high protein
content is not appropriate for the production of beer, since it leads to
problems during downstream processing of beer such as lautering and
filtration problems, foam stability, and deficient haze stability.
Selected criteria have to be set for wheat as a raw material and its
suitability for the production and processability of wheat-based
fermented beverages. The used varieties as well as malting conditions
have an important influence on the quality of malt and beer. Up till
now, malting of wheat has received attention though to a very limited
extent compared to barley. No strict specifications for wheat and wheat
malt could be set by brewers, because characteristics of both greatly
vary depending on variety and malting procedure. Due to this fact, an
RSM-based design was made to analyze differences in proteolytic and
enzymatic changes which take place during the malting process. The
results were compared with established parameters and settings of barley
for brewing. The influence of three malting parameters, vegetation
time, degree of steeping, and germination temperature, to the quality of
wheat malt was investigated. The different malts were compared to each
other to ensure the processabillity for brewing purpose. Pilot-scale
brews were done with some modified malts. Differences in sensorial and
analytical attributes could be demonstrated. Thereby, optimized malting
conditions for an improved beer quality are shown in this paper.
Andrea Faltermaier studied food technology at the Technische
Universität München (TUM), Weihenstephan, Germany. She performed her
diploma thesis work at the Lehrstuhl für Brau- und Getränketechnologie,
TUM-Weihenstephan. Since 2009 Andrea has been a Ph.D. student at the
University College Cork (UCC), and she received the InBev-Baillet Latour
Scholarship in Brewing and Malting. Her Ph.D. project, a cooperation
between UCC and TUM, deals with studies on the application of wheat in
brewing and functional beverages.
