FEDERAL POLYTECHNIC NEKEDE

P.M.B 1036 OWERRI IMO STATE

TERM PAPER

ON

ADJUNCTS USED IN BREWING, TYPES, USES AND

EFFECTS ON BEER.

WRITTEN BY

NAME : OLUIGBO PRECIOUS NGOZI

DEPT: FOOD TECHNOLOGY

LEVEL: HND II (EVENING)

COURSE TITLE: INDUSTRIAL MICROBIOLOGY

COURSE CODE: FST 417

LECTURER: MRS. NNEKA AMADI -UZONNA

DATE: APRIL, 2024

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 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

The standard definition of adjunct is "something joined or added to another thing but not

essentially a part of it. To understand what an adjunct is in beer and brewing, you must

understand what is essential to beer. Then, everything else that finds its way into the brew pot is

an adjunct.

There are four essential ingredients in beer: malted barley, water, yeast, and hops. Malted

barley provides sugar that the yeast converts to alcohol and contributes color, flavor, aroma,

and a sweet taste to the final product. Hops add flavor, aroma, and a bitter balance to the sweet

malt. Lastly, water acts as a medium for the others. Each ingredient plays a vital role in

brewing, and if you take away any one of them, you have something that is not beer.

The role of adjuncts is to enhance characteristics that the four essentials contribute to beer.

They can be added at any point during the brewing process, from the wort to fermentation to

just before bottling,

Essentially, an adjunct is any ingredient added to the basic beer recipe of malt, hops, yeast,

and water. Some adjuncts, such as chocolate, coffee, and pumpkin spice, give the beer a

distinct flavor, and fruits or bacteria are commonly used to make sour beers

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 CHAPTER TWO

Types of Adjunct used in Beer Production

Most of the brewers’ adjuncts are based on a limited range of cereal grains. The non-malt
brewing materials used in greatest quantity today are those derived from corn and rice,
although barley, wheat, and sorghum grain are sometimes used.

Flours

Flours are produced as by-products, during the manufacture of corn and rice. Flours must be
cooked before being mixed in with the malt mash.

Grits

Grits consist of uncooked fragments of starchy endosperm derived from cereal grains. The
starch of these adjunct products is in its native form, and is not attacked by the malt diastase
enzymes during mashing.

Flakes

There are two different manufacturing processes used to produce brewing flakes (Figure 6.1).
In the traditional process, corn and rice grits or whole barley are steam-cooked to soften the
endosperm, which is then rolled flat and dried.

Torrified Cereals

Torrified cereals are produced by heating the grain, which makes the endosperm expand and
pop, thus rendering the starch pre-gelatinized and easily milled. Torrified cereals can be
added directly to the mash tun since the starch granules have been gelatinized. Most of the
nitrogen is denatured in the kernel and is not solubilized, thus contributing little or no
nitrogen to the mash.

Refined Starches

Refined starches can be prepared from many cereal grains. In commercial practice, refined
wheat starch, potato starch, and corn starch have been used in breweries; corn starches, in
particular, are used in the preparation of glucose syrups. Wheat starch has been employed in
breweries in Australia and Canada, where local conditions make it economical to use.
However, the most important source of refined starch is corn.

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 CHAPTER THREE

SYRUPS AND SUGARS

Syrups and sugars are adjuncts that are used in brewing too, especially with British and

Belgium brewers. Syrups and sugars can be added to the wort either at the boiling stage or as

primings to provide fermentable sugar for secondary fermentations and as a means of

adjusting beer sweetness. If added during boiling, syrups can be used to extend brewhouse

capacity or to improve beer stability. Syrups that are added directly to the kettle to

supplement fermentable carbohydrates effectively extend the capacity of the brewhouse to

produce more fermentable wort.

Syrups

The two major syrups used in brewing are sucrose- and starch-based. The sucrose-based

syrups have been refined from natural sources such as sugar cane or beets. The starch-based

syrups are produced from cereals by hydrolysis using acid, exogenous enzymes, or a

combination of the two to produce a range of syrups with different fermentabilities.

High-Fructose Corn Syrup

There has been some confusion between corn syrup and other similar-sounding ingredients.

In the food industry, there is a product that has become rather controversial over the past few

years called high-fructose corn syrup or HFCS. High-fructose corn syrup is a hydrolysate of

corn starch, but the process allows for a higher level of fructose to be present in the resulting

syrup.

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Sugars

The addition of sugar adjuncts increases the initial gravity of the wort without requiring

mashing. This is essential in high-gravity brewing, where concentrated beer is brewed from a

high initial gravity wort, typically 18 to 20 degrees Plato. It is difficult and highly inefficient

to mash enough grain to make high-gravity wort. Instead, lower-gravity wort is supplemented

with sugar. The high-gravity wort is then fermented and conditioned. The beer is diluted with

deaerated, carbonated water to the correct ethanol content before release to customers.

Sucrose

Sucrose (table sugar) is made from cane or beet sugar. Granulated sugar, the normal end

product of the refining process, may be added directly to the kettle, but usually is dissolved in

a solution before being added. Granulated sugar, as a disaccharide, is not completely

fermented by yeast.

Candi Sugar

A few brewers specify candi sugar. This sugar is made by allowing a supersaturated solution

of sucrose to cool slowly. Thin rods or string may be inserted into the solution to act as nuclei

on which the large crystals grow over a period of from 2 to 3 weeks.

Dextrose

Dextrose is also known as corn sugar and is available in the trade in the purified form as a

spray dry or as a crystalline powder. Dextrose sugar is added directly to the brew kettle

during boiling.

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Maltodextrin

Maltodextrin is the most complex fraction of the products of starch conversion. It is tasteless,

gummy, and hard to dissolve. It is often said to add body (palate fullness) to beer, increase

wort viscosity, and add smoothness to the palate of low-malt beers.

Caramel

Caramel is used in brewing as a flavor and/or coloring agent. For example, many mild and

sweet stouts contain caramel for both flavor and color.

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 CHAPTER FOUR

Uses of Adjuncts

Adjunct use results in beers with enhanced physical stability, superior chill-proof qualities,

and greater brilliancy. The greater physical stability has to do with the fact that adjuncts

contribute very little proteinaceous material to wort and beer, which is advantageous in terms

of colloidal stability. Rice and corn adjuncts contribute little or no soluble protein to the wort,

while other adjunct materials, such as wheat and barley, have higher levels of soluble protein.

Except for barley, adjuncts also contribute little or no polyphenolic substances. Adjuncts can

be used to adjust fermentability of a wort. Many brewers add sugar and/or syrup directly to

the kettle as an effective way of adjusting fermentability, rather than trying to alter mash rest

times and temperatures.

Effects of Adjunct on Beers

Some adjuncts, such as chocolate, coffee, and pumpkin spice, give the beer a distinct flavor,

and fruits or bacteria are commonly used to make sour beers

In brewing, the use of cereals (wheat, barley, maize, rice, sorghum, oats, rye or millet),

pseudo-cereals (buckwheat, quinoa or amaranth) and tubers (sweet potato), as starch

adjuncts, is being promoted for the production of a variety of high-quality beers, from

sensory and nutritional points of view. The sensory properties of the obtained beer

depend on the characteristics of each adjunct but also on the forms in which the adjunct

is added: whole cereal, grits, malted, extruded grains, torrefied and syrup. Among these

common forms, the extruded grains (maize or rice) produce a higher content of aroma

compounds in beer. From a nutritional point of view, the use of non-conventional starch

adjuncts, such as black rice, buckwheat or sweet potato, leads to an increase in the

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polyphenol content of the beer, and thus, its antioxidant capacity. Cereals such as maize,

rice, sorghum or millet are the most promising for the production of gluten-free beers. A

close relationship can be developed between the use of adjuncts in the beer industry

and the use of commercial enzymes. Advances made by biotechnology to design new

enzymes with different functionalities could be associated to a future increase in

adjunct usage in brewing.

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 CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION

The vast majority of beers on the market today contain a wide variety of starch
adjuncts, some of which can reduce production costs or boost several beer quality
attributes, such as colour or flavour, although not all starch adjuncts have the right
attributes to be used in brewing.

The use of adjuncts may lead to beneficial beer organoleptic characteristics: some of
these changes can be seen in colour (dark or pink beers) or in aromas and flavours
(fruity aromas and more intense flavours). Wheat or rye malts are commonly used,
while other adjuncts such as maize or rice are more commonly used in the form of
starches or grits. The use of extruded adjuncts has recently acquired a particular
interest.

On the nutritional side, the use of non-conventional starch adjuncts, such as black rice,
buckwheat or sweet potato, leads to an increase in the polyphenol content of the beer,
and thus, in its antioxidant capacity. Sorghum and sweet potato can be considered two
potential raw materials for the production of specific beers (gluten-free beer,
antioxidant-rich beer, etc.).

However, very often, the utilisation of novel raw materials leads to difficulties in beer
production, such as the necessity to use external enzymes, excessive saccharification or
filtering time, very low wort extract and thereby low alcohol content in beer, etc.
Therefore, the possibility of novel raw ingredients as adjuncts for beer processing could
be a very interesting line of research for the development of beers with different
organoleptic characteristics.

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