Campden BRI helps brewers to cut costs and improve the quality of low alcohol and novel fruit beverages

Campden BRI has launched a new service to accurately assess the effectiveness of pasteurisation, allowing brewers to achieve sufficient microbial stability during pasteurisation without incurring excessive costs or detrimental effects on flavour.

The sector has seen considerable growth in the range of novel alcoholic beverages available. Because many of these beers and ciders are lower in alcohol than most alcoholic drinks or contain higher levels of sugars they may require different pasteurisation regimes to ensure product stability and potentially product safety.

Dr. Chris Rice, Microbiology Project Scientist at Campden BRI, said, "Insufficient pasteurisation may well present a safety or quality issue. But excessive pasteurisation may result in off-flavours, taints or reduction in positive sensory attributes, as well as unwelcome higher energy costs. Our service can improve the efficiency of the pasteurisation process without compromising on quality or safety."

Chris continued, "Our service is flexible depending on a client’s needs. Using data from our laboratory-based method we can calculate the minimum pasteurisation units (PUs) needed for a product. We can also validate the laboratory test results against a real-life scenario using our tunnel pasteuriser. Our specialist beer sensory panels can determine if the pasteurisation has affected the aroma or taste of the product, for example if it has developed any undesirable cooked flavours."

Given that these types of beverages are relatively new there is, at present, very little knowledge or data to determine the level of pasteurisation required for a given product. Campden BRI’s brewing experts have developed the method using knowledge and expertise gained during a one year research project investigating microbiological stabilisation in novel alcoholic beer and cider beverages.