A Strategy for Detection of All Beer-Spoilage Bacteria

Abstract

From studies of various aspects of beer-spoilage bacteria, we concluded that “unknown beer-spoilers” would be very harmful to the establishment of better quality assurance in breweries. Thus, the following studies were carried out. First, we explored unknown beer-spoilers. Four new beer-spoilage bacteria (BS-1, ID20–1, 8019, and EM-63) were isolated from the environment of breweries. The information about their growth characteristic suggested that the new beer-spoilers could not be detected sufficiently by the conventional colony count method. Second, we developed a rapid and practical method for prediction of beer-spoilage ability. Three monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), BLb (for beer-spoilage strains in Lactobacillus brevis), BG (for those in L. lindneri), and PQ (for those in Pediococcus damnosus) were developed for prediction of the beer-spoilage ability of lactic acid bacteria. Furthermore, these antibodies also reacted to three of the new beer-spoilage lactobacilli (BS-1, ID20–1, and 8019), as was to be expected. Third, we developed a high-performance device for detection of all beer-spoilers. The MicroStar-RMDS-SPS, developed in collaboration with Nippon Millipore, detected not only well-known beer-spoilers (L. brevis, P. damnosus, and Pectinatus frisingensis), but also the new beer-spoilers (ID20–1, 8019, and EM-63) within two days. Thus, we expect that these MAbs and the MicroStar-RMDS-SPS could prove useful in detection of beer-spoilage bacteria, including unknown beer-spoilers that may be found in the future. Now, they are used in practically all of our breweries.