Determination of silicon in Czech beer and its balance during the brewing process

Abstract

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was used for the determination of silicon in beer samples from the Czech market and in brewing raw materials and semiproducts. The content of silicon in barley malt depended on the barley variety and growing region. The goal was to establish silicon concentration in Czech beer and to find out which processes are the most significant in terms of silicon concentration in beer. The silicon concentration in Czech beer ranged from 16 mg/l to 113 mg/l depending especially on two factors. Firstly, the silicon content in beer increased as the original wort concentration and increased secondly, during decoction mashing, silicon from malt was leached to a much greater extent than in the case of infusion mashing.