Simultaneous Evaluation of β-Glucan and β-Glucanase Relationship during Different Mash Temperature Profiles

Abstract

High wort β-glucan may contribute to brewery processing problems such as poor run-off, slow filtration, and unwanted haze. To investigate how β-glucanase impacts wort β-glucan throughout mashing, 10 different mashes were considered with varied temperature profiles, malt bills, and levels of malt modification. The European Brewing Congress (EBC) and Institute of Brewing (IoB) mashes were employed to compare the effects of mash conditions on enzyme activity and β-glucan content. Mashes were sampled periodically and evaluated for β-glucan concentration and β-glucanase activity using Megazyme kits adapted to the Gallery™ Plus BeerMaster Discrete Analyzer (Gallery). Enzyme activity quickly decayed in modified IoB mashes (average half-life 12.4 min) accompanied by logarithmic accumulation of wort β-glucan. IoB β-glucan percent extract ranged from 30.3% to 99.5%. In EBC mashes, a slow decay in enzyme activity was followed by an increased rate of decay after 30 min. The β-glucan concentration in well-modified samples remained steady while enzyme activity was appreciable, though it increased after 40 min. As a result, β-glucan percent extract remained relatively low, ranging from 11.9% to 34.3%. The β-glucanase activity at lower temperatures compensates for high malt β-glucan. Measuring wort β-glucan in an EBC mash is insufficient in predicting malt performance in other mash styles. Methods for β-glucan and β-glucanase analysis adapted for the Gallery autoanalyzer increased throughput, enabling analysis of the enzyme and substrate throughout mashing.