Volatile Compound Profiling in Czech and Spanish Lager Beers in Relation to Used Production Technology

Abstract

Beers produced using different brewing technologies from Spain (intensified technologies) and Czech Republic (classical technologies) were analysed. A comparison of volatile compound profiles from particular lagers and non-alcoholic beers was carried out. Headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) was used to compare 28 industrial lager beer samples of 3 different types: pale, dark and non-alcoholic. A total of 44 volatile compounds were identified, and 19 of these were quantified. Principal component analysis showed four principal factors, each related to a particular group of compounds. Two factors that explained more than 63.72% of the variability were related to higher alcohols and acetates. Non-alcoholic beers had very low levels of volatile compounds, with the exception of a non-alcoholic Czech beer made using a special yeast that was unable to metabolize maltose and maltotriose, and had a volatile profile closer to that of lagers. Czech lagers brewed using classical technologies differed in their volatile profiles from lagers brewed using modern technologies in Spain, in particular, in the ratio between the contents of higher alcohols and esters.