Synthetic biology makes alcohol-free beer taste the same as regular beer

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Synthetic biology makes alcohol-free beer taste the same as regular beer

Synthetic biology makes alcohol-free beer taste the same as regular beer.

Many studies remind us that drinking alcohol is bad for our health, even in small amounts, it can increase the risk of diseases such as cancer , especially for Asians.

With the emphasis on health, non-alcoholic beer sales have grown significantly in recent years, but in fact most beer lovers do not like non-alcoholic beer because they feel that non-alcoholic beer is bland, that is, has no beer taste.

In fact, non-alcoholic beer does not taste good because of the lack of hop aroma. For example, heating methods such as distillation to remove alcohol will also eliminate the aroma from hops.

Non-alcoholic beers produced by other methods of reducing fermentation are also less aromatic because hops need alcohol to impart their unique flavor to the beer.

And now, a synthetic biology company, EvodiaBio , has cracked the code to make alcohol-free beer with a hoppy aroma.

Synthetic biology makes alcohol-free beer taste the same as regular beer.

Sotirios Kampranis , co-founder of EvodiaBio , said that after years of research, they have found a way to produce a group of small molecules of monoterpenes that provide the aroma of hops, adding them at the end of alcohol-free beer brewing, just The ability to restore lost beer flavor is unprecedented and promises to be a game-changer for non-alcoholic beer.

In fact, instead of adding expensive hops to the brewing process (which didn’t help, of course) , the research team genetically engineered baker’s yeast cells to grow in a fermenter and produce and release hops Aroma microfactories, the study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) .

Synthetic biology makes alcohol-free beer taste the same as regular beer.

After the yeasts released these hop aroma molecules, the research team extracted, purified and collected them, then added them to alcohol-free beers, turning them into the regular beer flavors people know and love.

Synthetic biology makes alcohol-free beer taste the same as regular beer.

The emergence of this technology actually makes adding hops to the brewing process redundant, we only need to add molecules that deliver aroma and flavor, and no longer need real hops.

And, in addition to improving the flavor of alcohol-free beer, this synthetic biology-based approach is more sustainable than current hop additions.

First, aromatic hops are mainly grown on the west coast of the United States, which requires a lot of refrigerated transportation and is very energy-intensive; second, the cultivation of hops requires a lot of water, and it takes 2.7 tons of water to produce one kilogram of hops.

Using this synthetic biology method, there is no need to grow hops at all, and transportation and water consumption are avoided.

Specifically, the production of one kilogram of hop aroma molecules reduces water consumption by more than 10,000 times and carbon dioxide emissions by more than 100 times.

That is to say, methods based on synthetic biology can make non-alcoholic beer taste consistent with ordinary beer, help reduce people’s drinking, and contribute to human health.

And, in the long run, this approach promises to transform the current winemaking industry, making it more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

The researchers are excited to contribute to a healthier lifestyle and hope their new invention will help more people cut back on alcohol because now they will have an equally delicious alternative.

It is reported that EvodiaBio has begun to cooperate with breweries to produce this non-alcoholic beer, and it is expected that this non-alcoholic beer with ordinary beer flavor will be available in October this year.

References :

https://www.pnas.org/content/117/50/31789

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-021-01202-0

Synthetic biology makes alcohol-free beer taste the same as regular beer.

(source:internet, reference only)

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