• 专利附录
  • 专利说明
  • 权利要求
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    • 专利摘要:
    Method for preparing beer concentrate, comprising the steps of: a) subjecting beer or cider (1) to a first concentration step comprising reverse osmosis and / or nanofiltration and / or ultrafiltration to produce a retentate (2) and a permeate comprising alcohol and volatile flavor components (3), wherein the retentate (2) is characterized by the concentration of non-filterable components equal to or higher than 5% (w / w), preferably 10% (w / w), with most preferably 15% (w / w), as calculated by density measurement corrected for the alcohol content; b) subjecting the retentate (2) to a retentate concentration step comprising forward osmosis to obtain a concentrated retentate (4) and a permeate comprising alcohol and volatile flavor components
    公开号:BE1025898B1
    申请号:E2017/5873
    申请日:2017-11-30
    公开日:2019-08-12
    发明作者:Andre Joao；Miguel Monsanto
    申请人:Anheuser-Busch Inbev S.A.；
    IPC主号:
    专利说明:

    Process for the production of a beer or cider concentrate
    Technical area
    The present invention relates to a method for preparing beer or cider concentrate comprising alcohol and flavor components, and furthermore beer or cider, respectively prepared therefrom. More specifically, the invention relates to a two-step concentration method wherein the first step comprises a reverse osmosis, nanofiltration or ultrafiltration that results in a highly concentrated retentate and an aqueous permeate fraction comprising alcohol and volatile flavor components, and wherein the second step comprises a further concentration of the retentate by a forward osmosis process which allows the obtaining of a highly concentrated extract fraction.
    BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
    The biggest advantage of producing concentrates is the reduction in weight and volume, which can save on storage costs, and it also often has a beneficial effect on improving the shelf life of a product. Because beer and many other alcoholic beverages generally contain about 80 to 90% water, it was naturally recognized that the most economical way to store them and spread them over a considerable distance would be the standard of a concentrate.
    In principle, a concentrate can be reconstituted anywhere and whenever to the initial
    BE2017 / 5873 product by adding the solvent, usually water. Notwithstanding, it is not self-evident to produce a beer or cider-like beverage concentrate; the greatest difficulty lies in the fact that most concentration procedures lead to a reduction in many flavor or aroma components. Beer in particular is a very challenging drink to produce a concentrate because, unlike drinks produced from fruit juice fermentation such as wine or pear cider; the aromas present in the beer are more subtle and much less concentrated, meaning that the loss of even a very small part of it from the concentration phase would have a pronounced effect on the organoleptic perception of the rehydrated end product. In addition, it is expected that, due to the popularity of the drink and the general public of demanding beer lovers, the reconstituted drink meets the expectations with regard to its distinctive aroma, taste, mouthfeel, foam properties, color, and even turbidity perception. Reconstituted beer simply cannot taste like a diluted beer because it lacks certain characteristics; to be approved by the consultant with simply having all the qualities of real unprocessed beer.
    Methods for producing beer concentrates and then rehydrating them in final drinks are known in the art. Various methods for concentrating alcoholic beverages known in the brewing industry include processes such as freeze drying, reverse osmosis
    BE2017 / 5873 and filtration. All these processes start with an almost finished beer after which the water is removed. The resulting concentrated drinks can then be transported more cost-effectively and then reconstituted at a final destination by adding water, carbon dioxide and alternatively also alcohol.
    An example of a particular method for the preparation of a reconstitutable beer concentrate is found in GB2133418. The method is based on subjecting beer to reverse osmosis and results in a low alcohol concentrate that can be rehydrated to a low alcohol beer.
    US4265920 and US4532140, on the other hand, describe two-step methods for obtaining a beer concentrate with a high alcohol content that can be reconstituted into beer with a normal alcohol content. The method of US4265920 comprises a first distillation step for separating ethanol and volatile aroma components from the retentate comprising the remainder of the beer components, which is followed by a second step comprising a rather expensive freeze concentration procedure to concentrate the retentate from the first step. Finally, the distilled ethanol from step 1 is combined with the freeze-concentrated retentate from step 2, which results in the final ethanol-enriched beer concentrate. The method of US4532140, on the other hand, subjects beer to ultrafiltration in the first step to obtain a concentrated retentate, and the aqueous permeate is then, in the second
    BE2017 / 5873 step, subjected to reverse osmosis to concentrate ethanol and volatile components; finally, the alcohol fraction from step 2 is drawn with the retentate from step 1 to obtain the final beer concentrate.
    Although at least some of the methods described above provide a general approach to concentrating beer including its alcohol content and, to some extent, volatile components, they achieve their goal at the expense of obtaining high concentration factors and only provide final concentrates with a volume which is half or at most one-third of the volume of the starting beer. Therefore, there is clearly room for improvement and the provision of more concentrated beer bases that entail a greater reduction in transportation and storage costs.
    The present invention provides a method for producing a high density natural alcohol-enriched beer concentrate, said method providing an advantageous concentration factor potential of at least 5, 10, 15, up to 20 or more, while at the same time providing a high and optionally selective retention of natural beer flavor components, including the volatile, are insured. These and other advantages of the present invention are shown below.
    Summary of the invention
    The present invention is defined in the appended independent claims. Preferred embodiments are defined in the
    BE2017 / 5873 dependent claims. In particular, the present invention relates to a process for preparing beer concentrate comprising the steps of:
    a) Method for preparing beer concentrate, comprising the steps of:
    a) subjecting beer or cider (1) to a first concentration step comprising reverse osmosis and / or nanofiltration and / or ultrafiltration to obtain a retentate (2) and a permeate comprising alcohol and volatile flavor components (3), wherein the retentate ( 2) is characterized by the concentration of non-filterable components equal to or higher than 5% (w / w), preferably 10% (w / w), most preferably 15% (w / w), as calculated by density measurement corrected for the alcohol content;
    b) subjecting the retentate (2) to a retentate concentration step comprising forward osmosis to obtain a concentrated retentate (4) and a permeate comprising alcohol and volatile flavor components.
    The retentate (4) of the forward osmosis is preferably characterized by the concentration of non-filterable components equal to or higher than 20% (w / w), preferably 30% (w / w), most preferably 40% (w / w), as calculated from density measurement corrected for the alcohol content with a view to the beer or cider subjected to the first concentration process.
    The method preferably comprises a step for recovering volatile losses
    BE2017 / 5873 flavor components, alcohol and / or extract during the first concentration step. According to a first embodiment, this recovery is obtained by subjecting the fraction comprising alcohol and volatile flavor components (3) of the first concentration step to a fractionation process, preferably distillation, so as to have a concentrated fraction comprising alcohol and volatile flavor components and a fraction comprising water and optional beer - or obtain a cider extract, after which the fraction of alcohol and volatile flavor components can be subjected to an adsorption process in which the flavor components are adsorbed and subsequently washed out in a volume of water or alcohol, whereby a concentrated fraction of volatile flavor components is obtained. The fraction comprising water and beer or cider extract from the distillation process can be supplied to a freeze concentration step for removing pure water in the form of ice crystals at temperatures below zero and to obtain a concentrated extract fraction.
    Alternatively, the recovery of volatile flavor component, alcohol and / or extract loss during the first concentration step is obtained by subjecting the permeate of the first concentration step to an adsorption process in which the flavor components are adsorbed and then washed out in a volume of water or alcohol whereby a concentrated fraction of volatile flavor components is obtained.
    The present invention also relates
    BE2017 / 5873 to the use of a fraction comprising volatile flavor components or of a concentrated fraction comprising volatile flavor components obtained by a method of the invention as a component for beer or cider, as a component in beer or cider reconstitution or as a flavor component to be added to beer or cider.
    Brief description of the figures
    For a more complete understanding of the nature of the present invention, reference is made to the following detailed description in combination with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
    Figure 1: shows a block diagram that schematically illustrates important steps of the method according to the present invention. A - first concentration step comprising reverse osmosis, nanofiltration or ultrafiltration; B - second concentration step comprising forward osmosis; C - a third process step comprising fractionation, preferably distillation; D 'a fourth process step comprising adsorption; D a fourth process step comprising freeze concentration
    - beer subjected to reverse osmosis, nanofiltration or ultrafiltration; 2 - retentate; 3 permeate comprising ethanol and volatile aroma components; 4 - retentate from the forward osmosis (concentrated beer or cider); - upper fraction of the distillation comprising alcohol and volatile flavor components; 6 - lower fraction of distillation comprising water and optionally beer or cider extract; 7 - comprising concentrated fraction
    BE2017 / 5873 volatile flavor components; 8 - concentrated fraction comprising concentrated extract fraction from the freeze concentration step D).
    Figure 2: shows a graph illustrating the relationship between the concentration factors of different retentates (4) obtained from different beers (beer 1-4), and the obtained amount of non-filterable components (% solids) is said retentates after the first concentration step and retentate concentration step (RC) according to the method of the invention.
    Definitions
    As used herein, the term concentrate as defined in the Oxford dictionary means: A substance made by removing or reducing the diluent; a concentrated form of something (cf. http: // www. oxforddictionaries.com / definition / english / concentrate). In line with this, the term beer or cider concentrate or, alternatively (concentrated) beer or cider base or beer or cider syrup, refers to beer or cider, respectively, from which the majority of its solvent component - ie water - was removed while the majority of the dissolved components with properties such as taste, odor, color, mouthfeel etc. are retained.
    As used herein, the term beer should be interpreted according to a rather broad definition:
    BE2017 / 5873 the drink obtained by fermentation from a wort, prepared with starch or sugar-containing raw materials, including hop powder or hop extracts and potable water. In addition to barley malt and wheat malt, only the following should be taken into account for brewing, mixed with, for example, wheat malt, starch or sugar-containing raw materials in which the total amount may not exceed 80%, preferably 40% of the total weight of the starch or sugar-containing raw materials:
    (a) maize, rice, sugar, wheat, barley and its various forms.
    (b) sucrose, converted sugar, dextrose and glucose syrup.
    Although not all fermented malt-based beverages can be called beer according to certain national laws, in the context of the present invention, the terms beer and fermented malt-based beverage are used herein as synonyms and are interchangeable.
    Therefore, as used herein, the terms reconstituted beer and reconstituted fermented malt-based beverage are to be interpreted as beverages that are substantially identical in composition to beer but were obtained by the addition of the solvent, ie water or carbonated water, to a previously prepared beer concentrate.
    term
    Next, cider as used herein, should be interpreted as any
    BE2017 / 5873 alcoholic beverage resulting from the fermentation of apple juice or apple juice mixed with max. 10% pear juice. This term also includes any product of this fermented apple juice that has been further modified by adding such standard cider production additives such as acids (lemon or tartar) and / or sugar, filtering, cooling, saturation with carbon dioxide, pasteurization, etc., which has been commercialized under the term cider.
    As used herein, the term non-filterable components is to be interpreted as referring to all different components included in any type of beer or cider that cannot pass through a nanofiltration membrane,
    i.e.
    beer components with a size greater than 150
    Da, or 200 Da, which is the cut-off of the molecular weight retention size depending on a particular nanofiltration membrane.
    In contrast to the filterable components including water, monovalent and some bivalent ions, low molecular weight alcohols such as ethanol, low molecular weight esters and a number of volatile flavor components, the non-filterable components mainly include sugars, usually polysaccharides;
    sugar alcohols, polyphenols, pentosans, peptides and proteins, high molecular weight alcohols, high molecular weight esters, partially multivalent ions, and primarily other predominantly organic and highly divergent compounds that vary depending on the beer or cider type. Due to the complexity and discrepancies between
    BE2017 / 5873 different beer or cider compositions, the collective concentration of non-filterable components is often described as (highly simplified and without being exact) sugar concentration or solid concentration and can easily be calculated from mass balance considerations with parameters such as density, viscosity, beer rheology, original weight or extract, real gravity or extract, degree of fermentation (RDF) and / or alcohol content. In brewing practice, the concentration of non-filterable components is routinely determined from density (real extract) measurements corrected for the density of the measured ethanol content, with ethanol being the most prevalent component with a density <1 g / cm 3 and thus the density measurement affects the most substantially.
    Such measurements are known in the art, are routinely performed by standard beer analysis systems such as the
    Anton
    Pair of Alcolyzer equipment, and can therefore be carried out quickly and easily by anyone skilled in the field of beer brewing.
    The amount of components dissolved in beer can also be expressed as the so-called specific weight (relative density) or apparent specific weight.
    The first is measured as the density (weight per unit volume) of beer divided by the density of water used as reference substance, and the second as the weight of the volume of beer relative to the weight of the same volume of water. For example, a specific
    BE2017 / 5873 weight of 1,050 (50 points) means that the substance is 5% heavier than the same volume of water. The densities of water, and consequently also beer, vary with temperature; therefore, for both specific gravity and apparent specific gravity, the measurement of the sample and the reference value takes place under the same specified temperature and pressure conditions. Pressure is almost always 1 atm equal to 101.325 kPa, while temperatures may differ depending on the choice of further systems for estimating beer density. Examples of such systems are two empirical scales, the Plato and the Brix scales, which are commonly used in the brewing wine industries, respectively. Both scales represent the strength of the solution in percentage of sugar by mass; one degree of Plato (abbreviated ° P) or a degree of Brix (symbol ° Bx) is 1 gram of sucrose in 100 grams of water. There is a difference between these units, especially since both scales were developed for sucrose solutions at different temperatures, but it is so insignificant that they can be used almost interchangeably. For example, beer measured at
    12 ° Plato at
    15.5 ° C has the same density as a water-sucrose solution containing%
    sucrose per mass at 15.5 ° C, which is approximately equal to 12 ° Brix, which is the same density as a water-sucrose solution containing 12% sucrose per mass at 20 ° C.
    The Plato and Brix dishes have an advantage over specific gravity in that they express the density measurement in terms of the amount of fermentable materials, which is particularly suitable in
    BE2017 / 5873 early stages of brewing. Because both beer and wort are composed of more solids than just sucrose, this is of course not exact. The ratio between degrees Plato and specific gravity is not linear, but a good approximation is that 1 ° P equals 4 brewer points (4 x 0.001); so 12 ° Plato corresponds to a specific weight of 1,048 [1+ (12 x 4 x 0.001)].
    The term original specific weight or original extract refers to specific weight measured before fermentation, while the term final specific weight or final extract refers to specific weight measured on completion of fermentation. Generally, specific gravity refers to the specific gravity of the beer at various stages of fermentation. Initially, before alcohol production by the yeast, the specific gravity of wort (i.e., the ground malt before beer fermentation) is primarily dependent on the amount of sucrose. Therefore, the reading of the original specific gravity at the beginning of the fermentation can be used to determine sugar content in Plato or Brix dishes. As fermentation continues, the yeast converts sugars into carbon dioxide, ethanol, yeast biomass and flavor components. Lowering the amount of sugar and increasing the presence of ethanol, which is noticeably lower in density than water, both contribute to lowering the specific gravity of the fermenting beer.
    Comparing the reading of original specific gravity with the reading of final specific gravity can be
    BE2017 / 5873 used to determine the amount of sugar used and therefore the amount of ethanol produced.
    For example, for normal beer, the original can have specific gravity
    1.050 and the final specific gravity are 1.010.
    Similarly, knowing the original specific gravity of a beverage and the alcohol content can be used to determine the amount of sugars consumed during fermentation.
    The extent to which sugar is expressed by fermentation or WMF was fermented in alcohol the term actual degree of and is often given as a fraction of original specific gravity transformed into ethanol and CO 2 . Beer WMF is theoretically indicative of sweetness because beers usually have more residual sugar and therefore a lower WMF.
    Concentration steps may include any of a variety of techniques known in the art that allow for partial or substantial separation of water from the beer and thus retention of most of the components dissolved therein in a lower than initial volume. Many techniques currently used in the beverage industry rely on so-called membrane technologies, which provide a cheaper alternative to conventional heat treatment processes and include separation of substances into two fractions using a semi-permeable membrane. The faction comprising particles smaller than the pore size of the membrane passes through the membrane and, as used herein, is described as permeate or filtrate. Everything else that is held on the supply side of it
    BE2017 / 5873 membrane as used herein is described as retentate.
    Typical membrane filtration systems include, for example, pressure-driven microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and reverse osmosis techniques. As used herein, the term microfiltration refers to a membrane filtration technique for retaining particles with a size of 0.1 to 10 μm and larger. Typically, microfiltration is a low-pressure process that typically operates at a pressure in the range of 0.34 - 3 bar 1 . Microfiltration allows separation of particles such as yeast, protozoa, large bacteria, organic and inorganic sediments, etc. As used herein, the term ultrafiltration thus refers to a membrane filtration technique for retaining particles about 0.01 μm in size and larger. Ultrafiltration usually retains particles with a molecular weight greater than 1000 Dalton, such as most viruses, proteins of certain sizes, nucleic acids, dextrins, pentosan chains, etc.
    Typical working pressure for ultrafiltration is in the range of 0.48 bar.
    Furthermore, as used herein, the term nanofiltration is to be interpreted as a membrane filtration technique for retaining particles with a size of 0.001 μm to 0.01 μm and larger. Nanofiltration can retain bivalent or multivalent ions, such as bivalent salts, and most organic compounds greater than about 180 Daltons, which include oligosaccharides and many flavor components;
    Where the unit bar is 100,000 Pa according to the definition of IUPAC, [1 Pa = 1 N / m A 2 = 1 kg / m * s A 2 in S1 units.]
    BE2017 / 5873 through which water, ethanol, monovalent ions, and some organic molecules such as many aromatic esters can pass. A working pressure of 8-41 bar is characteristic of nanofiltration. Where nanofiltration occurs under inlet pressure in the upper end of this range, ie from 18 bar, it will be referred to as high-pressure nanofiltration as used herein. Finally, as used herein, the term reverse osmosis is to be interpreted as referring to a high pressure membrane process where the applied pressure is used to surpass osmotic pressure. Reverse osmosis usually permits the retention of particles with a size of 0.00005 μm to 0.0001 μm and larger, i.e. almost all particles and ionic species. Substances with a molecular weight higher than 50 Dalton are almost all retained without exception. The operating pressure is typically between 21 and 76 bar, but can go up to 150 bar in special applications.
    Forward osmosis (FO) is an osmotic process that, like reverse osmosis (RO), uses a semi-permeable membrane to achieve separation of water from solutes. The driving force for this separation is an osmotic pressure gradient, so that a tensile solution with a high concentration (relative to that of the feed solution) is used to induce a net flow of water through the membrane in the tensile solution, whereby the feed water effectively separated from its dissolved substances. The reverse osmosis process, on the other hand, uses hydraulic pressure as
    BE2017 / 5873 separation force, which serves to counteract the osmotic pressure gradient that would otherwise have a positive influence on the water flow from the permeate to be supplied. Therefore, significantly more energy is required for reverse osmosis than for forward osmosis.
    Furthermore, as described herein, the term volatile flavor components is to be interpreted as any of the substances present in beer that contribute to its complex olfactory profile, said substances having a boiling point lower than that of water due to their chemical nature. Examples of volatile beer flavor components include, but are not limited to, acetaldehyde, N-propanol, ethyl acetate, isobutyl alcohol, isoamyl alcohol, isoamyl acetate, ethyl hexanoate, ethyl octanoate, phenylethyl alcohol, 2-methyl-1-butanol, and many others.
    Detailed description of the invention
    The present invention relates to a method for the production of a beer or cider concentrate, said method comprising the steps of:
    a) supplying a beer or cider (1) stream to a first concentration step (A) comprising reverse osmosis, nanofiltration or ultrafiltration to obtain a retentate (2) and a permeate (3) comprising alcohol and volatile flavor components, wherein the retentate (2) is characterized by the concentration of non-filterable components equal to or higher than 5% (w / w), preferably 10% (w / w), most preferably 15% (w / w), as calculated by
    BE2017 / 5873 density measurement corrected for the alcohol content;
    b) subjecting the retentate (2) to a retentate concentration step (B) comprising forward osmosis to obtain a concentrated retentate (4).
    In general, beer (1) that is subjected to the first concentration step (A) according to the invention is preferably clear beer that has been treated with any ordinary beer clearance technique to remove yeast and must from the other particles with a diameter greater than 0.2 μm . Such techniques are standard and known in the field of beer preparation. They include, for example, centrifugation, filtration through, for example, kieselguhr (diatomaceous earth) optionally preceded by centrifugation, or other types of standard microfiltration techniques.
    As can be seen from the present disclosure, the method of the invention is especially advantageous for obtaining beer or cider concentrates with low volume and high density with limited or ideally no loss of volatile flavor components. The degree of concentration of the end product strongly depends on the degree of concentration of the retentate obtained via nanofiltration in step B). Therefore, the present invention provides a method wherein the retentate not only comprises the majority of beer (or cider) flavor components, but may possibly also be characterized by a high concentration factor of 5, 10, 15, or even 20 or higher.
    As used herein, the term concentration factor is to be interpreted as the
    BE2017 / 5873 ratio of the beer or cider volume subjected to ultrafiltration, nanofiltration or reverse osmosis in step a) to the volume of the retentate obtained at the end of the ultrafiltration, nanofiltration or reverse osmosis in step a), ie the ratio of the supply volume relative to the volume of the retentate obtained in step a) of the method of the present invention. In a specific embodiment, a method according to the preceding embodiments is provided, wherein the retentate obtained in step a) is characterized by concentration factor 5 or higher, preferably 10 or higher, more preferably 15 or higher, most preferably 20 or higher . A ratio between the concentration factor in the sense defined above and the concentration of non-filterable components that may be obtained in the retentate of step a) naturally depends on the type of beer or cider that was initially subjected to ultrafiltration, nanofiltration or vice-versa osmosis, which has been demonstrated and can be deduced from the graph presented in Figure 2, where each line represents a different beverage (lines 1-4 were obtained for different beers, line 5 obtained for cider).
    Concentration factors of 10 and higher can, in terms of speed and performance, be advantageously obtained by, as used herein, high pressure nanofiltration, i.e. a nanofiltration performed at a pressure of at least 18 bar. Thus, in preferred embodiments of the invention, a method is provided wherein the nanofiltration in step
    BE2017 / 5873
    a) is high-pressure nanofiltration, defined as nanofiltration performed under a pressure in the range of about 18-41 bar, preferably in the range of about 20-35 bar, most preferably about 30 bar.
    In the case of cross-flow filtration, we can always obtain the concentration in one pass. But to make the operation more economical, a multi-phase operation is performed.
    In line with the above, the present invention is based on the finding that by concentrating the beer in a first concentration step comprising reverse osmosis, the loss of volatile flavor components can be limited, but at the expense of concentration capacity.
    In view of nanofiltration or ultrafiltration, the maximum concentration factor that can be obtained by concentrating beer with reverse osmosis is limited.
    A further concentration of the beer can be obtained by subsequently performing a nanofiltration such as high-pressure nanofiltration on the retentate of the reverse osmosis. Furthermore, high-pressure nanofiltration provides concentration potential that is substantially superior to that of ultrafiltration or reverse osmosis, whereby potentially retentate can be obtained with a density between 20-50 ° P or higher, even after a single filtration throughput. In an advantageous economic embodiment, nanofiltration is performed as a multi-phase operation in which the retentate proceeds from one phase to the other as it becomes more and more concentrated.
    The preferred final
    BE2017 / 5873 density value of the retentate that can be obtained according to step a) of the present invention is in between
    30-80 ° P or higher, preferably between 5070 ° P, most preferably about 60 ° P. Therefore, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the retentate of step a) is obtained in single nanofiltration throughput, which is preferably high-pressure nanofiltration high-pressure nanofiltration range of 18-35 bar, about 20-30 bar.
    is one, more preferably performed under a pressure in the most preferred between
    A concentration potential was found with polymer from 150-200 Daltons or similar membranes
    ATF (alternating
    Technology) available
    After more that a specific spiral membranes can become so high in the area similar. Examples of thin-film composite tangential filtration,
    Refine membranes such as these currently being concentrated at DOW and Parker Domnick Hunter.
    forward retentate filterable components% (w / w), preferably 40% (w / w), such as osmosis, it is collected;
    the concentration equal to or calculated from strong this notor higher than with most density measurement corrected for the alcohol content with a view to the beer or the cider concentration process.
    The permeate is preferably freeze concentration or subjected to the first of the first concentration step processed by distillation, adsorption to selectively
    BE2017 / 5873 volatile flavor components and optionally ethanol. In case the permeate of the nanofiltration step is processed by distillation, freeze concentration or adsorption, this permeate can be processed together with the permeate of the first concentration step.
    Figure 1 schematically illustrates a diagram of the method of the present invention wherein a beer (1) is subjected to a first concentration step comprising reverse osmosis, nanofiltration or ultrafiltration to obtain a concentrated beer extract and a permeate (3) water and ethanol, as well as a small amount of volatile flavor components and possibly some extract. The retentate is then supplied to a forward osmosis concentration step in which the retentate is further concentrated on the basis of osmotic pressure, by withdrawing water from the retentate (2). This forward osmosis allows a further concentration of the retentate (2) obtained in the first concentration step with minimal loss of volatile flavor components and provides a beer or cider concentrate (4).
    The downstream processing of the permeate (3) of the first concentration step can comprise a further concentration step (C) comprising distillation, freeze concentration (Freeze concentration mainly concerns the removal of pure water in the form of ice crystals at temperatures below zero) or adsorption processing of the volatile flavor components
    BE2017 / 5873 on a column and then washing out the volatile flavor components with water or ethanol).
    Distillation is a classic example of a fractionation technique that is known to be particularly suitable for separating alcohol and volatile component from water. The term distillation, as used herein, refers to the separation of the liquid mixture into its components by utilizing the difference in relative volatility and / or boiling point among the components by including their consecutive evaporation and condensation in the heating and cooling process .
    Examples of the distillation may include single distillation, fractional distillation, multi-phase distillation, azeotropic distillation, and steam distillation.
    In a preferred embodiment, a method of the invention is provided wherein the concentration in step b) comprises aromatic distillation, said distillation defined as distillation configured to produce a large collection of aroma-producing components. Figure 2 shows a specific embodiment of the general method according to the invention, wherein the further concentration (C) is carried out by fractional distillation, as schematically illustrated by the presence of a fractionation column.
    Distillation is part of a larger group of separation processes based on phase transition, generally described as fractionation. Other examples of fractionation include column chromatography based on the difference in
    BE2017 / 5873 affinity between stationary phase and the mobile phase, and fractional crystallization and fractional freezing both use the difference in crystallization or melting points of different components of a mixture at a certain temperature. In an advantageous arrangement of the present invention, method b) may comprise such a fractionation, preferably distillation, arrangement in which different fractions are analyzed for the presence of different components such as different volatile flavor component species and then selectively targeted to be brought together with the retentate from step a) or discarded, which would provide greater control over the flavor profile of the final beer concentrate of the invention.
    In case the further concentration step (C) comprises distillation, the upper fraction (5) comprising alcohol and volatile flavor components can be further subjected to an adsorption process (D ') to selectively obtain volatile flavor components (7).
    This fraction of volatile flavor components (7) can be wholly or partially mixed with the retentate (4) of the forward osmosis step B) (= beer or cider concentrate) to supplement that beer concentrate or can be used as a component for beer, as a component with beer reconstitution or as a flavor component to be added to beer or cider. When used as a component in beer reconstitution starting from a beer concentrate, the beer concentrate can be the beer concentrate obtained by the process of the present invention
    BE2017 / 5873 or another beer concentrate.
    The lower fraction of the can be subjected to a freeze-concentration process in order to potentially add the forward osmosis or be used as a component for beer, as a component in beer reconstitution or as a flavor component to be added to beer or cider. When used as a component in beer reconstitution from a beer concentrate, the beer concentrate may be the beer concentrate obtained by the process of the present invention or another beer concentrate.
    In addition to the methods disclosed above, the beer or cider can be pretreated before being subjected to the first concentration step. The pre-treatment preferably comprises a removal of carbon dioxide from the beer or cider. Alternatively, the fraction comprising alcohol and volatile flavor components (permeate 3) and / or the fraction comprising water and optionally beer or cider extract can be treated for removal of carbon dioxide. Decarbonation from the liquid can be achieved by simply exposing the beer, the cider, the permeate (3) or the fraction comprising water and optionally beer or cider extract to a vacuum for a period of time sufficient to remove a desired amount of carbon dioxide from the respective liquid. Such
    BE2017 / 5873 decarbonation process has the disadvantage that in addition to carbon dioxide, volatile flavor components are also removed from the liquid. Therefore, removal of carbon dioxide is preferably carried out over a membrane, whereby beer, cider, permeate (3) or the fraction comprising water and optional beer or cider extract is directed over one side of the membrane, while a vacuum or nitrogen stream is provided on the other side of the membrane, so that carbon dioxide is removed from the liquid through the membrane. Such decarbonation membranes are commercially available from, for example, 3M (Liqui-Cel
    Ideally, decarbonation of the beer, the cider, the permeate (3) or the fraction comprising water and optionally beer or cider extract is carried out to a level where the carbon dioxide content of the liquid is equal to or lower than
    1 g / l, preferably equal to or lower than
    0.5 g / l.
    The decarbonation of the beer, the cider, the permeate or the fraction comprising water and optionally beer or cider extract to such an extent is especially preferred when the beer, the cider, the permeate (3) or the fraction comprising water and optional beer - or cider extract is subjected to freeze concentration. In other words, decarbonation is preferably carried out to a CO 2 content of 1 g / l or less, preferably 0.5 g / l or less of the beer, the cider, the permeate (3) or the fraction comprising water and optional beer - or cider extract.
    权利要求:
    Claims (7)
    [1]
    Conclusions
    A method for preparing beer concentrate, comprising the steps of:
    a) subjecting beer or cider (1) to a first concentration step comprising reverse osmosis and / or nanofiltration and / or ultrafiltration to obtain a retentate (2) and a permeate comprising alcohol and volatile flavor components (3), wherein the retentate ( 2) is characterized by the concentration of non-filterable components equal to or higher than 5% (w / w), preferably 10% (w / w), most preferably 15% (w / w), as calculated by density measurement corrected for the alcohol content;
    b) subjecting the retentate (2) to a retentate concentration step comprising forward osmosis to obtain a concentrated retentate (4) and a permeate comprising alcohol and volatile flavor components.
    [2]
    Method according to claim 1, wherein the forward osmosis retentate (4) is preferably characterized by the concentration of non-filterable components equal to or higher than 20% (w / w), preferably 30% (w / w) w), most preferably 40% (w / w), as calculated from density measurement corrected for the alcohol content in view of the beer or cider subjected to the first concentration process.
    [3]
    Method according to claim 1 or 2, comprising the step of subjecting the fraction comprising alcohol and volatile flavor components (3) of the first concentration step to a fractionation process, preferably distillation, in order to obtain a concentrated
    BE2017 / 5873 fraction comprising alcohol and volatile flavor components and a fraction comprising water and optionally beer or cider extract.
    [4]
    The method of claim 3, comprising subjecting the concentrated fraction comprising alcohol and volatile flavor components to an adsorption process to selectively obtain a concentrated fraction comprising volatile flavor components.
    [5]
    Method according to claims 3 or 4, comprising subjecting the fraction comprising water and optional beer extract to a freeze concentration or evaporation process in order to obtain a concentrated beer or cider extract fraction.
    [6]
    A method according to claim 1 or 2, comprising the step of subjecting the permeate of the first concentration step to an adsorption process in order to selectively obtain a concentrated fraction comprising volatile flavor components.
    [7]
    Use of a fraction comprising volatile flavor components or of a concentrated fraction comprising volatile flavor components obtained by a method as identified according to one of claims 1 to 6 as a component for beer or cider, as a component in beer or cider reconstitution or as a flavor component to be added to beer or cider.
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    同族专利:
    公开号 | 公开日
    AR110290A1|2019-03-13|
    EP3330361A1|2018-06-06|
    WO2018100052A1|2018-06-07|
    BE1025898A1|2019-08-06|
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    法律状态:
    2019-10-10| FG| Patent granted|Effective date: 20190812 |
    优先权:
    申请号 | 申请日 | 专利标题
    EP16201513.5A|EP3330361A1|2016-11-30|2016-11-30|Process for the production of a beer or cider concentrate|
    EP16201513.5|2016-11-30|
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