Comparison of Two Commercially Available Strains, Saccharomycodes ludwigii and Torulaspora delbrueckii, for the Production of Low-Alcohol Beer

Abstract

Due to current trends in beer consumption, as well as social aspects, such as the education of society on combining drinking and driving, intensive research and development efforts have been recently focused on producing low-alcohol beers and non-alcoholic beers with a sensory profile appealing to consumers. There are plenty of methods for obtaining such beverages; one of these methods involves utilizing non-conventional yeasts for wort fermentation. In this work, the production of low-alcohol beer using commercially available Saccharomycodes ludwigii and Torulaspora delbrueckii strains were compared. The results showed that Torulaspora delbrueckii achieved the lowest level of attenuation, producing beer with an ethanol concentration of 2.58% vol. Saccharomycodes ludwigii displayed a slightly higher level of attenuation; however, its alcohol concentration was slightly lower than in the case of Torulaspora delbrueckii and reached 2.50% vol. Fully fermented beers produced using Saccharomycodes ludwigii and Torulaspora delbrueckii represented reduced ethanol concentrations by 12% and 15%, respectively, in comparison to Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Nevertheless, in order to produce non-alcoholic beers, arrested fermentation is necessary. In such a case, Saccharomycodes ludwigii reached the highest level of attenuation among non-alcoholic beers.