Flocculation is the tendency of yeast cells to aggregate together, forming a multicellular mass and sedimenting rapidly from the suspended medium or rising to the surface. Yeast flocculation is a complex phenomenon occurring in brewer’s yeast under various conditions near the end of the fermentation process. It is a matter of fundamental importance to brewery fermentations.
Finings are added to wort or beer to promote clarity in the finished product, and there are two broad classes. One promotes protein flocculation and the other promotes yeast flocculation. Kettle finings are added while wort continues to boil away in the kettle, whereas fermentor finings are added to finished beer.
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Picture credits: Praras® Biosciences[/caption]
To aid the flocculation and add efficiency to the brewing process, be it hot side or cold side, Praras® Biosciences Pvt. Ltd. has a wide range of products for every requirement. The company specialises in providing solutions for product and/or process improvement with a major focus on sustainability. With products such as CarraFlocAid® and FlocAid®, increase in wort recovery and filtration efficiency is effortlessly achievable. Let’s look into these products in detail down below.
CARRAFLOCAID®
Wort recovery from the copper vessel plays an important role in improving overall efficiency of the brewing process. CarraFlocAid® is a Hydrocolloid based natural product which enables a good hot and cold break, enabling formation of compact trub.
It is a natural product that readily facilitates wort recovery leading to increased clarity of wort and beer. The carrageenan polymers present in CarraFlocAid® are large negatively charged molecules that complex readily with the positively charged wort proteins, lipids and α-glucans, forming tightly bound electrically neutral aggregates that grow very rapidly and sediment out of the wort to form a dense compact trub. Thus, giving a useful increase in wort recovery, shortens boiling time and Improves clarity of wort and beer.
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The optimum dosage of CarraflocAid®. Picture credits: Praras® Biosciences[/caption]
Key Benefits
- Increases wort recovery.
- Shortens boiling time.
- Improves clarity of wort and beer.
Application Conditions
- The optimised dosage of CarraflocAid is added to wort kettle form the top, 5-10 minutes before casting, by dissolving the product in 50-80oC DM water.
- Optimise the dose rate using this suspension in the range of 3-6 g/HL.
FLOCAID®
FLOCAID® provides a solution to reduce process costs and time and improves the quality of the finished beer. FlocAid® is a free-flowing powder which is insoluble at finished beer pH. It re-dissolves in the beer when added at pH 3.8-4.4. and promotes the rapid flocculation that accelerates the settling of the yeast cells to the bottom of the tank.
Key Benefits
- It reduces the cost of the storage vessels and refrigeration.
- Minimises the use of other filter aids.
- Helps in better compact sediment occupying approximately 1% of the beer volume.
Thus, reduces the carryover of the cell and cell debris, and boosts filtration efficiency.
Application Conditions
The recommended dose of FlocAid ® for Lager Beer is between 2-4 g/HL. 0.5 to 1% w/v solution of FlocAid® is prepared using Distilled water or water with low hardness of temperature of 6-12oC using a simple mixer.
This solution is normally added during the transfer of the beer from the fermenter to the storage tank. Continuous dosing into minimum 75% transferred beer is preferred. The carbon dioxide pressure of the treated beer has no adverse impact on the performance of the FlocAid®.
The FlocAid® solution must be used within 24-36 hours of preparation and kept below 20oC. No other ingredients should be added to the FlocAid®.
For further information on Praras® Biosciences brewery/microbrewery products, visit https://www.prarasbiosciences.com/breweries/ Or write directly to info@prarasbiosciences.com
