Celebrating FeBREWary
The Enzymes Behind Every Great Brew
February may be the shortest month of the year, but in brewing there are no shortcuts. As “FeBREWary” celebrates the craft and science of beer, it’s the perfect moment to highlight the quiet workhorses of the brewhouse: enzymes.
From mash conversion to clarity and flavour stability, enzymes solve some of the industry’s most persistent technical challenges: improving yield, consistency and sustainability along the way.
1. Maximising Extract from Raw Materials
At the heart of brewing lies starch conversion. During mashing, enzymes such as alpha-amylase and beta-amylase hydrolyse starch into fermentable sugars. Without effective enzymatic activity:
- Extract efficiency drops
- Fermentable sugar profiles become inconsistent
- Alcohol yield suffers
In high-adjunct or alternative grain recipes, endogenous malt enzymes may be insufficient. Supplementary amylases and glucoamylases ensure complete conversion, helping brewers hit target attenuation levels while reducing raw material losses.
2. Improving Mash and Lauter Performance
Viscous mashes and slow wort separation can create operational bottlenecks. Beta-glucans and arabinoxylans from grain cell walls increase mash thickness and impede filtration.
Beta-glucanases and xylanases break down these structural polysaccharides, delivering:
- Reduced viscosity
- Faster lautering
- Improved brewhouse throughput
- Greater extract recovery
This is particularly valuable when working with under-modified malt, wheat, rye, oats or other high beta-glucan substrates.
3. Supporting Yeast Health and Fermentation Performance
Proteolytic enzymes generate Free Amino Nitrogen (FAN), an essential nutrient for yeast growth and metabolism. Inadequate FAN can lead to:
- Sluggish fermentations
- Off-flavours
- Inconsistent attenuation
Controlled protease activity ensures sufficient yeast nutrition while maintaining foam-positive proteins that contribute to head retention.
4. Delivering Clarity and Shelf Stability
Protein–polyphenol interactions are a primary cause of haze formation. Targeted enzymatic treatments can reduce haze-active proteins and improve colloidal stability.
Additionally, managing oxidative enzyme activity and applying specific enzymatic solutions helps enhance flavour stability and extend shelf life which is critical in modern global distribution networks.
5. Enabling Innovation and New Styles
Consumer demand is driving diversification: low-carb beers, high-attenuation styles, gluten-reduced options and novel grain bills.
Specialised enzymes make these possible by:
- Increasing dextrin breakdown for drier, lower-carbohydrate beers
- Assisting gluten protein degradation
- Unlocking extract from unconventional raw materials
Enzymes give brewers flexibility without compromising process control.
6. Advancing Sustainability
Efficiency gains are not just economic, they are environmental.
Enhanced enzymatic performance can deliver:
- Higher extract per tonne of grain
- Reduced energy input through optimised mash regimes
- Shorter processing times
- Lower waste streams
As sustainability targets tighten across the food and beverage industry, enzymatic optimisation plays a measurable role in reducing the carbon footprint per hectolitre of beer produced.
Brewing Forward This FeBREWwary
Brewing is fundamentally a controlled enzymatic process. While consumers may celebrate flavour, aroma and craftsmanship, the foundation of every successful brew lies in biochemical precision.
This FeBREWary, as the industry raises a glass to innovation and tradition alike, it is worth recognising that enzymes do more than catalyse reactions, they unlock efficiency, safeguard quality and empower creativity.
Behind every great beer is a smarter process. And behind that process, enzymes are quietly making it possible.
