Applications of natural ingredients in alcoholic drinks - Natural Food Additives, Ingredients and Flavourings - page 355

Many ingredients are more or less specifi c to a particular alcoholic beverage. For
example, the vast majority of hops and hop products are used in the production of
beer and are rarely used in the manufacture of other drinks. Likewise, apple juice
concentrate (AJC) is largely used in cider or apple wine production and
concentrated grape juice is used mainly in the manufacture of certain types of
wine, including some fruit wine. However, certain other ingredients such as
colourants (e.g. caramel), sweeteners (e.g. sugars, honey, terpenoid glycosides)
and herbs/spices (botanicals) and their products are used in the production of a
range of alcoholic beverages.
The second major section (Section 16.3) deals with additives that are used as
process aids in the production of many alcoholic drinks and which are not usually
intended to be present in the fi nished beverage, although in practice they may be
present as residues. They are:
• Fining agents
• Preservatives and antioxidants
• Antifoaming and foaming agents
•

Microorganisms and enzymes

•

Yeast nutrients and fermentation aids.

They do not generally have a direct infl uence per se on the organoleptic character
of the fi nished beverage, but indirectly they may make a signifi cant contribution.
For example, the use of yeast extract as a yeast nutrient in the brewing of high
adjunct/low malt beers (say, 40% rice and 60% malted barley) greatly facilitates
fermentation, thereby giving optimum fl avour (Le Van et al. 2001).
Although for convenience, ingredients have been organised largely in the next
two sections, in practice many play a dual role. Thus hops and hop products,
whilst giving rise to some of the essential aromas and fl avours of beer, also have
certain preservative and antioxidant values. The dual roles of ingredients covered
in Sections 16.2 and 16.3 are highlighted as far as possible.
Section 16.4 deals separately with microbial cultures since pure yeast cultures,
although promoting satisfactory fermentation also provide certain organoleptic
characteristics in beer, cider, wine and certain distilled spirits, as do other cultured
microorganisms, such as lactic acid bacteria in general, or Oenococcus oeni in
particular.
Some of the most important and widely used additives in the alcoholic drinks
industry are synthetic and, as such, are not discussed here although they may be
mentioned at appropriate points to provide comparison and to give greater
perspective. However, some ingredients may be obtained by either natural
or synthetic processes. Thus, calcium salts used in the 'Burtonisation' of
brewing water (or 'liquor') for the production of pale ale and bitter styles of beer
(see Section 16.2.1) may be purifi ed natural gypsum or synthetic calcium chloride
or calcium sulfate.
Section 16.5 deals briefl y with the role of added water in the manufacture of
alcoholic drinks and the legal requirements for its use. Finally, Sections 16.6 and
16.7 discuss future trends and sources of further information, respectively.

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