A step forward, or backwards?

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wide eyed and legless

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Reading one of Charlie Bamforth's books last night came across something I had never heard of, as the book was more about his psychological meanderings, the detail that he went into was very sparse so I looked it up today and here is a link to what the future may hold. Charlie did mention he had tried the beer made this way and thought it wasn't much chop, a bit different to what I have read, then again he is a dyed in the wool cask conditioned ale man. http://www.biokemi.org/biozoom/issues/522/articles/2368
 
I'm sure that a lot of breweries (and homebrewers) would be excited by the prospect of being able to just throw in an enzyme and essentially eliminate the possibility of diacetyl production. I wonder what the cost would be?
 
Well there wouldn't be a malting cost involved, it is also a greener solution less water no greenhouse gases, and other articles I have read says another advantage is any aged grain which couldn't go through the malting process could be used.
 
I'll agree with Charlie! Have also tasted some of the products of exogenous enzymes and the only people who could give it a better than "drinkable" would be fans of the lowest common denominator mega swill.
I also think your being a bit harsh describing him as "a dyed in the wool cask conditioned ale man". He is, world wide a respected brewing researcher, most of his early work was in QA (see Standards of Brewing) but he has extensive interest in all aspects of brewing science.
I would hardly say liking real ale is a character flaw.
Mark
 
Not being harsh on Charlie, as he explains he is a fan of all beers, excepting cloudy and overly hopped, and as he says all tastes are different, just that his favourite is the cask conditioned ales of his home country. But he doesn't rule out that there will be a way around losing the malt taste like adding flavouring, probably something similar to when he himself made a passable beer imitation from vodka.
 
I have used α-acetolactate decarboxylase (ALDC) (Novozymes' Maturex) for the past year in all of my beers as I was shipped a bottle to test out.

The last lager I brewed I fermented at 8c and it finished in around 9 days. No diacetyl rest needed.

It would be hard to sell on the homebrew scale because you need such small volumes per batch (0.4-0.5ml/batch) and needs refrigeration at all times. It also has a short expiry date.
 
It would be hard to sell on the homebrew scale because you need such small volumes per batch (0.4-0.5ml/batch) and needs refrigeration at all times. It also has a short expiry date.

It could be handled like yeast, which makes sense since it would be used at the same stage. Supply it diluted so that you pour in a 10mL vial that has been kept refrigerated and has a clearly marked expiry date. Whitelabs could make decent profit margins by re-packaging the enzyme and offering it along with their yeasts. Heck, they could even add it to the yeast to have a better performing product.
 
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