Mrakia gelida in brewing process: An innovative production of low alcohol beer using a psychrophilic yeast strain

Due to the increasing consumer demand, the production of low alcoholic and non alcoholic beer is the new goal of the present brewing producers. Although the beer with reduced alcohol content is currently obtained by physical methods, the use of non-Saccharomyces yeast, with low fermentations capacities, may represent an interesting biological approach. In this study the ethanol content and the volatile profile of a beer obtained using the basidiomycetous psychrophilic yeast strain Mrakia gelida DBVPG 5952 was compared with that produced by a commercial starter for low alcohol beers, Saccharomycodes ludwigii WSL17. The two beers were characterized by a low alcohol content (1.40% and 1.32% v/v) and by a low diacetyl production (5.04 and 5.20 mu g/L). However, the organoleptic characteristics of the beer obtained using M. gelida are more appreciated by the panelists, in comparison to the analogous produced with the commercial strain of S. ludwigii.