Oliver Meinhold
Theory of Enzymes and Special Applications in the Brewing Industry
Enzymes are biocatalysts, high molecular proteins, that significantly speed up specific chemical reactions without being consumed in the process. They work by binding to substrates at an active site, lowering the activation energy to convert them into products. Enzymes are essential for all life processes, including digestion, energy production, and metabolism, and are used repeatedly for the same task. Enzymes have optimum temperatures and pH-values at which they have 100 % of their efficacy. In the case of brewing beer, the brewer relies on a number of enzymes to convert high molecular sugar into fermentable sugar and during fermentation converting fermentable sugars into ethanol and carbon dioxide. Next to the most important enzymes, such as beta- and alpha-amylase there are several specialty enzymes helping to improve the process and beer quality. The second part of the presentation will describe a few specialty enzymes. ALDC (alpha acetolactate decarboxylase to avoid diacetyl formation, beta-glucosidase to increase the yield during dry hopping, or lysozyme to break down the cell wall of gram(+) bacteria for example lactic acid bacteria which is considered as a beer spoilage.
Oliver Meinhold Technical Director of the Brewing Division for Zee Loeffler
Oliver Meinhold is a Technical Services Manager and consultant for Zee Loeffler. He studied at the University of Munich, graduating with a Dipl.-Ing. degree in Brewing Science at the Berlin Institute of Technology where he received his second Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering. He spent 7 years at the VLB (Research and Teaching Institute for Brewing in Berlin) as a Project Manager followed by 7 years at the Berlin Institute of Technology as an Assistant Professor. He is in his current position for 13 years. He is a current member of the MBAA.
