Biochemistry of beer oxidation

W. D. McFarlane

Abstract
One of the most important technological problems facing the industry today is the flavor stability of packaged beer. Flavor deterioration because of oxidation is the most difficult to define and control. A study of the literature strongly suggests that the two critical stabilities in beer---colloidal and flavor stability---are interdependent, and that the tannin-polyphenols (anthocyanogens) play a nefarious role in both. Evidence is presented to indicate that the variables in processing affecting haze formation also affect the oxidation state of the beer.