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​Mashing with Unmalted Buckwheat: Influence of Proportion, Grind Size, and Exogenous Enzymes on Small-Scale Lautering Performance​

There is a growing interest in innovative beers based on alternative cereals and pseudocereals, as these give beer a more unique, authentic, or even sustainable character. The partial replacement of barley malt by an (unmalted) alternative pseudocereal, such as buckwheat, results in novel features of the final beer (odor, aroma, taste, mouthfeel, etc.) but also influences the brewing process. This paper investigates the impact of using unmalted buckwheat on lautering. To this end, Congress mash experiments were set up with varying proportions of buckwheat in the mash (0–100%). Additionally, the effects of the buckwheat grind size (mill disc gap of 0.2–0.9 mm) and four commercial brewing enzymes on the small-scale lautering of a 40% buckwheat mash were evaluated. Lautering was only significantly hindered when more than 50% buckwheat was used. For a 40% buckwheat mash, milling the buckwheat more finely significantly improved lautering. Adding Brewers Compass^® (containing α-amylase, protease, and β-glucanase) or Filtrase^® NL Fast (β-glucanase and hemicellulase) to a 40% buckwheat mash, improved lautering substantially. When MATS L Classic (α-amylase) was used, lautering improved only slightly. In contrast, Maxazyme^® NNP DS (protease) did not affect lautering but did result in significantly higher FAN and specific gravity contents of the obtained wort samples. Overall, it can be concluded that the use of exogenous enzymes is promising for bringing out the full potential of unmalted buckwheat for use in innovative beer production. It will be worthwhile to further determine which hemicellulose degradation by Filtrase NL Fast led to improved lautering. Additionally, other enzymes, like lipases, and other mashing procedures should also be evaluated in future research.​

Keywords: enzymes, grind size, small-scale lautering, unmalted buckwheat​