3.2. Functional Unfiltered Beers
Beer No.1 type Amber ALE and Beer No.2 dark beer type Russian Imperial Stout were prepared. Amber ALE is a beer style characterized by a medium to dark amber color, balanced malt content and mild hops bitterness [
28]. Russian Imperial Stout is a special type of beer, with a higher alcohol content, usually 8.0-12.0% (vol.). Beers of this style are characterized by fullness, richness of flavors and complexity. They often have flavors and aromas of dried fruit, coffee, and dark chocolate [
29,
30]. Fermentation and maturation of beers were monitored for twenty days. Beers were unfiltered with combined primary and secondary fermentation and therefore antioxidant activity and prenylated flavonoids were analyzed from the eighth day, when the yeast gradually sedimented and the beer became clear.
Beer No. 1 was brewed in the style of Amber ALE with malt Pale ALE extract (90% Pale ALE, 10% barley malt) [
31]. During the ninety-minute boiling of 15 liters of wort, the hops was added in three steps, namely at the beginning of boiling at the zero minute, at the sixtieth minute and at the eightieth minute, while the addition of hops var. Polaris was 7g of hops pellets in each step. The prepared wort was fermented with Lallemand Voss Kveik top-fermenting yeast and the primary fermentation took place at a temperature of 32°C for three days. Yeast flocculation was high [
32], therefore the brewed beer was clear. To increase the amount of biologically active substances, the following variants were prepared from beer after primary fermentation:
• Beer No. 1/A unfiltered beer without the addition of active substances
• Beer No. 1/B unfiltered beer with the addition of pure xanthohumol up to a concentration of 3.4 mg/L of beer [
19]
• Beer No. 1/C unfiltered beer with the addition of ethanol extract of the Polaris variety to a final concentration of 3.4 mg of xanthohumol in L of beer
• Beer No. 1/D after primary fermentation, dry hopping with the addition of 0.56 g of Polaris hops to 400 ml of beer (preserving the dose of hops per volume of beer according to the hop brewery).
Beer No. 2 was brewed in the Russian Imperial Stout style with dark malt extract (25% fermented rye malt and 75% barley malt) [
33] and Premiant, Galaxy and Polaris hops. To 15 liters of wort, hops of the Premiant variety (2 g) were used in the first hop in the fifth minute, in the second hop in the forty-fifth minute, hops of the Galaxy variety (6.2 g) were added, and the last hop was in the seventy-fifth minute with Polaris hops (4 g). The wort was fermented with dried top-fermenting yeast New world strong Ale yeast M 42. The primary fermentation took place at a temperature of 24 °C for four days. Glucose (6 g/L) was added to the boiled wort before fermentation. Adding glucose to the wort increases the content of fermentable sugar, which can increase the alcohol content of the finished beer without significantly increasing the sweetness [
34,
35]. To increase the amount of biologically active substances, the following variants were prepared from beer after primary fermentation:
• Beer No. 2/A unfiltered beer without the addition of active substances
• Beer No. 2/B unfiltered beer with the addition of pure xanthohumol to a concentration of 3.4 mg/L of beer [
19]
• Beer No. 2/C unfiltered beer with the addition of ethanol extract of the Polaris variety to a final concentration of 3.4 mg of xanthohumol in L of beer
• Beer No. 2/D after primary fermentation, cold hopping with the addition of 0.44 g of Polaris hops to 400 ml of beer (preserving the dose of hops per volume of beer according to the hop brewery).
Beer No. 1
The highest total content of polyphenols was determined on the fifteenth day of fermentation in beer without addition (Beer No. 1/A), namely 3.600 g/L GAE (
Table 3). A distinct effect of the additions was manifested only in dry hopping beer (Beer No. 1/D) on the twentieth day of fermentation, when the concentration of polyphenols corresponding to 3.100 g/L GAE was determined. However, it is likely that this effect is also a consequence of yeast autolysis, in which dying cells release their contents into the surrounding beer [
36]. In typical brewing processes, yeast autolysis is not a significant problem. However, if the beer remains in contact with the yeast for an extended period, such as during extended maturation or conditioning, autolysis occurs. For most types of beer, a fifteen-day fermentation period followed by bottling and conditioning should not result in significant yeast autolysis [
37,
38].
The highest antioxidant capacity (determined by the reaction with ABTS+•,
Figure 1) was determined on the thirteenth day in Beer No. 1/C (0.660 mmol/L TE) and Beer No. 1/D (0.610 mmol/L TE). However, even in this case, a high antioxidant capacity was determined on the eighth day of fermentation in the beer without the addition of biologically active substances (0.630 mmol/L TE). The most significant decrease in antioxidant capacity was determined between the 13th and 15th day of fermentation and maturation. In Beer No. 1/A this change corresponded to the amount of 0.39 mmol/L TE and in Beer No. 1/C corresponded to the amount of 0.36 mmol/L TE, respectively. Beer is a dynamic colloidal system with living and gradually dying microorganisms. In this system, chemical and physical interactions take place, which can also affect the ability of antioxidants to react effectively. Trend lines (based on linear regression) predict the tendency of changes in antioxidant capacity, from which it follows that in Beer No. 1/A, 1/B and 1/D depending on the time of fermentation and maturation of the beer, the total antioxidant capacity decreases. In Beer No. 1/C, which was a beer with the addition of an ethanolic extract of Polaris hops, a tendency to increase the antioxidant capacity was predicted.
Antioxidant efficiency (determined by scavenging of DPPH,
Figure 2) increased in all variants of Beer No. 1 on the thirteenth day of fermentation: 73.3% efficiency was determined in beer without addition, 71.30% efficiency in beer with addition of pure xanthohumol (Beer No.1/B), 70.00% efficiency in beer with addition of Polaris extract (Beer No.1/C) and 68.40% efficiency in beer dry hopping with Polaris hops (Beer No. 1/D). With continued fermentation and maturation of the beer, the antioxidant efficiency decreased in all variants of Beer No. 1.
It follows from the trend lines that, depending on the time of fermentation and maturation of the beer, in all analyzed variants Beer No. 1 radical scavengign capacity had decreasing trend.
Prenylated flavonoids were not detected in any of the Beer No.1 variants using HPLC-DAD. Both primary and secondary fermentation took place in the beers without affecting the amount of yeast, so the flavonoids were in contact with the microorganisms for twenty days. Although microorganisms are essential for fermentation, on the other hand, they can metabolize or bind phenolic substances to their surface [
39]. Based on the obtained results, it is possible to recommend, from a technological point of view, to produce Amber ALE style beer with the highest possible overall antioxidant capacity, a procedure in which the sedimented yeast will be removed no later than on the thirteenth day of fermentation.
Beer No.2
Beer No.2 was prepared in the Russian Imperial Stout style. Special malts, hops varieties or different additives can contribute to a higher amount of polyphenols in Russian Imperial Stout [
40]. However, some stouts can therefore have a touch of bitterness [
41].
The highest total content of polyphenols was determined on the fifteenth day of fermentation in Beer No. 2/B (1.72 g/L GAE) and in Beer No. 2/D (1.73 g/L GAE) (
Table 4). Compared to Beer No. 1, prepared with the Amber ALE style and exclusively with Polaris hops, polyphenol concentrations in these beers were on average more than 41% lower.
The highest total antioxidant capacity (determined by the reaction with ABTS+•,
Figure 3) had all variants of Beer No. 2 on the eighth day of fermentation and maturation (0.595 – 0.675 mmol/L TE). The most significant changes in the antioxidant capacity were determined in the variant Beer No. 2/D. The trend lines showed a gradual decrease in the antioxidant capacity of all variants of Beer No. 2.
Even in the analysis of antioxidant efficiency, changes were determined primarily in Beer No. 2/D (
Figure 4). Beers on the eighth day of fermentation and maturation had a very high ability of scavenging of DPPH radical (85.96– 88.00%). A trend of gradual reduction of antioxidant efficiency during fermentation and maturation of beer was determined.
Beer No. 2 was prepared with dark malt in which Maillard reaction products are present, which can interact with hops polyphenols. The formation of complexes affects the solubility, stability, and bioavailability of these compounds in the beer matrix, which is also reflected in their concentration in the final product [
42].
Analysis using HPLC showed that in Beer No. 2, xanthohumol and isoxanthohumol were detectable only until the thirteenth day of fermentation and maturation (
Table 5). The highest concentration of prenylated flavonoids was determined on the eighth day in Beer No. 2/B (xanthohumol 2.05 mg/L, isoxanthohumol 2.819 mg/L).