Produção e Caracterização de Cerveja Artesanal Estilo American Pale Ale adicionada de Zimbro (Juniperus communis)

Abstract

The beer market is experiencing notable growth aimed at micro breweries due to consumer expectations in the search for high quality and variety of styles, flavors and aromas of the final product. With the infinity of adjuncts that can be incorporated into the brewing process, it is possible to meet this demand, obtaining different products with peculiar characteristics. The addition of juniper (Juniperus communis) arises from this context, with the desire to provide a diversified product with high added value. Thus, the objective of this work was to develop and characterize the American Pale Ale style craft beer added with juniper at different stages of the process. For this, 0.03% of juniper was added in the fermentation and maturation stages of the beer. The beers, added with juniper and control (no addition), were produced on a laboratory scale and characterized with respect to the parameters: alcohol content, primitive extract, apparent extract, real extract, bitterness, color, pH, total acidity, turbidity and antioxidant activity. The formulations were also evaluated sensorially through the acceptability test and CATA (Check-all-that-apply). At the same time, commercial samples of American Pale Ale style beers were evaluated in order to establish a comparison with the beer added with juniper produced in this work. The results showed that the addition of juniper in beer influenced (p<0.05) the parameters of real extract (3.53% - samples B and C), pH (4.30 - sample B and 4.33 - sample C ), color (19.11 EBC - sample B and 21.07 EBC - sample C), turbidity (76.03% - sample B and 75.50% - sample C) and bitterness (18.08 BU - sample B and C). In contrast, no significant difference was observed in the antioxidant activity. Through comparison with commercial brands, through physical-chemical analysis, it was found that the beers produced are characterized as American Pale Ale. In the sensory analysis, the beers added with juniper showed better acceptability, especially the sample in which the spice was added in the maturation stage, which was the best evaluated for flavor (7.48), aroma (7.27) and bitterness (7.0) and being characterized as a beer with a golden color, low alcohol content and residual bitterness. Despite the addition of juniper having corroborated the composition of the drink, it is necessary to develop more studies using other ways and concentrations to add the spice in the drink and add value to the product.