Ideas brewing at ingredients producer

The beverage ingredients unit of Dutch company DSM Food Specialities is to offer two new ingredients for the brewing industry - the first is billed as a wort fining agent and the second as a product to accelerate the sedimentation of yeast and protein during maturation.

The former ingredient - Maxafloc - is a purified, standardised seaweed extract used in the brewhouse. Maxafine, the second ingredient, is a free flowing powder derived from collagen selected for its high purity, according to DSM.

The company claims that Maxafloc improves wort separation and increases wort recovery while helping in the precipitation of copper and iron from the boiling wort. It also shortens boiling time in the kettle and improves the clarity of wort and beer as well as increasing the beer's colloidal stability by removal of haze forming proteins and b-glucans. An additional benefit, writes the company in a statement, is the reduced frequency of cleaning of the heat exchangers.

DSM​ added that Maxafine, by accelerating the sedimentation of yeast and protein, reduces beer haze in the maturation vessel and allows shorter maturation time. It also improves beer filtration efficiency and reduces beer losses in maturation. Other benefits include a reduction in the dosage of filter aids and an improvement in beer colloidal stability.

Both ingredients are classified as processing aids and consequently do not need to be labelled.