In the traditional brewing process, malt both acts as a raw material (starch and protein source) and as an enzyme source.
There are four endogenous enzymes in malts which are of major importance in the beer industry:
It is desirable to create conditions to utilize these activities to the maximum.
Improved process economics can be obtained by replacing part of the malt with industrial enzymes and unmalted grains such as barley. Commercially available industrial enzymes for the brewing process consist of:
Low-calorie beers can be produced using amyloglucosidase which reduces the level of unfermentable polysaccharides. The resultant high content in fermentable sugars can be diluted in order to reduce the alcohol concentration.
Proteases, such as papain, are used in chill-proofing to prevent haze formation in stored beers.
b-glucanases are used to catalyze the degradation of glucan gums therefore reducing filtration problems.
a-acetolactate decarboxylase (ALDC), recently commercialized, reduces the need for a maturation period.