Does science improve beer quality? Yes, and here’s why

As happens in the rest of the world, the craft brewing sector is also constantly growing in Italy: just think that in our country, in 2022, the record of 1085 active breweries has been reached, boosting, among other things, exports with an annual increase of 12%.

This is mainly due toThe craft beer revolutionor the school of thought that is leading an increasing number of new master brewers to create original beers using an ever-increasing variety of raw materials: this, without a doubt, allows us to satisfy the tastes of a wide range of consumers.

The qualitative improvement of the ancient drink, which has accompanied human history for at least 9 thousand years, is due not only to the creativity and technical skills of the craftsmen in the sector, but also to more Modern and innovative technologies Production studies and scientific studies that allow to know the organoleptic properties of beer malt and hops.

Watch the fact that I am Sumeriansthe ancient inhabitants of Mesopotamia where, according to most scholars, the drink ‘invented’, they called it beersikaruLiquid bread: as some Mesopotamian representations show, in fact, beer drinkers used long straws that were necessary to pierce the thick layer made up of the floating mixture of grains and yeasts and thus reach the liquid that had settled at the bottom of the vessel.

That is why, in all likelihood, the ancestors of beer as we know it today did not have to be particularly tasty given that, obviously, modern production methods did not exist at the time (such as those for filtering liquids) and which today are becoming more and more. Often, they are based on scientific methods To obtain qualitatively excellent results.

This constant study for the production of prestigious fermentation products has led to the birth of CERB in Perugia: it is the first research center of excellence in beer. The foundation encourages experimentation and analysis in the agro-food sector, with particular reference to the ancient brew and its raw materials: the large team of scientists who work there actually carry out studies and carry out analyzes with the aim of improving it qualitatively in all its aspects and styles of beer.

The color, the foam, the sugars, the malt, the hops and every component of the beer are analyzed with great precision in ultra-modern laboratories: knowledge that is then provided to brewers who, following these precious and increasingly specific indicators, create new recipes that allow satisfying the tastes of an even greater number. from consumers.

A real database that provides invaluable information of a genetic, physiological and molecular nature: in the future, this will make it possible to create fermentation products with increasingly original organoleptic characteristics, without losing sight of the primary objective, that is to constantly increase the level quality of the drink.

The ability to obtain accurate organoleptic profiles for each variety of hops and malts, but not only, is extremely important for all brewers so that the effect of using different types is as predictable as possible, thus adhering to the recipe desired by the master brewer and the market demands of the period. or a specific region.

So, whatever the brewing style, the future of breweries looks pretty fantastic because, year after year, scientific research provides a series of data and procedures that allow experimentation with tastes, colors and aromas that even a few dozen could only imagine. Since years. All this will make it possible to increase the number of fans of the ancient drink in the world.