Alpha acetolactate decarboxylase - diacetyl killer

Anyone ever here of this enzyme (Alpha acetolactate decarboxylase) commercial brewers use to for maturation, applied in fermentation to reduce fermentation time by avoiding diacetyl formation? It reduces maturation time in lagers by preventing the formation of diacetyl by catalyzing the decarboxylation of alpha-acetolactate to acetoin. it shaves off 2-3 weeks in your lager times.

i've found that you cant buy it anywhere, unless you buy from the manufacturer at 5KG - which treats about 66,000 gallons of fermenting beer.

the rate is 1-2kg per 26400 gallons of beer. so at 2kg per 26,400 gallons of beer, that works out to .000075kg / .075grams per gallon. based upon that, you would need about .4grams per 5-6 gallon batch.

Yes, I've heard of it under the trade name Maturex but I can't get it from my LHBS -- yet. We might hope that one of the companies that sells us bits of calcium chloride, phosphoric acid, icinglas, Sinamar etc. will one day make this available but let's also note that a traditional fermentation followed by traditional lagering will not require Maturex (or a diacetyl rest).

On a side note and not necessarily directed at AJ or hog2up: It's funny how most home brewers scoff at the brewing practices of industrial brewers like InBev or MillerSAB yet many are readily embracing additives like Fermcap, 5.2 buffer, this maturation enzyme, PVPP, Biofine, Silicagel, ...

I'm interested in the technical discussion of this product, though.

Kai

On a similar note, I find it a bit humorous the lastest craze in Molecular Gastronomy. Not because I have a problem with it, rather with the reality of that all it really is, is processed foods moved out of the industrial kitchen and into the fancy restaurant. Much of the materials, techniques and technology are right out of the processed food industry.

So I find humor in the fact that people rant about processed foods, and then turn around and rave about molecular gastronomy.

I have no real problem with using these kinds of additives in a beer. I follow Reinheitsgebot when it suits me (most of the time) but have no problem going against it.

The question is how does it affect the final product? Would the average person notice the difference in a beer that is traditionally aged versus one where various additives/processes were used to speed up the conditioning process. Using the gourmet vs processed food example.........., well is that really a proper analogy?

I'm assuming these products are geared toward the mass lager. How would these additive/processes behave/work with say an IPA?

i guess i'm not so hung up or against use of enzymes. but i would be curious to see the difference in the finished product, compared to home brewing lager process. just the curious george in me i suppose.

Kaiser said:

On a side note and not necessarily directed at AJ or hog2up: It's funny how most home brewers scoff at the brewing practices of industrial brewers like InBev or MillerSAB yet many are readily embracing additives like Fermcap, 5.2 buffer, this maturation enzyme, PVPP, Biofine, Silicagel, ...

Click to expand...

Homebrewers are embracing the lager brewing practices of the big guys for the same reason the big guys use them. They want beer fast. If you pitch lager at cold temp (close to 40 °F) and let it warm itself to about 48 °F and let it ferment there to within 1°P of terminal, then lower the temperature gradually to around freezing and transfer the the beer, with yeast, to a lagering tank there will be no diacetyl. If you ferment at higher temperature, even if including a 'diacetyl' rest, then transfer without yeast for lagering there will be. This is because diacetyl is formed by non enzymatic oxidation of alpha aceto lactate in the package after the beer is 'finished'. If you introduce new, active yeast they will reduce the diacetyl formed from this oxidation first to acetoin and then 2,3 butane diol. If you add acetolactate decarboxylase it decarboxylates aceto lactate (should be no surprise there) leaving 2,3 butane diol. No diacetyl ever gets formed.

Kaiser said:

I'm interested in the technical discussion of this product, though.

Click to expand...

Being a nerdy science guy I'm interested in the stuff too but I'd never use it because I do the traditional fermentation/lagering thing. I've got time.

ajdelange said:

This is because diacetyl is formed by non enzymatic oxidation of alpha aceto lactate in the package after the beer is 'finished'. If you introduce new, active yeast they will reduce the diacetyl formed from this oxidation first to acetoin and then 2,3 butane dione. If you add acetolactate decarboxylase it decarboxylates aceto lactate (should be no surprise there) leaving 2,3 butane dione. No diacetyl ever gets formed.

Click to expand...

Diacetyl is 2,3-butanedione. I think you mean 2,3-butanediol.

I do indeed. Thanks.

Sorry if this is a Necro, but I was cruising around for some info on this enzyme being used in wine and found this thread.

This enzyme exists and has been used by some of the larger brewers to achieve shorter rests etc. Not for as long as you might think though, the enzyme was only isolated in the mid to late 1980's.

The problem in getting it into homebrew supply shops is literally cost. This enzyme is incredibly expensive, and has very small dosing, usually 10-20ppm. As hog2up calculated, less than half a gram per 5 gallon batch. Problem with that is that a distributor has to buy 10-25kg minimum from an enzyme provider. So that means they have enough for 20,000-50,000 5 gallon batches that they have about 1-2 years to sell (enzymes have a shelf-life).

Also take note as was mentioned before, this enzyme prevents the actual formation of diacetyl by altering the precursor to it. If there is already diacetyl in solution, this enzyme will do nothing to said diacetyl. Preemptive strike or bust, more or less.

Hope this helps!

SpecZyme

Somebody here (i.e. on HBT) about a source for this stuff under a different trademark and in quantities aimed at the home brewer. Can't remember the trade name though.

Here you go:

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/biomat-dar.html

Same product as Maturex and does the same thing. Note this comes in an incredibly small bottle. Might be good for 3-4 batches.

Guess I'll bookmark it this time. Thanks.

ajdelange said:

If you pitch lager at cold temp (close to 40 °F) and let it warm itself to about 48 °F and let it ferment there to within 1°P of terminal, then lower the temperature gradually to around freezing and transfer the the beer, with yeast, to a lagering tank there will be no diacetyl.

Click to expand...

Are people having any luck performing this method in a single, conical fermentor? Would dumping alot of the old yeast prior to dropping temperatures leave enough in suspension to help eliminate diacetyl?

That is how I do it. I think whether it works or not depends on the configuration of the fermenter. Mine have chill bands on the bodies but not the cones. Therefore, I must run the body bands whenever I want cooling. Cool beer cascades down the sides and warmer beer rises up in the middle thus keeping lots of yeast in suspension. At first I thought this was a curse. Now I look at it as a blessing (not much I can do about it even if I go back to considering it a curse.)

At which point in the process is this added? is this OK for bottle carbing (I have no clue how this affects yeast)? At about a buck a batch (5g), it may be worth experimenting.

I think the best answer here is, as is so often the case, to follow the manufacturer's instructions. But common sense should give us some idea. Acetolactate is oxidized non enzymatically to diacetyl in the package. If yeast are present then they will reduce the diacetyl back to acetoin and butane diol. Thus clearly you want to put the enzyme into the beer before the yeast are removed or very shortly afterwards in order to prevent that oxidation step from taking place. IOW you want to be rid of the acetolactate by the time the yeast are gone. Once the yeast are gone even this product will not remove diacetyl. It works by preventing it from forming.

SpecialtyEnzymes said:

Sorry if this is a Necro, but I was cruising around for some info on this enzyme being used in wine and found this thread.

This enzyme exists and has been used by some of the larger brewers to achieve shorter rests etc. Not for as long as you might think though, the enzyme was only isolated in the mid to late 1980's.

The problem in getting it into homebrew supply shops is literally cost. This enzyme is incredibly expensive, and has very small dosing, usually 10-20ppm. As hog2up calculated, less than half a gram per 5 gallon batch. Problem with that is that a distributor has to buy 10-25kg minimum from an enzyme provider. So that means they have enough for 20,000-50,000 5 gallon batches that they have about 1-2 years to sell (enzymes have a shelf-life).

Also take note as was mentioned before, this enzyme prevents the actual formation of diacetyl by altering the precursor to it. If there is already diacetyl in solution, this enzyme will do nothing to said diacetyl. Preemptive strike or bust, more or less.

Hope this helps!

SpecZyme

Click to expand...

Came across this thread; glad someone found and posted a link to BioMat DAR which is available to HomeBrewers. Also wanted to point out that the quoted poster (Speciality Enzymes) is a manufacturer of this enzyme (alpha acetolactate decarboxylase) and their product is called "SEBrew Mature L"; obviously they don't have a home-brew sized offering currently.

This statement "Sorry if this is a Necro, but I was cruising around for some info on this enzyme being used in wine and found this thread." just seemed a bit misleading, so I wanted to specifically call out that the poster is a commercial entity who makes this enzyme for big breweries. Obviously they've done nothing sketchy and have posted some great details, but I'm a big fan of full disclosure, so I'm providing it for them.
;-)


Adam