Beer taste beverage, and its manufacturing method

Abstract

To provide a beer taste beverage having fragrant and clear flavor such as barley tea.SOLUTION: Beer taste beverages containing guaiacol and furfural and having a ratio of contents of the guaiacol and the furfural (guaiacol / furfural) of 0.13 or larger and 0.80 or smaller.SELECTED DRAWING: None

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a beer-taste beverage and a method for producing the same. [Background technology]

[0002] Various techniques have been disclosed for improving the flavor of beer-taste beverages. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a method for producing a fermented alcoholic beverage with a roasted flavor, which includes adding roasted grains and / or roasted and sprouted grains to wort during or after the wort boiling process and before the fermentation step. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2008-245606 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide a beer-taste beverage having a fragrant and refreshing flavor like barley tea. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for easily producing a beer-taste beverage having a fragrant and refreshing flavor like barley tea. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The present invention relates to a beer-taste beverage which contains guaiacol and furfural, and in which the ratio of the guaiacol content to the furfural content (guaiacol / furfural) is 0.13 or more and 0.80 or less.

[0006] The beer-taste beverage according to the present invention has a guaiacol / furfural content within the specified range, and therefore has a fragrant and refreshing flavor similar to barley tea.

[0007] The beer-taste beverage may have a furfural content of 15 μg / L or more and 90 μg / L or less.

[0008] The beer-taste beverage may have a color value of equal to or greater than 20° EBC and equal to or less than 75° EBC.

[0009] The present invention also relates to a method for producing a beer-taste beverage, which comprises using, as a raw material, malt that contains colored malt having a color degree of more than 1200° EBC and not more than 1500° EBC.

[0010] The method for producing a beer-taste beverage according to the present invention uses colored malt having a specified color degree as a raw material, and therefore can easily produce a beer-taste beverage having a fragrant and refreshing flavor similar to barley tea.

[0011] In the above production method, the proportion of colored malt with a color degree exceeding 1200° EBC and not exceeding 1500° EBC is preferably more than 0.5% by mass and not exceeding 15% by mass relative to the total amount of malt, which makes it easier for the guaiacol / furfural content of the produced beer-taste beverage to fall within the specified range. Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a beer-taste beverage having a fragrant and refreshing flavor like barley tea. According to the present invention, it is also possible to provide a production method that can simply and easily produce a beer-taste beverage having a fragrant and refreshing flavor like barley tea. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. Note that the present invention is not limited to the following embodiment.

[0014] The beer-taste beverage according to this embodiment contains guaiacol and furfural, and the ratio of the guaiacol content to the furfural content (guaiacol / furfural) is 0.13 or more and 0.80 or less. Since the guaiacol / furfural ratio is within the specified range, the beer-taste beverage according to this embodiment has a fragrant and refreshing flavor like barley tea.

[0015] In this specification, the term "beer-taste beverage" refers to a beverage that has a beer-like flavor. The beer-taste beverage according to this embodiment may be a beer-taste alcoholic beverage with an alcohol content of 1 v / v% or more, or a non-alcoholic beer-taste beverage with an alcohol content of less than 1 v / v%. In this specification, alcohol refers to ethanol unless otherwise specified.

[0016] Examples of beer-flavored alcoholic beverages include, but are not limited to, those classified as beer, happoshu, other brewed alcoholic beverages, and liqueurs under the Liquor Tax Act (Act No. 59 of 2018). The beer-flavored alcoholic beverage according to this embodiment is not limited to the above examples.

[0017] The alcohol content of a beer-taste alcoholic beverage is not particularly limited and may be, for example, 1 v / v% or more, 2 v / v% or more, 3 v / v% or more, 4 v / v% or more, or 5 v / v% or more. The alcohol content of a beer-taste alcoholic beverage may be, for example, 20 v / v% or less, 15 v / v% or less, 10 v / v% or less, 9 v / v% or less, 8 v / v% or less, 7 v / v% or less, 6 v / v% or less, 5 v / v% or less, 4 v / v% or less, or 3 v / v% or less.

[0018] A non-alcoholic beer-flavored beverage is a beer-flavored beverage that contains substantially no alcohol. The alcohol content of a non-alcoholic beer-flavored beverage may be less than 1 v / v%, may be 0.5 v / v% or less, may be 0.1 v / v% or less, or may be less than 0.005 v / v% (0.00 v / v%).

[0019] The alcohol content of a beer-taste beverage can be measured, for example, based on the vibration density meter method described in the National Tax Agency's prescribed analytical method (instruction) "3 Sake 3-4 Alcohol content."

[0020] The guaiacol content in the beer-taste beverage of this embodiment is not particularly limited as long as the guaiacol / furfural content is within the above-mentioned specified range, and may be, for example, from 1 μg / L to 50 μg / L, from 2 μg / L to 45 μg / L, from 3 μg / L to 40 μg / L, from 4 μg / L to 30 μg / L, or from 5 μg / L to 25 μg / L.

[0021] The guaiacol content in a beer-taste beverage can be measured, for example, by GC-MS.

[0022] The furfural content in the beer-flavored beverage of this embodiment is not particularly limited as long as the guaiacol / furfural is within a specified range, and may be, for example, 1 μg / L or more and 200 μg / L or less, 5 μg / L or more and 150 μg / L or less, 10 μg / L or more and 100 μg / L or less, 15 μg / L or more and 90 μg / L or less, or 15 μg / L or more and 60 μg / L or less.

[0023] The furfural content of a beer-taste beverage can be measured, for example, by GC-MS.

[0024] The ratio of the guaiacol content to the furfural content in the beer-taste beverage according to this embodiment (guaiacol / furfural) may be 0.13 or more and 0.80 or less. When the guaiacol / furfural ratio is within this range, the beer-taste beverage has a fragrant and refreshing flavor like barley tea. From the viewpoint of exerting this effect more significantly, the guaiacol / furfural ratio is preferably 0.14 or more and 0.70 or less, more preferably 0.15 or more and 0.60 or less, even more preferably 0.16 or more and 0.50 or less, even more preferably 0.17 or more and 0.40 or less, even more preferably 0.18 or more and 0.30 or less, and particularly preferably 0.19 or more and 0.25 or less.

[0025] The beer-taste beverage according to this embodiment may or may not contain a barley raw material as a raw material. In this specification, the barley raw material refers to barley or a processed barley product. Examples of barley include barley, wheat, rye, oats, oats, and oats. Examples of processed barley products include barley extract, malt, and malt extract. Barley extract is obtained by extracting barley extract components containing sugar and nitrogen from barley. Malt is obtained by germinating barley. As the malt, colored malt (e.g., caramel malt, crystal malt, black malt, chocolate malt, coffee malt, etc.) produced by drying or roasting at a relatively high temperature (e.g., about 120°C) during the production of malt and charring it may be used. Malt extract is obtained by extracting extract components containing sugar and nitrogen from malt.

[0026] The beer-taste beverage according to this embodiment may or may not contain hops as an ingredient. Hops include dried hops, hop pellets, and hop extract, as well as hop processed products such as low hops, hexahops, tetrahops, and iso-hop extracts.

[0027] The beer-taste beverage according to this embodiment may have a malt ratio (the proportion of malt in ingredients other than water and hops) of 0% by mass or more and 100% by mass or less. The malt ratio may be 10% by mass or more, 20% by mass or more, 30% by mass or more, 40% by mass or more, 50% by mass or more, 60% by mass or more, 65% by mass or more, 66% by mass or more, 67% by mass or more, 70% by mass or more, 80% by mass or more, 90% by mass or more, 95% by mass or more, 99% by mass or more, or 100% by mass. The malt ratio may also be less than 100% by mass, 95% by mass or less, 90% by mass or less, 80% by mass or less, 70% by mass or less, 60% by mass or less, or 50% by mass or less.

[0028] The beer-taste beverage according to this embodiment may contain bittering agents, coloring agents, sweeteners, high-intensity sweeteners, antioxidants, acidulants, flavoring agents, salts, and the like that are usually blended into beverages, so long as the effects of the present invention are not impaired. In addition to the above-mentioned hops, examples of bittering agents include iso-α-acids, caffeine, gentian extract, peptides, theobromine, naringin, bitter oak extract, wormwood extract, and cinchona extract. Examples of coloring agents include caramel coloring, gardenia coloring, fruit juice coloring, vegetable coloring, and synthetic coloring. Examples of sweetening agents include high-fructose glucose liquid sugar, glucose, galactose, mannose, fructose, lactose, sucrose, maltose, glycogen, and starch. Examples of high-intensity sweeteners include neotame, acesulfame K, sucralose, saccharin, sodium saccharin, disodium glycyrrhizinate, cyclamate, dulcin, stevia, glycyrrhizin, thaumatin, monellin, aspartame, and alitame. Examples of antioxidants include vitamin C, vitamin E, and polyphenols. Examples of acidulants include phosphoric acid, lactic acid, DL-malic acid, citric acid, adipic acid, trisodium citrate, glucono delta-lactone, gluconic acid, potassium gluconate, sodium gluconate, succinic acid, monosodium succinate, disodium succinate, sodium acetate, DL-tartaric acid, L-tartaric acid, sodium DL-tartrate, sodium L-tartrate, sodium lactate, glacial acetic acid, fumaric acid, monosodium fumarate, and sodium DL-malate. Examples of salts include table salt, potassium acid phosphate, calcium acid phosphate, ammonium phosphate, magnesium sulfate, calcium sulfate, potassium metabisulfite, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, potassium nitrate, and ammonium sulfate.

[0029] The chromaticity of the beer-taste beverage according to this embodiment may be, for example, 20° EBC or more and 75° EBC or less. The chromaticity of the beer-taste beverage according to this embodiment may be, for example, 20° EBC or more or 30° EBC or more, and may be 70° EBC or less, 65° EBC or less, 60° EBC or less, 55° EBC or less, 50° EBC or less, 45° EBC or less, or 40° EBC or less. The chromaticity of the beer-taste beverage according to this embodiment may be measured by the method described in "8.8 Chromaticity 8.8.2 Absorbance Method" of the Revised BCOJ Beer Analysis Method (published by the Brewing Society of Japan, edited by the International Technical Committee of Brewers Association (Analysis Committee), revised and expanded in 2013).

[0030] The bitterness value (BU) of the beer-taste beverage according to this embodiment may be, for example, 0.0 or more and 50.0 or less. The BU of the beer-taste beverage according to this embodiment may be, for example, 40.0 or less, 30.0 or less, 20.0 or less, or 15.0 or less, and may be 1.0 or more, 2.0 or more, 3.0 or more, 4.0 or more, 5.0 or more, or 10.0 or more. The bitterness value of the beer-taste beverage according to this embodiment can be measured by the method described in "8.15 Bitterness Value" of the Revised BCOJ Beer Analysis Method (published by the Brewing Society of Japan, edited by the International Technical Committee of Brewers Association of Japan (Analysis Committee), revised and expanded in 2013). The bitterness value can be appropriately set within the above range, for example, by adjusting the type and amount of raw material used.

[0031] The beer-taste beverage according to this embodiment may be either non-sparkling or sparkling. Here, non-sparkling refers to a beverage that has a gas pressure of 0.049 MPa (0.5 kg / cm) at 20°C. 2 ) at 20°C, and foaming is when the gas pressure is less than 0.049 MPa (0.5 kg / cm 2 ) or more. For foaming, the upper limit of the gas pressure is 0.294 MPa (3.0 kg / cm 2 ) may be acceptable.

[0032] The beer-taste beverage according to this embodiment can be provided in a container. Any container that can be sealed can be used, and so-called can containers or barrel containers made of metal (such as aluminum or steel). Glass containers, PET bottle containers, paper containers, pouch containers, etc. can also be used as the container. There is no particular limit to the capacity of the container, and any container currently in circulation can be used. Note that it is preferable to use a metal container, as it is possible to completely block gas, moisture, and light and maintain stable quality at room temperature for a long period of time.

[0033] The beer-taste beverage according to this embodiment may be produced, for example, by mixing ingredients (a blending method) or through fermentation with yeast or the like (a fermentation method).

[0034] The manufacturing method (method by blending) according to one embodiment includes, for example, a blending step of blending water, guaiacol, furfural, and, if necessary, alcohol (e.g., raw material alcohol, distilled alcohol such as spirits and vodka, fermented liquid obtained by brewing) and / or various additives (e.g., bittering agent, coloring agent, sweetener, high-intensity sweetener, antioxidant, acidulant, flavoring agent, salt, etc.) in a raw material tank. The blending step can be carried out according to a conventional method, except that the content ratio of guaiacol and furfural is adjusted to within the above range. Guaiacol may be blended as guaiacol itself, or may be blended as a flavoring composition containing guaiacol. Furfural may be blended as furfural itself, or may be blended as a flavoring composition containing furfural.

[0035] The production method according to this embodiment may further include a filtration step of filtering the mixed liquid obtained by mixing the components in the blending step, a first sterilization step of sterilizing the filtrate filtered in the filtration step, a filling step of filling a container such as a bottle, a can, or a plastic bottle with the sterilized filtrate sterilized in the first sterilization step, and a second sterilization step of sterilizing the container together with the filtrate filled in the filling step.

[0036] In the blending step, the components may be mixed while being stirred with a stirrer or the like so that they are well mixed. In addition, the filtration step may be performed, for example, with a general filter or strainer. The first sterilization step may be performed by plate sterilization from the viewpoint of processing speed, etc., and as long as a similar process can be performed, it is applicable without being limited thereto. The filling step may be filled in a clean room that maintains a degree of cleanliness to the extent that is usually performed in the manufacture of beverages. The second sterilization step may be performed by heating the filtrate together with the container at a predetermined temperature and for a predetermined time. The first or second sterilization step may be a non-heating sterilization step. Examples of the non-heating sterilization step include ultraviolet (UV) sterilization. It is also possible to perform non-sterilization filling without performing a sterilization step.

[0037] In another embodiment, the production method (fermentation method) includes, for example, a brewing step and a fermentation step.

[0038] In the preparation process, a pre-fermentation liquid is obtained using raw materials and preparation water (water used in the preparation process). In other words, the preparation process is a process for preparing a pre-fermentation liquid to be used in fermentation. The preparation process may include, in this order, a boiling process for boiling a sugar-containing liquid, a removing process for removing solids in the raw material liquid, and a cooling process for cooling the raw material liquid.

[0039] In the boiling step, the sugar-containing liquid is boiled to obtain a boiled liquid (sugar-containing liquid after boiling). The sugar-containing liquid contains components that can be fermented into alcohol by yeast. Examples of sugar-containing liquids include wort and syrup. Wort is an unfermented liquid obtained through saccharification of the above-mentioned barley raw material. Wort can be obtained, for example, through a step of mixing a raw material such as the above-mentioned barley raw material with water, a step of saccharifying the liquid containing the raw material and water by a conventional method to obtain a saccharified liquid, and a step of filtering the saccharified liquid.

[0040] In the boiling step, hops may be added to the raw material liquid. Examples of the hops to be added include dried hops, hop pellets, and hop extract. The hops may be processed hop products such as low hops, hexa hops, tetra hops, and iso hop extract.

[0041] In the removing step, the solids in the post-boiling liquid are removed to obtain a refined liquid. The removing step can be carried out, for example, by precipitating the insoluble solids contained in the post-boiling liquid. Examples of the solids include thermal coagulation produced in the boiling step, and hop residues when hops are added in the boiling step. The removing step may be carried out in a whirlpool. In the cooling step, the refined liquid is cooled to a temperature at which fermentation by yeast is possible to obtain a pre-fermentation liquid.

[0042] In the fermentation process, the pre-fermentation liquid is fermented with yeast to obtain a post-fermentation liquid. In the fermentation process, yeast is added to perform alcoholic fermentation. More specifically, yeast is inoculated into the pre-fermentation liquid and fermented to obtain a post-fermentation liquid containing alcohol produced by the yeast.

[0043] In the production method according to the present embodiment, a post-fermentation step following the fermentation step may include a step of maturing and cooling the post-fermentation liquid, and a step of filtering the post-fermentation liquid. By carrying out the filtration step, insoluble solids, yeast, etc. can be removed from the post-fermentation liquid.

[0044] In the production method according to this embodiment, other post-fermentation processes may be performed, such as heating (sterilization) the post-fermentation liquid (or the post-fermentation liquid after the filtration process) or adding various additives (e.g., bittering agents, coloring agents, sweeteners, high-intensity sweeteners, antioxidants, acidulants, flavorings, salts).

[0045] The content ratio of guaiacol and furfural can be adjusted, for example, by adding guaiacol and / or furfural to the raw material liquid. In this specification, the raw material liquid means a liquid that is the base of a beer-taste beverage. The raw material liquid includes liquids used or produced in each process (e.g., sugar-containing liquid, boiled liquid, refined liquid, pre-fermentation liquid, post-fermentation liquid). The guaiacol and / or furfural added to the raw material liquid may be guaiacol or furfural itself, or may be a flavoring composition containing guaiacol and / or furfural.

[0046] The ratio of the contents of guaiacol and furfural can also be adjusted, for example, by using colored malt having a color degree of more than 1200° EBC and not more than 1500° EBC as a raw material. Since the ratio of the contents of guaiacol and furfural is likely to be within the above-mentioned specified range, the usage ratio of colored malt having a color degree of more than 1200° EBC and not more than 1500° EBC is preferably more than 0.5% by mass and not more than 15% by mass, more preferably 0.75% by mass or more and not more than 10% by mass, even more preferably 1% by mass or more and not more than 5% by mass, and even more preferably 1.5% by mass or more and not more than 3% by mass, based on the total amount of malt used.

[0047] The ratio of the contents of guaiacol and furfural may be further adjusted by, for example, combining the above-mentioned method of using colored malt as a raw material with the method of adding guaiacol and / or furfural to the raw material liquid. EXAMPLES

[0048] The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to examples, although the present invention is not limited to the following examples.

[0049] Test Example 1: Production and Evaluation of Beer-Taste Beverages (Production of beer-flavored beverages) Liquid sugar, lactic acid, phosphoric acid and hop extract were dissolved in water, and guaiacol and furfural were added to the solution so as to obtain the concentrations shown in Tables 1 and 2. The gas pressure was set to 2.3 kg / cm with carbonated water. 2 and filled into containers to produce the beer-taste beverages of Examples 1 to 6 and Comparative Examples 1 to 4. The compositions of the produced beer-taste beverages are as shown in Tables 1 and 2. In Tables 1 and 2, guaiacol / furfural is the value obtained by dividing the guaiacol content (μg / L) by the furfural content (μg / L).

[0050] (Sensory evaluation) A sensory evaluation was carried out on the beer-taste beverages of Examples 1 to 6 and Comparative Examples 1 to 4 for the evaluation items of "barley tea-like aroma" and "refreshing aroma and flavor." The sensory evaluation was carried out by four selected panelists with discriminating abilities. Each evaluation item was rated on a five-point scale from 1 to 5, and the average score was taken as the evaluation score.

[0051] "Barley tea-like aroma" refers to the sensation of the aroma of barley as when drinking barley tea, and the higher the score, the stronger the barley tea-like aroma. "Clean aroma" refers to the sensation of an aroma with few unpleasant flavors, and the higher the score, the stronger the refreshing aroma. For the sensory evaluation of "barley tea-like aroma" and "clean aroma", the scores of the beer-taste beverage of Comparative Example 1 were fixed at 2 points and 2 points, respectively, and other beer-taste beverages were evaluated based on this. The results are shown in Tables 1 and 2.

[0052] [Table 1]

[0053] [Table 2]

[0054] The beer-taste beverages of Examples 4 to 6, in which the ratio of the guaiacol content to the furfural content (guaiacol / furfural) was 0.13 or greater and 0.80 or less, were excellent in both barley tea-like fragrantness and refreshing flavor.

[0055] Test Example 2: Production and Evaluation of Beer-Taste Beverages (Production of beer-flavored beverages) Beer-taste beverages using different proportions of colored malt (malt ratio: 100% by mass, alcohol content: 3.5-5.4%) were produced by a conventional method (fermentation method) (Example 7 and Comparative Examples 5-6 in Table 3). The proportions (ratio to the total malt) of colored malt with a color of 1200° EBC or less and colored malt with a color of more than 1200° EBC but less than 1500° EBC are shown in Table 3.

[0056] Furthermore, guaiacol or furfural was added to the beer-taste fermented beverage of Example 7 at the concentrations shown in Table 3 to produce the beer-taste beverages of Example 8 and Comparative Example 7. Similarly, guaiacol or furfural was added to the beer-taste fermented beverage of Comparative Example 6 at the concentrations shown in Table 3 to produce the beer-taste beverages of Example 9 and Comparative Example 8.

[0057] (Measurement of guaiacol content) The guaiacol contents in the beer-taste beverages of Example 7 and Comparative Examples 5 to 6 were measured by GC-MS.

[0058] (Measurement of furfural content) The furfural contents of the beer-taste beverages of Example 7 and Comparative Examples 5 to 6 were measured by GC-MS.

[0059] (Chromaticity measurement) The color of the produced beer-taste beverage liquid was measured using the method described in "8.8 Color, 8.8.2 Absorbance Method" in the Revised BCOJ Beer Analysis Methods (published by the Brewing Society of Japan, edited by the International Technical Committee (Analysis Committee) of the Brewers Association of Japan, revised and expanded in 2013).

[0060] (Sensory evaluation) For the beer-taste beverages of Examples 7 to 9 and Comparative Examples 5 to 8, sensory evaluations were carried out for the evaluation items "barley tea-like aroma" and "refreshing aroma" in the same manner as in Test Example 1. Note that, as in Test Example 1, the sensory evaluations of "barley tea-like aroma" and "refreshing aroma" were fixed at scores of 2 points and 2 points, respectively, for the beer-taste beverage of Comparative Example 1, and the other beer-taste beverages were evaluated based on this score as well.

[0061] [Table 3]

[0062] Even in the case of beer-flavored beverages produced by fermentation, the ratio of the guaiacol content to the furfural content (guaiacol / furfural) was between 0.13 and 0.80, so that the beverage had both an excellent barley tea-like aroma and a refreshing flavor (beer-flavored beverages of Examples 7 to 9).

Claims

[Claim 1] Contains guaiacol and furfural, A beer-taste beverage having a ratio of the guaiacol content to the furfural content (guaiacol / furfural) of 0.13 or more and 0.80 or less.

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