Amylolytic ferments for beer brewing

Brewing with amylolytic molds and fungi (Brewing Path n° 3)

A ball of cooked starch ensures both the saccharification of starch and the alcoholic fermentation of issuing sugars, thanks to the moulds and fungi which cover it. This brewing method is used in Asia, East Africa, and America (Amazon, Guyana, Caribbean). It is as common as malting in for brewing beers.

1. Aidoo Kofi E., Nout Robert M. J. 2010, Functional Yeasts and Molds in Fermented Foods and Beverages. In Fermented Food and Beverages of the World, ed. Jyoti Prakash Tamang, Kasipathy Kailasapathy, 127-148. CRC Press.
2. Ankei Takako 1986, Discovery of saké in Central Africa : mold-fermented liquor of the Songola, Journal d'Agriculture Traditionnelle et de Botanique Appliquée, CNRS, XXXIII, 29:47.
   • This extraordinary discovery could only be made by Japanese researchers attentive to this brewing technique that was believed to be exclusively Asian, hence the mention of sake in this studie. The Songola, an ethnic group from south-eastern Zaire, brew their cassava or maize beers by preparing amylolytic ferments with these same raw materials. Where does this know-how come from? To saccharify their starch sources in order to brew their beers, African people use for millenia either malting, or acid saccharification, or over-ripening (plantain beer from the Great Lakes region). Note that brewers from this same region of Africa (Zaire, Zambia) also know how to use amylolytic plants. This makes it a conservatory of all known brewing methods in the world, if we add to them the salivation brewing way.
3. Basuki Triadi 1976, Brem, nama sejenis makanan di samping brem bali, Bulletin Kebun Raya (Botanical Gardens), Bogor, Indonesia, vol. 2(6), 223:228.
   • Explanation in Indonesian of the brewing of the two kinds of brem known in Indonesia, a fermented sticky rice. The solid brem based on ketan tepe, and the brem called "Bali brem" which is the liquid version of the first. These fermented products are two sides of the same coin, a cooked rice paste, saccharified and fermented with an amylolytic ferment, a version for eating, another for drinking. A thickened version eaten in the form of breads / pastry, another diluted and liquid drunk like a beer.
4. Bigawa Samuel 1983, Les champignons contaminant le manioc frais dans la ville de Kisangani, Journal d'Agriculture Traditionnelle et de Botanique Appliquée, CNRS, XXX(3-4), 193:196.
   • The genera Aspergillus, Fusarium (lowest frequency), Monilla, Mucor and Penicillum are identified on fresh cassava exposed to air at 25 ° C, relative humidity 80%. University of Kisangani, Zaire. This is the technical basis for understanding the manufacture of amylolytic ferments based on cassava.
5. Bilhaut Anne-Gaëlle 2006, L'adieu aux Zápara. In La pirogue ivre. Bières traditionnelles en Amazonie, Philippe Erikson (ed.), Université Paris X-Nanterre, Musée Français de la Brasserie, 87:90.
   • The departing ethnologist is offered a large beer drink. She witnessed the brewing of "moldy cassava beer", an ancestral technique of making amylolytic ferment based on cassava cake. This sophisticated brewing technique is disappearing in South America.
6. Chia Ssu-hsieh, Huang Tzu-ch'ing, Chao Yun-ts'ung, Davis T. 1945, The Preparation of Ferments and Wines, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Society 9, 25:29.
   • Partial translation of the Qimin Yaoshu (Main techniques for the wealth of the people) written by Jia Sixie between 533 and 544. An essential text devoting an entire chapter to the technique of amylolytic ferments for brewing various kinds of beer bewed with rice, millet or barley. + Yang Lien – sheng 1946, Corrigenda to HJAS 9.24-38, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 9 (2), 186.
7. Gandjar Indrawati 2003, TAPAI from Cassava and Cereals. In The First International Symposium and Workshop on “Insight into the World of Indigenous Fermented Foods for Technology Development and Food Safety” held in Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, August 2003, I-10.
   • In Indonesia, the Tapaï or Tepe ragi is a cooked paste of rice or cassava saccharified by strongly amylolytic molds (Rhizopus orizae, Amylomyces rouxii, Mucor) and fermented by yeasts (Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharomycopsis fibuliger, Endomycopsis). Diluted, this thick porridge gives a soft or strong beer depending of the whole process time.
8. Guyot Jean-Pierre 2010. Fermented Cereal Products. In Fermented Food and Beverages of the World, ed. Jyoti Prakash Tamang, Kasipathy Kailasapathy, CRC Press, 247:262.
   • The author examines the starch hydrolysis by action of lactic acid bacteria on starchy substrates from cereals. It shows its effectiveness and the resulting nutritional enrichment.
9. Hounhouigan Mênouwesso Harold 2007, Evaluation et Amélioration de la technologie traditionnelle de production de kpètè- kpètè : un ferment utilisé pour le fermentation du Tchoukoutou, Thèse Université d'Abomey-Calavi (Bénin).
   Evaluation-Et-Amelioration-de-La-Technologie-Traditionnelle-de-Production-de-kpete
   • Benin opaque beer made from malted sorghum. However, the ferment (kpètè- kpètè), generally made with the lees or fermentation foam of a previous brew, is subject to special care and procedures to be kept active. The author suggests ways of improving these traditional techniques.
10. Limitong Savitree, Sintara Somporn, Suwannarit Poonpilai, Lotong Napha 2003, Yeast Diversity in Thaï Traditional Starter. In The First International Symposium and Workshop on “Insight into the World of Indigenous Fermented Foods for Technology Development and Food Safety” held in Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, August 2003, I-5.
    • In Thailand, these ferments are used to brew a sweet rice beer (kao-mag), another also from rice (lao), and a rice beer vinegar (num som sai chu). Each time, the type of ferment differs and its microbiological composition as well.
11. Lisdiyanti Puspita, Kozaki Michio 2003, Rice Wine in Southeast Asia Countries : Thaîland, Laos , Vietnam and Myanmar. In The First International Symposium and Workshop on “Insight into the World of Indigenous Fermented Foods for Technology Development and Food Safety” held in Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, August 2003, I-3.
    • An amylolytic ferment (ragi, lakpaeng, bubod, men, mochikouji depending on the cultural area) is the basis of rice beers in all these countries. Powdered and powdered on a cooked rice paste, it causes saccharification of the cooked rice in a large open jar, then its alcoholic fermentation in a jar closed by a narrow neck. Brief historical overview of this type of beer in Southeast Asia.
12. Murakami Hideya 1972, Some Problems in Sake Brewing, In Fermentation Technology Today: Proceeding of the Ivth International Fermentation Symposium, G. Terui (ed) Society of Fermentation Technology, Osaka.
13. Nunokawa Yataro 1972, Sake, In Rice: Chemistry and Technology, D. F. Houston (ed), American Association of Cereal Chemists, St. Paul.
14. Thitisarabak N., Plumchaoren S., Rungsardthong V. 2003, The use of Dry Starter Cultures for the Fermentation of Sato, a Traditional Thaï Rice Wine. In The First International Symposium and Workshop on “Insight into the World of Indigenous Fermented Foods for Technology Development and Food Safety” held in Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, August 2003, P-1.
    • In Thailand, sato is a rice beer brewed with an amylolytic ferment, the pang-lao look.
15. Shindo Sho, Kashiwagi Yutaka, Shiinoki Satoshi 1998, Sake Brewing from Liquefied-Rice with Immobilised Fungal Mycelia and Immobilised Yeast Cell, Journal of the Institute of Brewing 104, 277:281.
16. Suzuki Koji, Asano Shizuka, Iijima Kazumaru, Kitamoto Katsuhiko 2008, Sake and Beer Spoilage Lactic Acid Bacteria – A Review, The Institute of Brewing & Distilling 114, 209:223.
17. Ueda S., Teramoto Y., Ohba R., Kayashima S.  1992, Production and characteristics of sprouting rice wine, in Journal of Fermentation and Biotechnology 74(2), 132:135.
    • An attempt to brew beer with germinated rice, compared to barley malt. To germinate, rice must not be hulled in order to preserve the germ of each grains and ensuring its germination. Usually, when rice is harvested, the germ is torn off the main part of the grain, which make it unfitted for any germination.
18. Wood Brian 1982, Soy Sauce and Miso. In Fermented Foods, ed. A. H. Rose. Academic Press, Economic Microbiology Series, Vol. 7. 39:86.
    • The preparation of miso (a fermented soy sauce) begins with that of moromi and koji (that is a beer ferment), the first stages of brewing rice beers like the japanese sake.
19. Yoshida Toshiomi 2003, Technology Development of Sake Fermentation in Japan. In The First International Symposium and Workshop on “Insight into the World of Indigenous Fermented Foods for Technology Development and Food Safety” held in Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, August 2003, I-4.

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