Chinova Bioworks showcases its sustainable ingredient portfolio at the Craft Brewers Conference
Brewers product quality and shelf-life goals achieved with Chiber™ and MycoKleer™
Chinova Bioworks will feature its upcycled mushroom ingredients at this year’s Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America (CBC), being held in Las Vegas, April 21 – 24.
The innovative food-tech company will highlight the advantages linked to using its natural preservative, Chiber™, as well as its fining agent, MycoKleer™. These sustainable ingredients will be showcased at Chinova’s booth 577.
Brewing innovation: Chiber revolutionizes non-alcoholic beer
As in traditional alcoholic beer, the perfect concoction of flavor, aroma, and overall quality is of utmost importance in the production of non-alcoholic (NA) beer. The problem faced by brewers is how to protect their NA brews from spoilage without sacrificing this perfect concoction. Not only considering the difference in ethanol, the process of ensuring microbial stability in NA beer can be difficult due to: the reduced hop bittering compounds, elevated concentrations of fermentable sugars, and the possibility of higher pH levels–all of which can make them susceptible to spoilage. A method in achieving beverage stabilization is through the use of preservation. One of the biggest challenges is what type of preservative or method to use instead of ethanol for maximum beverage stabilization.
Chiber was developed as a natural preservative sourced from upcycled white button mushroom stems for use in a wide range of products, including beers and non-alcoholic alternatives. It helps to reduce the incidence of spoilage and waste.
“Chiber is a clean-label preservative that provides broad-spectrum protection against common spoilage microorganisms such as yeast, mold, and harmful bacteria, while maintaining the taste, texture, and appearance of beverages like hop waters, seltzers and low-to-non-alcoholic beers,” said Audrey Carpenter, Midwest Sales Account Manager at Chinova Bioworks. “Chiber can protect a beverage without flavor impact, maintain its intended shelf-life, and appeal to consumers seeking natural innovation.”
The photo of the two glasses of beer on the beer keg taken by highmagazin from Getty Images.
Chiber in action with NA beer
Ethanol is crucial in preventing bacterial growth in fermented beverages. The lack of alcohol poses a hurdle for brewers looking to maintain the longest shelf life for their products. Chiber is heralded as a major boost within the NA and low-alcohol categories as a shelf-life extender.
The Chinova Bioworks R&D team conducted an antimicrobial challenge test to determine the efficacy of Chiber as part of the NA beer brewing process. Results from the brand tested showed that a 0.2% dose of Chiber inhibited the growth of six spoilage-causing microorganisms, including pathogenic bacteria. Ultimately, this helped ensure a 12-month shelf life for the NA beer brand, allowing them to replace tunnel pasteurization. While tunnel pasteurization is an effective method to ensure microbial stability of beers and other beverages, it can be costly, time-consuming, limited in the amount of carbonation it can support, and requires high energy and water consumption.
“Tunnel Pasteurization causes increased oxidation, caramelization, alteration of hop compounds, and negative chemical reactions due to the high temperature. The solution is to avoid this high heat exposure and instead use the natural antimicrobial ingredient, Chiber,” said David Brown, COO and co-founder of Chinova Bioworks. “Using Chiber is an efficient and highly sustainable option that offers long-term shelf-life preservation and maintenance of vibrant flavor and carbonation.”
MycoKleer can help brewers save time and money
Also being featured at CBC is MycoKleer, a sustainable fining agent, which helps clarify beer and removes unwanted particles to give a clearer, more desirable-looking appearance.
Chinova Bioworks performed a case study to determine the impact MycoKleer had on the distilling processes at Moonshine Creek Distillery in New Brunswick, Canada, for its Apple Crumble Cocktail.
The study showed that MycoKleer helped to improve the company’s operations, saving time, labor, and ultimately helping to produce more of their Apple Crumble Cocktail in the normal batch size.
"After settling and using filtration, Moonshine Creek lost 10 liters from every 50-liter batch. With MycoKleer, we save an additional 3 liters from each batch of Apple Crumble Cocktail," said Joshua Clark, MCD's Vice President and Co-Owner of Moonshine Creek Distillery. "The saved product and processing hours quickly pay for MycoKleer."
“Assisting companies like Moonshine Creek Distillery and seeing the improved yields that MycoKleer helped them achieve is rewarding,” added Brown.
Dave Brown and Audrey Carpenter are attending CBC. Come by Chinova’s booth 577 to meet them and to learn more about Chiber and MycoKleer or click here for a sneak peek.