UNIVERSIDAD AUTNOMA METROPOLITANA

"Sensory profile of a gluten free beer made 100% with corn malt"
M.A Romero-Medina1, H.B Escalona-Buenda1, J.R Verde-Calvo 1,M. Lelievre-Desmas 2.
Universidad Autnoma Metropolitana1,Mxico; Institut Suprieur d'Agriculture-Lille2.
mangelika7@gmail.com

INTRODUCTION

Beer is one of the most popular fermented beverages all over the world. Traditionally brewed with barley and wheat malt, typical beers turns in an unsuitable beverage for
people who suffer from celiac disease, the intolerance of gluten proteins contained in cereals like barley and wheat.
One appropriate alternative to produce gluten-free beers is to replace barley with gluten-free grains such as corn, which has been used to elaborate foodstuffs for celiac patients.
However, the use of 100% corn malt in beer process is a challenge due to the different chemical composition of corn (proteins, sugars) that could impact their sensory
characteristics and the quality of the beer.
Hence, using pigmented varieties of Mexican corn as the main ingredient in brewing allows to develop alternative and innovative styles for individuals with gluten intolerance
and at the same time incorporate traditional flavors of Mexican beverages, without compromising the sensory quality of beer.

OBJECTIVE RESULTS
APPEARANCE
The objective of this study was to determine the effect of two varieties of
Foam
pigmented Mexican corn on the sensory profile of craft beers made with this 10.0

8.0
gluten-free cereal. 6.0

4.0

2.0

0.0

MATERIAL Turbidity Gasification

100% red 50:50 100% blue 100% barley
corn malt red & blue corn malt malt
corn malt (BC100)
(RC100)
(RCBC)
(BARLEY)
FLAVOR
100% red 50:50 100% blue ODOR
100% Sweet
corn malt red & lue corn malt barley malt
Plantain
5.0
Astringent 7.0
Salty
or alt Floral Banana 6.0
4.5
4.0
Metallic 5.0 Bitter
Olive 3.5 Fruity 4.0
3.0 3.0
2.5
Spicy Acidy
2.0
Brown sugar 2.0 Apple
1.5 1.0
1.0
Burned tortillas-F 0.0 Oxidation
0.5
Caramel 0.0 Yeasty
Four beers were brewed using the following ingredients: Fermented fruits-F Sour
Hoppy Cooked corn
Cooked vegetables-F Hoppy-F
Malts
Pineapple Fermented fruits Cooked grain-F Malty-F
Two varieties of pigmented corn: red and blue Chalqueo breeds from Milpa Alcohol-F
Dry chili Dry fruits
Alta, Mexico City. Alcohol
Barley malt: 2-row American Brewers Malt and Roasted Caramel Malt 60L Fig. 1.Sensory profiles of beers made with different types of malts. The stars indicate a p-value <0.05 in the ANOVA.
(Briess Malt & Ingredients Co., Chilton, WI, USA)
Hops The type of malt used in beers impacts their sensory profile. The 4 beers are
Saaz (3-5 a-acids) for aroma purpose significantly different (p<0.05) on 14 attributes like foam, turbidity, floral, olive and
Magnum (13-15 a-acids) for bitter purpose apple odor and salty, bitter, sour, burned tortillas, alcohol, hoppy flavors. Also
Yeast astringent, metallic, oxidation sensation were significantly different.
Saccharomyces cerevisae Safale US-05 (Fermentis Division of S. I. Lesaffre, PCA- Product map
Marcq-en-Baroeul, France) Caramel F1 and F2 85.3%

Adjuncts Foam
Brown sugar Cooked corn
Guajillo chili (Capsicum annuum) from Milpa Alta, Mexico city. Apple Cooked grain
Alcohol Hoppy
Metalic
Burned tortillas

METHODOLOGY
Brewing process: All beers were Sensory Evaluation Fruity
Dry fruit Dry chili
produced using the typical brewing Beer prototypes were characterized by Spicy Plantain
process and all steps remained Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA).
constant, also all malting process was Evaluations were conducted twice
carried out according to the method
described in Mexico Patent n 12 judges were
Fig. . PCA- ap of the i di iduals ith o fide e ellipses p< . 5 .
MX/a/2014/009140 (Verde Calvo et selected & The fra ed attri utes des ri e the produ ts surrou ded y the sa e olor
al., 2014) properly trained
on 35 beer From the Fig. 2, it can be seen that:
Malting of Packing & attributes The 4 beers are well distinguished as the confidence ellipses do not overlap.
BREWING PROCESS

corn Aging Corn beers share attributes of typical barley beers: bitter, hoppy, floral and malty.
Corn beers have also specific sensory characteristics: spicy, burned tortillas, olive,
3 16 16 dry chili, cooked corn and fermented fruits.
Fer e tatio
Appearance

Odor

Flavor

Milling attributes attributes attributes The blue corn beer is the most similar beer to the barley beer, sharing some
8- C characteristics: sweet, fruity and dry fruits.

Mashing Boiling
CONCLUSION

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
Attributes were rated for intensity on non-structured scale (15cm) and the
data were collected using FIZZ software (Biosystemes, FIZZ, Sensory Software
version 2.5, Couternon, France).
The data were analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA) a multivariate
method and analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to each attribute.
Statistical analysis was conducted using R: A Language and Environment for
Native varieties of Mexican corn were used for the first time as main ingredient of
beer. Blue and red corn malt seem to be good gluten-free options for the brewing
industry.
These new beers preserve the typical sensory characteristics of the traditional barley
beers as well as interesting new flavors.
Thus, blue and red corn beers offer a modern way to preserve the typical Mexican
flavors.
REFERENCES

Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria, 2016. Verde Calvo, Jos Ramn, Hctor Bernardo Escalona Buenda, Nicte Nataly Cruz Rodrguez, and Mara Anglica Romero Medina. 2014. Proceso de
elaboracin de cerveza a base de maz. MX/a/2014/009140,