Lintag, Ira

Nibungco, Angel
Relucio, Nixy
Requidan, Mikha
Serafica, Daniela Anne

Chem 46.5

The Chemistry Of Beers: Foaming Properties and Alcohol Content Determination of Red
Horse Beer and San Mig Light

I. DATA

Type of Gas Nitrogen Gas

BEER San Mig Light

Type of Gas Nitrogen Gas

BEER San Mig Light

Height of the
FOAM HEIGHT HEIGHT OF BEER beer before the
TIME (seconds) Volume Fraction
(cm) (cm) foam forms
(cm)

0 15 5 0.25
5 12 5 0.29
10 12 5 0.29
15 10 5 0.33
20 10 6 0.31
25 7 6 0.38
30 6 7 5 0.38
35 5 7 0.42
40 5 7.5 0.40
45 2 7.5 0.53
50 0 7.5 0.67
55 0 7.5 0.67
60 0 7.5 0.67

Table 1: San Mig Light Data

 Time (secs) VS Volume Fraction
0.70

0.60
y = 0.0073x + 0.2116
0.50
Volume Fraction

0.40

0.30

0.20

0.10

0.00
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Time (secs)

Figure 1: San Mig Light- Time (secs) VS Volume Fraction

Type of Gas Nitrogen Gas

BEER Red Horse Beer

Height of the
HEIGHT OF
beer before the Volume Fraction
BEER (cm)
TIME (seconds) FOAM HEIGHT (cm) foam forms (cm)
0 15 5 0.25
5 10 5 0.33
10 8 5.5 0.37
15 7 6 0.38
20 7 6 0.38
25 6 7 0.38
30 4 8 5 0.42
35 2 8 0.50
40 0 8 0.63
45 0 8 0.63
50 0 8 0.63
55 0 8 0.63
60 0 8 0.63

Table 2: Red Horse Beer Data

 Time (secs) VS Volume Fraction
0.80

0.70

0.60
y = 0.0066x + 0.2738
Volume Fraction

0.50

0.40

0.30

0.20

0.10

0.00
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Time (secs)

Figure 2: Red Horse Beer- Time (secs) VS Volume Fraction

II. DISCUSSION

Beer has been the worlds most popular alcoholic beverage ever since. With the fermentation of
starches, the brewing process is how people are able to produce this enjoyable drink. The fermentation
causes natural carbonation, producing alcohol and carbon dioxide as yeast digest the sugar in the wort, but
also during this process, most of the carbon dioxide is allowed to escape. Beer usually comes in bottles or
cans, but in bottles, natural carbonation is used, which allows the beer to ferment completely.

With the taglines Extra Strong! The #1 Beer! Ito Ang Tama! and Mahaba-habang Inuman, the
two most popular brands of beer in the Philippines are Red Horse and San Mig Light both produced by San
Miguel Brewery. Red Horse Beer brings you a pure alcohol taste with that extra kick no other beer can
provide. With 6.9% alcohol by volume of pure alcohol strength, this market dominant beer is a smooth
drink that is both strong and flavorful, providing you that bold and intense experience. On the other hand,
San Mig Light is the countrys leading light beer with only 100 calories per 330 mL serving, making you
feel light as you enjoy its full beer flavor that hits just right. It is the perfect beer companion for extended
drinking moment with friends.

Beer foams happen due to the creation of bubbles, however, this phenomenon is called nucleation.
Foam is referred to as the dispersion of gas bubbles in a liquid. It is composed of a continuous liquid phase
that surrounds and traps the gaseous phase. Usually it is characterized as having relatively low density and
extremely high viscosity. Foams are thermodynamically unstable systems because they always contain
more than a minimal amount of gas solution interface, which represent surface free energy. Surface free
energy is the amount of which can be estimated from knowledge of the surface tension and the interfacial
area of the foam. Whenever a foam membrane breaks and the liquid coalesces, there is a decrease in surface
free energy. Since the solution phase is always denser than the gaseous phase, there is a strong tendency
for the former to separate or drain from the main body of foam unless it is circulated or agitated in some
way. This drainage then leads to instability of variation in physical properties with height and time, which
precedes breaking. The surfactant plays an important role in stabilizing the films and entrapping the gas
bubbles.

In a solid foam, the liquid has changed into gel after making the dispersion. The volume fraction
of gas in a foam is mostly between 0.5 and 0.97. The bubbles necessarily deform one another if the volume
fraction is less than about 0.75. Bubble size is mostly between 0.1 and 3 mm, which implies that the number
of bubbles is around 103 per mL as compared to 1011 for emulsion droplets. The specific surface area of
the bubbles is mostly a few times 100 cm^2 per mL of continuous phase, the fluid phase of a colloid within
which solid or fluid particles are distributed.

The formation of beer head depends largely, but not exclusively, on carbonation, the amount of
dissolved carbon dioxide gas (CO2) in beer. Beer can be carbonated naturally by fermentation in a closed
container or by forced carbonation. Gas in an unopened bottle of beer is in equilibrium. This means that at
any given temperature, the gas pressure in the headspace and the amount of gas dissolved in the beer are
constant. When you open a bottle of beer, you create an imbalance between the amount of CO2 in the beer
and the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere above the beer. The amount of CO2 in the air is only about 0.2
percent of the total atmosphere, compared with 98 percent in a beer headspace. To restore equilibrium, the
CO2 bubbles will leave the beer until balance is restored. That is why an open beer will always go flat over
time. Of course agitation and warm temperatures will hasten this process. This phenomenon is demonstrated
by opening a thoroughly shaken beer or pouring beer from an over-pressurized or warm keg of beer.

Sodas and other gas infused beverages also experience this phenomenon however the foam doesnt
last as long as the ones in beers. What makes the beer foams special is the presence of protein called Lipid
Transfer Protein 1 (LTP1). LTP1 has a high rate of hydrophobicity so in order to alleviate its predicament,
it grabs hold onto the CO2 gas (or N2 gas) present in beers, and rises along side the CO2 bubbles present on
the surface. Once at the surface, the LTP1 proteins form a coating around the bubbles which helps maintain
the foam. Hops also come into play as the hydrophobic polypeptides derived from grain cross link with
bitter iso-alpha acids from hops to render foam more ridged, stable and clingy. In addition to the proteins,
the pH level of the beer also matters in the formation of foams. Foam wont stick around if the pH level of
the beverage is too high (around 9-12% alcohol range) or too low (around 3.2%), it is said that the perfect
level for the formation is at a pH level with a 5% alcohol content.

Foam carries the aroma of the beer, which can make it more appealing to the drinkers. That is why
beer brewers put a great deal of effort in the aromatic components of the beer and to ensure that their beer
has a nice head of foam to carry off those aromas. Apart from smell, the foam also affects the way we feel
when we consume beers in the mouth. The density of the head of the foam gives the beer a creamy quality
and a sense of fullness of the tongue. The creamy, fluffy feel of foam can dramatically alter the perception
of any given beer by softening the overall palate.

From the experiment, the foam stability of Red Horse beer is higher than that of the San Mig Light
as seen by the patterns of the graph and their slope. Moreover, the foam of Red Horse disappears faster than
that of San Mig Light at about 50 seconds while for the latter beer, the foam lasts longer at about 1 minute.
The temperature of the beer did not have any effect on its foaming capabilities. The production of foam
was dictated by the composition of the beer itself. The table below shows the groups observations for this
experiment.

Red Horse Beer San Mig Light

ABV 7% 5%

Observations when When poured, foam disappeared Initially had a lot of foam and took a while to
poured right away disappear

When pumped with N2 Generated thick foam Only produced bubbles, no visible cloud
gas

Beers with higher alcohol content produce less foam because the high alcohol content hinders the
formation of foam. Red Horse beer is 7% ABV and San Mig Light is 5% ABV. In the experiment, the
opposite occurred, Red Horse produced more bubbles than San Mig Light. This could be to to the fact that
San Mig Light is slightly carbonated and pumping it with N2 gas had no effect. Because San Mig Light
already produces enough foam on its on, the addition of N2 had no effect. In a technique used by beer
manufacturers, they add N2 to create a fluffier and cloud like foam on their beers, which are mostly dark
beers, San Mig light is a light lager and produces enough foam through carbonation.

These results were affected by the use of the nitrogen gas to the beverages used for the experiment.
Nitrogenated beer, on the other hand, infuses nitrogen gas into beer and is largely insoluble (hard to
dissolve) in the liquid. This gas gives beer a creamy and smooth mouth feel (tiny bubbles now that song
is in our heads). Nitro beers also tend to have less perceived bitterness because CO2 is acidic which adds to
bitterness perception. Basically, the foam when you add nitrogen to beer, there is smaller bubbles but more
stable foam.

III. CONCLUSION

Foam beers are essential in the aroma and flavor of the beer. Moreover, the way the beer was created
can also be traced through the foam beer. In the experiment, the foam stability indicate which beer has
higher alcohol content than the other. Red Horse has more stable foam proving that it truly has a higher
alcohol content. On the other hand, San Mig Light, which produced only bubbles and no visible cloud,
had a lower alcohol content as proven by its foam stability.

IV. CALCULATIONS

()
Volume Fraction = ()+ ()

Example: (from Table 1)

5
5+12
= 0.25
 V. REFERENCES

http://beer.about.com/od/commercialbeers/f/fizz.htm

http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4471-3807-5_1

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.634.587&rep=rep1&type=pdf

https://www.deschutesbrewery.com/feeling-gassy-co2-vs-nitrogen-beer/

http://www.themadscienceblog.com/2013/12/chemistry-of-beer-carbon-dioxide-vs.html

http://www.themadscienceblog.com/2013/12/chemistry-of-beer-carbon-dioxide-vs.html

https://www.craftbeer.com/craft-beer-muses/the-science-behind-beer-foam