Quality improvement and fermentation control in beer

Although the basic raw materials and brewing procedures remain the same, technological developments have gradually changed the large-scale breweries into the present-day highly automated, hygienic, energy/water recovering industrial facilities. Given the competitiveness of the beer marketplace, this process still continues in all areas of the multidisciplinary brewing industry. It is particularly driven by the economic benefits from new products, quality improvement, prolonged shelf-life and reduced production costs. This chapter focuses on recent developments related to genetic modifications of brewer's yeast, beer fermentation in cylindroconical vessels and continuous bioreactors, anaerobic spoilage bacteria, new product developments and health issues.