JOURNAL OF FERMENTATION AND BIOENGINEERING

VOI. 78, NO. 6, 443-449. 1994

Beer Brewing Using an Immobilized Yeast Bioreactor

Design of an Immobilized Yeast Bioreactor for
Rapid Beer Brewing System
YOSHIHIRO YAMAUCHI,* TAKANORI OKAMOTO, HIROSHI MURAYAMA, AKIRA NAGARA,
TADASHI KASHIHARA, AND KOICHI NAKANISHI
Technical Center, Technology Development Department, Beer Division, Kirin Brewery Co. Ltd., 1-17-1 Namamugi,
Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama 230, Japan
Received 10 June 1994/Accepted 21 September 1994

A three-stage bioreactor system for rapid beer brewing was developed and the characteristics and design
factors of an immobilized yeast bioreactor using porous glass beads as carriers were investigated. The porous
glass bead was advantageous for long-term operation of a packed bed reactor because of its physical strength
and ease of handling. Immobilization capacity of the porous beads could be controlled by varying the mean
pore size, leading to an immobilization performance comparable to that of calcium-alginate beads. In situ
immobilization was made possible by circulating yeast suspended in the wort through the packed bed reactor.
The reactor had good plug flow reaction properties which were verified by analyzing residence time distri-
bution using a lactose impulse method. It was found that cooling equipment must be installed to avoid heat
accumulation during scaling up of the reactor.

The advantage of using an immobilized yeast bioreac-
tor for alcohol fermentation is that the fermentation
time can be reduced because of the marked elevation of
cell concentration, i.e. live catalyst. In addition, the fer-
mentor has smaller dimensions, and therefore requires a
smaller space for installation. In the beer brewing indus-
try, large capital investiment is required because it usual-
ly takes approximately 1 month to produce the beer and
several fermentation vessels are necessary. It is therefore
of economic importance that brewing engineers speed up
the brewing process and also reduce plant investment
costs.
An immobilized yeast bioreactor is extremely efficient
when it is used for simple alcohol production, and many
investigations have been conducted in the field (1). For
fermentation of products such as beer, wine, sake and
soy sauce, however, because the fermented broth is in
itself the final product, many problems regarding flavor
and taste have yet to be solved. Its application to brew-
ing on a commercial scale is still to be achieved and no
report has as yet been made available on the scaleup of
an immobilized yeast bioreactor.
The major factors which must be considered when
scalingup an immobilized microorganism bioreactor are
the type of reactors and the carrier material to be used.
Studies on immobilized yeast bioreactors for beer brew-
ing (2) initially used kieselguhr as a carrier, in which
yeast and carrier were mixed to form the reactor bed.
This method was useful in improving the efficiency of
alcohol production; however, problems related to quality
control such as overproduction of undesirable by-prod-
ucts of fermentation, and operational problems such as
plugging were difficult to overcome.
From the late 1970's to late 1980's, calcium-alginate
was the most commonly studied carrier for beer brew-
ing, because of its property of nontoxicity and ease of
* Corresponding author.
443
handling (3-5). For the beer maturation process,
diethylaminoethyl cellulose was also investigated as an
immobilization carrier (6). With regard to the reactor,
packed bed type and fluidized bed type have been investi-
gated to improve the flavor of the product and also to
help overcome operational difficulties (7). The practical
application of natural organic gels, however, has several
drawbacks such as insufficient mechanical strength for
long term continuous operation, heat lability and poor
regenerating ability for repeated use. These disadvan-
tages have prevented the successful scaleup of the proc-
ess for commercial operations.
Recently, inorganic carrier materials such as ceramics
and porous glass have become available. This is a highly
significant breakthrough in the technology of macro
porous materials production which has contributed to
their application as immobilization carriers for microor-
ganisms. The application of ceramic carriers to ferment-
ed products such as soy sauce and sake has been exten-
sively studied (8).
We have developed a two-stage bioreactor system to
overcome the problems related to quality control of beer
production in reactors. This is achieved by controlling
the production of by-products of fermentation, which is
essential for maintenance of beer quality, using a con-
tinuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR) and a packed bed
reactor (PBR) packed with calcium alginate beads (9).
Swelling of the calciumalginate carriers and subsequent
plugging, however, prevented long-term operation of the
system. In addition, construction of a large-scale packed
bed reactor using calcium alginate beads proved impossi-
ble because of the poor mechanical strength of the carri-
ers. Another problem of scaleup of the reactor was heat
accumulation and carbon dioxide gas buildup, both of
which contribute to difficulty in the control of tempera-
ture of the process.
In this study, the total design of a three-stage bioreac-
tor system, involving primary fermentation process and
444 YAMAUCHI ET AL.
m a t u r a t i o n process, is investigated using porous glass
beads as immobilization carriers. A heat-exchanging
p a c k e d - b e d - t y p e reactor was designed for a large-scale,
beer-brewing process.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Microorganisms and media Saccharomyces cerevi-
siae S M A (from the culture collection o f Kirin Brewery
Co. Ltd., T o k y o ) was used for all experiments. This
strain is a typical b o t t o m fermentation brewer's yeast
for pilsner-type beer.
Typical brewer's wort ( 1 1 ~ extract) was used for fer-
mentation.
Carrier material
Porous glass beads P o r o u s glass beads (Hyper-
mics '~, Kirin Brewery Co. Ltd.) were used. The physical
and chemical properties of the beads are listed in Table
1. Beads having different pore sizes were prepared in-
house. P o w d e r e d glass (wet-milled soda glass) with foam-
er (2%0 calcium carbonate) was shaped into spheres and
heat-treated (850C, 100 s). The heat treated beads were
then soaked in hot water (700C) for 4 d to remove solu-
ble alkali materials and to form pores inside and on the
surface of the beads. The water adsorption ratio in-
creased from 5-20% (after heat treatment) to 20-50%o by
this treatment soaking. The pore size o f the carrier could
be altered by varying the p r e p a r a t i o n conditions.
Calcium alginate beads Calcium alginate beads
were prepared by d r o p p i n g a suspended yeast solution
(30//oo wet yeast cells and 1% sodium alginate) into 0.1 M
calcium chloride solution. This m e t h o d gave approxi-
mately 107 immobilized cells per bead (3 mm~).
Glass bead immobilization procedure F o r the batch
methods, 5 0 m l o f p o r o u s glass beads was a d d e d to 2 l
o f wort (or water) containing suspended yeast (1.5%o
wet weight) at 8C with gentle stirring. F o r the circu-
lation method, 2 l o f wort containing suspended yeast
(1.5%o wet weight) was placed in a stirred reservoir
(200 rpm) and circulated in an up-flow m o d e at 50 m l / h
through the PBR (245 m m x 25 mmq~) packed with the
porous glass carrier at 8C (Fig. 1).
Fermentation test In the batch test, 3 0 m l o f
porous glass beads containing immobilized yeast cells
(1.5~j wet weight) was immersed in 200ml of wort at
8C for 50h. F o r the continuous fermentation test, the
wort was fed continuously from the b o t t o m o f the PBR
at 8C at a flow rate o f 8 0 - 8 5 m l / h . F e r m e n t a t i o n
efficiency was calculated as g o f extract consumed per
liter of beads per hour.
Assessment o f physical p r o p e r t y o f beads Mechanical
strength was measured using a tensipressor (Model T T P -
50BX, T a k e m o t o , Tokyo), and pore volume and median
pore diameter were measured using a poresizer (Model
9301, Shimadzu, Kyoto).
TABLE 1. Physical and chemical properties of porous glass beads
Diameter (mm) 2-10
Mean pore size (/tm) 5-40
Bulk density (g/cm 3) 0.2-0.5
Pore volume (cm3/g) 1.0-5.0
Specific surface area (mZ/g) 3-60
Chemical composition
SiO2+ A1203 (%) 68-72
K20 + Na20 (~o) 13-15
CaO + MgO (~oo) 8-12
J. FERMENT.BIOENG.,
Specific surface area was measured by the nitrogen gas
adsorption method using a specific surface meter (Yuasa
lonics, Tokyo) and bulk density was determined by divid-
ing the dry weight of a carrier by its apparent volume.
Measurement of residence time distribution The
mixing p r o p e r t y of the reactor was measured by an im-
pulse method. Lactose solution was used as a tracer sub-
stance, which could not be assimilated by brewer's yeast.
Lactose concentration at the outlet o f the reactor was
measured by an enzymatic assay (F-kit, Boehringer, Ger-
many) and the Peclet number (Pc), defined by the follow-
ing equation, was calculated by a pulse response curve
based on a mixed diffusion model (10).
Pe=uL/D
where u is the interstitial speed o f the fluid, L is the
length o f the column and D is the dispersion coefficient.
Measurement of temperature inside reactor Tem-
perature was measured by setting up a thermistor
(Takara Thermistor, Tokyo) within the reactor bed (Fig.
2).
Analytical methods The viable yeast cell number
immobilized within the porous glass beads was measured
by colony counting on malt agar plates, after the beads
were crushed in sterile water.
Concentration o f the extract m e d i u m was measured
densitometrically using an automatic beer analyzer
(SCABA, Servo Chem AB, Sweden).
Three-stage bioreactor system The three-stage
rapid fermentation system (Fig. 2) comprised a main fer-
mentation process using an immobilized yeast reactor
(10-12), a heat conversion process o f a-acetolactate (13)
and a m a t u r a t i o n process using a second immobilized
yeast reactor (14).
The first stage o f the main fermentation process was a
CSTR ( 5 . 0 l volume, 2 . 0 l working volume) equipped
with a marine impeller at the b o t t o m and an air sparger
installed at the base o f the impeller. W o r t was supplied
via the inner wall o f the reactor to prevent foaming. The
wort was fed continuously into the CSTR after passing
through a continuous sterilizer (at 70 to 80C, 20 to
30 min). The reactor temperature was controlled at 13C
and the air sparging rate was 0 . 0 1 7 v / v / r a i n . Extract
!i!!ii !ii % i!
PBR
A
I magnetic stirrer I
circulation pump
FIG. 1. Experimental setup for yeast immobilization using the
circulation method.
Vot. 78, 1994 BEER BREWING BY IMMOBILIZED YEAST 445

pressureregulator
pressure valve

chilled water
outlet
~ Temp.2 Temperature profile
pressure
gauge (~
~
pressureregulator
~-zvalve
- ' ~ Beer

temperature ] [ ~ - ~ chilled water

wort ~ i outlet
holding

/ cooling
- - jacket
heating cooling
chilled water ~ -""- ~/coling jack~l~ 1Temp"
outlet ~ ~heat treatment-~ I
time-IP ~
CS
e/ "R
~
l l 5ht-/~e:e~ie B
[ R1
]F-P
.-I T heate
cooler PBR
air chilled water
inlet -4~ =
pressure
regulator
valve
t
centrifuge thermostatic
insulator
FIG. 2. Schematic diagram of the three-stage beer brewing system.

concentration was maintained at 8.0//oo. Yeast cells in the
wort were continuously removed after passing through
the CSTR by centrifugation to below 1.0 x 106 cells per
ml in order to eliminate the effect of these cells on the se-
cond fermentation in the PBR.
The second stage o f the main fermentation process
was a PBR which consisted o f a cylindroconical-type
vessel (1.9 l volume, diameter-length ratio: 1 : 4) with cool-
ing jackets. W h e n porous spherical glass beads were
used as the carrier materials, the central pore size was be-
tween 10-20 ffm, with a bulk density o f 0.35 g / c m 3 and a
surface area o f 3.13 mZ/g. The void volume o f the reac-
tor was 40% (vol/vol) and the P B R was operated at
8C. The pressure was maintained at 0.01 k g / c m 2 to
avoid microbial c o n t a m i n a t i o n and the flow rate was
adjusted to achieve a desired residual extract concentra-
tion (1.8 to 2.5//oo).
Heat treatment was carried out by feeding young beer
into a heat-treatment unit consisting o f a heater, an insu-
lated holding tube and a cooler. The heater rapidly heat-
ciumalginate bead carrier The fermentation efficiency
(extract consumption rate per unit volume o f beads) com-
paring the reactor using calcium alginate beads and
porous glass beads as an immobilization carrier is shown
in Fig. 3. The initial fermentation efficiency o f the for-
mer reactor was two or three times higher than that o f
the latter reactor; however, the fermentation efficiency o f
the calcium alginate beads gradually decreased after four
m o n t h s ' continuous operation, finally reaching the same
level as that o f glass beads. This was p r o b a b l y due to
channeling caused by compaction of carriers. The fer-
mentation efficiency o f the glass beads, however, was
maintained at almost a constant level during the entire
fermentation process.
The decrease in mechanical strength o f the cal-
ciumalginate beads is shown in Fig. 4. Regardless of the
sodiumalginate concentration in the bead p r e p a r a t i o n ,
a p r o n o u n c e d decrease of mechanical strength was ob-
J::

ntebeads
l
ed the young beer to 70C after which it was maintained
at this temperature in an insulated holding tube for 12
20 min. A f t e r heat treatment, the young beer was rapidly J~
cooled to 0C and the pressure was controlled at 7 k g /
cm 2 using a regulator valve positioned behind the cooler.
The same type o f reactor used in the PBR was also
used for the m a t u r a t i o n process. Pressure was controlled 4.
to 1.0 k g / c m 2 at a t e m p e r a t u r e o f 0C using a regulator o~
valve. g
Yeast i m m o b i l i z a t i o n for b o t h CSTR and PBR was
carried out by circulating 1.9 l of wort containing 190 g
4L "_ = =
o f wet yeast (10 ] cells per ml) in an up-flow m o d e at
0C for 24 h at a flow rate o f 9 l/h. The final cell concen- O 2 ~ a s s beads
tration was 3.0 x 108 cells per ml beads.
0 I ~ ~~ I''' I' ' ' I ' T ' i ' ' ' 1 ' ' ' I~ ' ' 1 ' ' ' 1 ~ , T
LLJ 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Time (d)
Carrier design FIG. 3. Fermentation performance of calciuma|ginate beads and
Comparison o f porous glass bead carrier and cal- porous glass beads in continuous operation.
446 YAMAUCHI ET AL. J. FERMENT.BIOENG.,

35 1
19 T
301 porous glass beads
. . . .
25
20
-~ 15- \
F= \" x
calciumalginate beads
I 2 ~I

5-
0 I I I
0 5 10 15 20
Time (d)
FIG. 4. Change of mechanical strength of calcium alginate beads
in continuous operation (3 mmq~). Concentrations of sodium alginate:
1 . 0 ( w / v /0), 1.5 (w/v % ) , 2 . 0 ( w / v %). method. Symbols: and o, suspended free cells; and A, im-
served, whereas that o f the glass beads remained con-
stant. This was because o f swelling o f the calcium-
alginate beads during continuous fermentation, which
might have led to plugging and channeling.
The average immobilization p e r f o r m a n c e o f the cal-
cium alginate beads (3 m m 6 , 1% sodium alginate, 0.1 M
calcium chloride) was a p p r o x i m a t e l y 1 . 0 z 107 cells per
bead, whereas that o f the p o r o u s glass beads (3 m m 6 ,
pore diameter 10-20 Mm) was a p p r o x i m a t e l y 5 106 cells
per bead. A l t h o u g h the initial immobilization capacity
o f the glass beads was a p p r o x i m a t e l y 5 0 ~ that o f the
calcium alginate beads, glass beads which were stable
even during continuous fermentation proved to be a bet-
ter choice for practical application.
Cell immobilization efficiency on the carrier Pre-
liminary experiments were carried out to check the im-
mobilization ability o f the p o r o u s glass beads. The beads
were a d d e d to a water suspension o f yeast with rigorous
stirring at 8C. The rate o f immobilization is shown in
Fig. 5. The immobilized cell n u m b e r reached a maxi-
m u m constant value after two days o f immersion.
The immobilization p r o p e r t y o f the carrier was exam-
ined in the batch m o d e (Fig. 6). The carrier was a d d e d
,-.I07~
$ 10 6
105
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Time (h)
FIG. 6. Effect of initial suspended cell concentrations on im-
mobilization time course on the porous glass beads using the batch
mobilized cells; and , 0.2 gwet cells/100 gwort; o and A, 1.0 gwet
cells/100 gwort.
to wort with two different concentrations of yeast suspen-
sions (0.2 and 1.0 weight %). The m a x i m u m level o f im-
mobilization was attained in a shorter time in the case
where the suspended cell concentration was higher. It
t o o k approximately two days for the two yeast suspen-
sions to reach the m a x i m u m level o f immobilization.
Cells were first immobilized in the pores on the beads
(Fig. 8) and subsequently a biofilm was formed on the
surface o f the carriers by cellular growth. Figure 5 indi-
cates that initial cell trapping occurred in a short time;
however subsequent cellular growth t o o k a longer time
(Fig. 6).
Batch immobilization method can not be used in a
practical process where carriers are initially added to a
reactor and then sterilized. Yeast is immobilized, in this
case, by circulating yeast suspended wort in the reactor.
The time course of immobilization using this method is
shown in Fig. 7. Cell concentration in the reservoir grad-
ually decreased as immobilization proceeded. The im-
mobilized cell number reached a m a x i m u m after three
days. Cell a d s o r p t i o n and growth may have occurred
concurrently. Cell trapping in the reactor (between carri-

~ 10 5

~ 10 4
E
~ 10 3

102
0 10
E
E

0 20 40 60 80 100 120140
Immersion time (h)
FIG. 5. Time course of cell immobilization on the glass beads FIG. 7. Scanning electron micrographs of yeast immobilized on
using the batch method, the porous glass bead.
VOL 78, 1994 BEER B R E W I N G BY I M M O B I L I Z E D YEAST 447

1 08 (A)
100

80-
_a
E "~
g 1 07 g

60-
..Q

e'~ E 40-
"6
E N
E

~ ~ 10 s 20-

0 I I I i I i
~0 ~_ 10 4 0 I 2 3 4 5 6
' ' ' I ' ' ' I ' ' ' I ' ' ' I ' ' ' I ' ' '
E ~= 0 20 40 60 80 I00 120 Repetition (times)
E m
4 Time (h) (B)
S
FIG. 8. Time course of cell immobilization on the porous glass
beads using the circulation method. Symbols: A, suspended free
cells; , immobilized cells. 4-

,o
ers) by filtration effect could not be avoided (data not 3-
shown). Cell detachment test was carried out by adding
beads to water with rigorous stirring; however little or
2-
no detachment o f cells could be observed.
Effect of physical property of carrier on yeast im- E
mobilization capacity F r o m the view point o f fermen-
o
I-
tation efficiency, a larger number o f cells should be im-
mobilized on the carrier. Physical factors influencing car-
0
rier i m m o b i l i z a t i o n p e r f o r m a n c e were examined, such as uJ 0 5' I'0 I'5 20
' 25
bulk density, pore volume, median pore diameter and
specific surface. Figure 9 shows the correlation between Continuous operation (day)
mean pore size o f the carrier and the number o f cells FIG. 10. Fermentation performance of the reactors using carriers
immobilized. It shows that a larger pore size on the car- with different pore sizes. (A) Repeated batch fermentation and (B)
rier is advantageous for cell immobilization. Correlation continuous fermentation.
coefficients between physical properties and immobiliza-
sample
tion capacities are summarized in Table 3. Except for
the mean pore size, the other physical properties show mean pore size (#m) 37.5 20.8
p o o r correlation with immobilization capacity. bulk density (g/ml) 0.44 0.49
pore volume (mg/g) 1.92 2.20
Fermentation test o f immobilized yeast Fermenta-
tion tests were carried out using carriers having different
pore sizes. The physical characteristics o f the carriers ex- Repeated batch fermentations using carriers o f varying
amined are shown in Fig. 10. Mean pore size was differ- pore size were carried out (Fig. 10A). The degree of fer-
ent but other properties were nearly the same. m e n t a t i o n was reflected by the number o f cells i m m o b i -
lized within the carriers, and the carriers having larger
pore size showed improved fermentation efficiency.
1o 8
Moreover, the fermentation efficiency was maintained
E even after six batch operations.
_~ The fermentation efficiency comparing the reactor
using beads having different mean pore sizes (37.5 and
2 0 . 8 # m ) in continuous fermentation is shown in Fig.
- Q Q 10B. F e r m e n t a t i o n was stable for 20 d. The difference in
E
: .^7.
I fermentation efficiency o f the reactors using carriers with
c /U-
Ii
different pore size was also observed, similarly to the
case o f repeated batch fermentation. A slight increase in
"0
extract c o n s u m p t i o n rate was observed in the case where
:= beads with smaller pore size were used. This was p r o b a -
..Q
0 bly due to the growth o f a biofilm on the surface o f the
E beads. The reason behind the difference in the behaviors,
E
- - 1 o6 however, between the beads having different mean pore
0 110 210 3'0 410 50 sizes is not clear.
These results show that the fermentation performance
Median pore size(p_m) o f the reactor is directly related to the cell number initial-
FIG. 9. Correlation between median pore size of the carrier and ly immobilized on the carriers, and once cells are im-
the immobilized cell number. mobilized by a d s o r p t i o n , cell detachment does not occur
448 YAMAUCHI ET AL. J. FERMENT.BIOENG.,

@
O"
L_,

0t
580mm

E
I-- o
(b
Cb
ub

l
!K//~ /// / : "" "
|K441, U,,." / / / ,
"7 //" /"

c
a)

180mm

E 1360ram 85 mm
E 1
o
eo ......... o----O ..... o .........
,,<l-
F-

i I
I360mm
4~5 90 135 180
FIG. 11. Temperature distribution in the reactor.

even in long-term operations. , 2lOOmm =

Shape and diameter of carriers are other factors

should also be considered during scaling-up o f the reac-
tor. P r o b l e m o f gas hold-up can simply be avoided by in-
creasing the beads diameter; however, it is not realistic
because the fermentation efficiency cannot be maintained
through this method. Raschig ring is p r o b a b l y the better
choice as a carrier when the p r o b l e m o f gas hold-up or
clogging occurs during scaling-up o f the reactor (data
not shown).
Packed bed reactor design
Temperature distribution in the P B R Fermentation
temperature is one o f the main factors affecting beer
quality because it directly affects yeast metabolism. A
difficulty in the control o f temperature o f the PBR is
that heat generated in the reactor cannot be easily re-
moved using simple cooling jackets positioned outside
the reactor. Moreover, carbon dioxide gas generated
during fermentation also affects heat transfer in the reac-
tor.
The temperature distribution in the reactors was mea-
sured (Fig. 11) within the PBRs ( 1 8 0 m m ~ x 1,430mm
height, 5 8 0 m m 0 x 2,320 m m height) in radial and axial
directions, when 6 % o f the extract was consumed during
fermentation. Chilled water (2C inlet - 4 C outlet, 12-
2 0 / / m i n ) was used as coolant, r o o m temperature was
maintained at 17 to 20C, and temperature o f the fer-
FIG. 12. Structure of the packed bed reactor designed for 10 kl
scale pilot plant. 1, Chilled water inlet; 2, chilled water outlet; 3,
upper grating; 4, upper temperature sensor; 5, immobilized yeast
bed; 6, lower temperature sensor; 7, lower grating; 8, cooling tube.
mentation broth introduced was 8C.
The temperature distribution of the smaller reactor
was controllable within the acceptable range (0.1C axi-
ally, 0.5C radially) but not in the larger reactor (4.0C
axially, 7.0C radially). Installation o f cooling devices
such as cooling fins, cooling pipes or multiplex cooling
tubes in the reactor was necessary for further scaleup.
The radial temperature distribution could be decreased
by installing cooling pipes axially. The structure of the
PBR for 10 kl plant is shown in Fig. 12.
Residence time distribution and fermentation effi-
ciency The mixing properties of reactors with various
shapes o f were investigated by measuring residence time
distribution (Table 2). The taller reactor showed good
plug flow reaction p r o p e r t y since the value of Pe de-
creased with increasing D / H ratio.
Selection of immobilization carriers is one o f the
m a j o r factors in the scaling-up o f an immobilized yeast
reactor. Since it affects the fermentation performance
and the operational stability o f the reactor. A n o t h e r ira-

TABLE 2. Correlation coefficients between physical properties TABLE 3. Mixing properties of reactors with various shapes
and immobilization capacities
Reactor No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 4
Correlation coefficient
Diameter (cm) 24 19 19 11
Mean pore size 0.716 Height (cm) 48 75 150 132
Specific surface area 0.398 Diameter/Height 1:2 1:4 1:8 I : 12
Pore volume 0.437
Bulk density 0.357 Pe 14.9 16.7 18.9 29.4
VOL. 78, 1994
p o r t a n t f a c t o r is the m i x i n g p r o p e r t y o f the r e a c t o r . T h e
P B R was a d v a n t a g e o u s in that it increased Pe, that is, it
exhibited g o o d p l u g flow r e a c t i o n p r o p e r t y .
T h e i n o r g a n i c carriers e n a b l e d scaleup o f the r e a c t o r
for practical use because o f their m e c h a n i c a l strength.
Cell i m m o b i l i z a t i o n c o u l d be a c h i e v e d simply by c o n t a c t -
ing cells with the carriers for 1 to 2 d , m a x i m u m im-
m o b i l i z a t i o n p e r f o r m a n c e , c o m p a r a b l e to that o f cal-
c i u m alginate beads, was achieved. It was also possible
to i m m o b i l i z e in situ by circulating yeast s u s p e n d e d in
the w o r t or water t h r o u g h the reactor. I m m o b i l i z a t i o n
efficiency o f the carrier was d e p e n d e n t o n its m e a n p o r e
size. F e r m e n t a t i o n efficiency o f the carrier was verified
by b o t h r e p e a t e d b a t c h f e r m e n t a t i o n and c o n t i n u o u s fer-
mentation.
F r o m the results o f residence t i m e d i s t r i b u t i o n m e a -
surements, plug flow r e a c t i o n p r o p e r t y was realized using
the c y l i n d e r - t y p e tall r e a c t o r ; h o w e v e r it was necessary
to install c o o l i n g devices axially inside the r e a c t o r to de-
crease radial heat d i s t r i b u t i o n in the reactor. T h e scaled-
up plants ( 5 0 0 l and 1 0 k l bed v o l u m e reactor) were
designed and c o n s t r u c t e d based on these investigations
(15).
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank Mr. H. Yokoyama and Mr. M.
Mawatari, Kirin Brewery Co. Ltd., for permission to publish this
manuscript, and Professor I. Karube of The University of Tokyo
and Dr. K. Morimoto of Kirin Brewery Co. Ltd., for encourage-
ment.
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