Different Forms of Nitrogen and the Stability of Beer

Nitrogenous compounds present in beer were determined by methods of chromatography, gel filtration, electrophoresis, and spectroscopy. The chill haze formation was shown to consist of α-hordein and β-globulin fractions to which the stability of the commercial product can be related. Effective means of removal of nitrogenous materials are described. The quality of beer is not determined by the content of total protein, but rather by the relative amounts of nitrogen that is soluble, that can be precipitated by MgSO4, that is titratable by formaldehyde, and that is present as amino acid. All of these forms are found in beer after technological processing. With the use of appropriate filtering agents that have been covered in this study, it is possible to modify the nitrogen content in beer and improve the stability and hence the quality of beer. Particularly good adsorbents for this purpose were found to be kieselgel stabifix, diatomite, and bentonite.