阅读说明：本技术 啤酒风味饮料 (Beer-flavored beverage ) 是由 阿部央行 乾隆子 于 2019-01-31 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种啤酒风味饮料,其为含有4-巯基-4-甲基戊-2-酮(4MMP)的啤酒风味饮料,4MMP相对于α酸的质量比(4MMP(ppt)/α酸(ppm))为45以上。根据本发明,可提供被赋予芳香醇厚的黑加仑般的香味,且来自啤酒花的讨厌的苦味得到降低的风味良好的啤酒风味饮料。(A beer-flavored beverage containing 4-mercapto-4-methylpentan-2-one (4MMP), wherein the mass ratio of 4MMP to alpha acid (4MMP (ppt)/alpha acid (ppm)) is 45 or more. According to the present invention, a beer-flavored beverage having a rich blackcurrant-like aroma and a good flavor with reduced unpleasant bitterness originating from hops can be provided.)

1. A beer-flavored beverage containing 4MMP (4-mercapto-4-methylpentan-2-one), wherein the mass ratio of 4MMP to alpha acid, namely 4MMP (ppt)/alpha acid (ppm), is 45 or more.

2. The beer-flavored beverage according to claim 1, wherein the 4MMP content is 10 to 400 ppt.

3. A beer-flavored beverage according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the α -acid content is 1.0ppm or less.

4. A method for producing a beer-flavored beverage according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a hop-treated product obtained by subjecting hop-containing water to a high-temperature high-pressure treatment at a temperature of 130 to 160 ℃ and a pressure of 0.27 to 0.62MPa is added in any step involved in the production of the beer-flavored beverage.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the hop used for preparing the hop treatment product comprises 1 or more selected from Apollo, Cascade, Saaz, Citra, Simcot, Simcore, Strisselsholt, Chinook, Nelson Sauvin, and Hallertauu Blanc.

6. A method for producing a hop-treated product, characterized by comprising a step of subjecting hop-containing water to high-temperature high-pressure treatment at 130 to 160 ℃ and 0.27 to 0.62 MPa.

7. A hop-treated product obtained by the production method according to claim 6.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a beer-flavored beverage and a method for producing the same, and a hop-treated product and a method for producing the same.

Background

In recent years, with diversification of consumer preferences, development of beer-flavored beverages having various flavor characteristics has been desired. Hops used as a raw material for beer-flavored beverages are known to be useful for imparting flavor. For example, patent document 1 discloses that, in order to impart hop aroma with reduced grassy smell, high-temperature heat-treated hops obtained by heat-treating hops or hop-processed products in the presence of superheated steam are added to an intermediate liquid obtained in the production process of beer-flavored beverages.

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2017-46670

Disclosure of Invention

However, in patent document 1, the highly volatile aroma component volatilizes, and it is difficult to effectively impart the aroma to hops. Further, when a large amount of hops is used to improve the aroma of hops, bitterness of a hop-derived material having poor quality may be imparted.

The present invention addresses the problem of providing a beer-flavored beverage that has a blackcurrant-like aroma imparted thereto and has reduced unpleasant bitterness originating from hops, and a method for producing the same. Also provided are a hop-treated product which has a blackcurrant-like aroma imparted thereto and has reduced unpleasant bitterness derived from hops, and a method for producing the hop-treated product.

The present invention relates to the following [1] to [4 ].

[1] A beer-flavored beverage containing 4MMP (4-mercapto-4-methylpentan-2-one), wherein the mass ratio of 4MMP to alpha acid, namely 4MMP (ppt)/alpha acid (ppm), is 45 or more.

[2] A method for producing a beer-flavored beverage according to [1], characterized in that a hop-treated product obtained by subjecting hop-containing water to a high-temperature high-pressure treatment at 130 to 160 ℃ and 0.27 to 0.62MPa is added to any of the steps involved in the production of a beer-flavored beverage.

[3] A method for producing a hop-treated product, characterized by comprising a step of subjecting hop-containing water to high-temperature high-pressure treatment at 130 to 160 ℃ and 0.27 to 0.62 MPa.

[4] A hop-treated product obtained by the production method according to [3 ].

According to the present invention, a beer-flavored beverage which has a rich blackcurrant-like aroma and in which unpleasant bitterness originating from hops is reduced, and a method for producing the same can be provided. Further, a hop-treated product which has a blackcurrant-like aroma imparted thereto and has reduced unpleasant bitterness originating from hops, and a method for producing the hop-treated product can be provided.

Detailed Description

The present inventors have intensively studied the above-mentioned problems, and as a result, have found that a beer-flavored beverage to which a blackcurrant-like aroma is imparted and which has reduced unpleasant bitterness originating from hops can be obtained by setting the mass ratio of the content of 4-mercapto-4-methylpentan-2-one (4MMP) to the content of alpha acid in the beer-flavored beverage to a certain value or more.

The beer-flavored beverage of the present invention contains 4-mercapto-4-methylpentan-2-one (4 MMP). 4MMP is a component having a blackcurrant-like flavor, and is contained in an amount of about 0 to 5ppt in general beer. The 4MMP content in the beer-flavored beverage of the present invention is preferably 10ppt or more, more preferably 20ppt or more, further preferably 25ppt or more, further preferably 30ppt or more, further preferably 35ppt or more, further preferably 40ppt or more, further preferably 45ppt or more, further preferably 50ppt or more, from the viewpoint of imparting an aromatic and mellow blackcurrant-like flavor, and is preferably 400ppt or less, more preferably 300ppt or less, further preferably 250ppt or less, further preferably 200ppt or less, further preferably 150ppt or less from the viewpoint of flavor balance, and may be set in a range based on any combination of these ranges.

Alpha-acids are bitter components contained in hops, and are considered to be one of the causes of unpleasant bitter taste derived from hops. The content of alpha acid in the beer flavor beverage of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as the following mass ratio to the 4MMP content is satisfied, but from the viewpoint of reducing unpleasant bitterness originating from hops, it is preferably 1.0ppm or less, more preferably 0.8ppm or less, even more preferably 0.5ppm or less, and even more preferably 0 ppm.

In the beer-flavored beverage of the present invention, the mass ratio of the content of 4MMP to the content of α acid (4MMP (ppt))/α acid (ppm)) is 45 or more, preferably 50 or more, more preferably 55 or more, further preferably 60 or more, further preferably 65 or more, further preferably 70 or more, further preferably 75 or more, from the viewpoint of imparting a blackcurrant-like flavor and reducing unpleasant bitterness derived from hops, and the upper limit is not particularly limited, and may be set to 5000 or less, 4000 or less, 3000 or less, 2500 or less, for example, or may be set to a range based on any combination of these.

The beer-flavored beverage of the present invention may further contain an iso-alpha acid. The content of iso-alpha acid is not particularly limited, but is preferably 10 to 50 ppm.

The method for producing the beer-flavored beverage of the present invention is not particularly limited, and a method for producing a beer-flavored beverage by adding a hop treatment to any of the steps involved in the production of a beer-flavored beverage can be mentioned. 4MMP, which is present in hop in a state of a precursor bonded to a peptide or an amino acid in most cases, is metabolized by yeast and converted into free mercaptan during fermentation, but the conversion efficiency in the production of beer-flavored beverages is generally as low as about several percent. The hop-treated product used in the production method of the present embodiment is obtained by subjecting hops to a high-temperature high-pressure treatment in an aqueous phase at 130 ℃ or higher, whereby the conversion of thiol precursors is promoted to significantly increase 4 MMPs, and the isomerization of alpha acids is promoted to reduce unpleasant bitterness. Accordingly, as a method for producing a beer-flavored beverage of the present invention, a method of adding such a hop treatment product to a beer-flavored beverage is preferably exemplified.

The hop-treated product used in the production method of the present embodiment can be obtained by subjecting hop-containing water containing hops and water to high-temperature high-pressure treatment under conditions of preferably 130 to 160 ℃, 0.27 to 0.62MPa, more preferably 135 to 150 ℃, and 0.31 to 0.48 MPa. The treatment time is preferably 10 minutes or more, more preferably 15 minutes or more, and further preferably 20 minutes or more, and the upper limit value is not particularly limited, and may be set to 90 minutes or less, 75 minutes or less, 60 minutes or less, or the like, or may be set to a range based on any combination of these. In addition, as hops used for the preparation of hop-treated products, from the viewpoint of obtaining 4 MMPs, varieties such as Apollo (Apollo), casscatter (Cascade), Saaz (Saaz), cica (cisra), simcot (simcore), shish hammer (strisselsalt), knuckin (Chinook), Nelson suvin (Nelson Sauvin), and halau Blanc (Hallertau Blanc) containing 4MMP precursor components can be used.

The content of 4MMP in the hop treatment product used in the production method of the present embodiment is preferably 500ppt or more, more preferably 600ppt or more, and still more preferably 700ppt or more from the viewpoint of imparting a blackcurrant-like aroma having a thick aromatic alcohol, and is preferably 10000ppt or less, more preferably 7500ppt or less, and still more preferably 5000ppt or less from the viewpoint of balance of aroma, and a range based on any combination of these may be provided.

The content of alpha acids in the hop-treated product used in the production method of the present embodiment is preferably 100ppm or less, more preferably 60ppm or less, even more preferably 40ppm or less, and even more preferably 0ppm, from the viewpoint of reducing unpleasant bitterness derived from hops.

The mass ratio of the content of 4MMP to the content of α acid (4MMP (ppt))/α acid (ppm)) in the hop treatment product used in the production method of the present embodiment is 2 or more, preferably 3 or more, more preferably 5 or more, and further preferably 7.5 or more, from the viewpoint of providing a rich blackcurrant-like aroma and reducing unpleasant bitterness derived from hops, and the upper limit is not particularly limited, and may be set to, for example, 100 or less, 75 or less, 50 or less, or the like, or may be set to a range based on any combination of these.

In the production method of the present invention, the beer flavor beverage may be a beer flavor beverage containing alcohol or a nonalcoholic beer flavor beverage. The following examples illustrate the production method of the mode of adding the hop treatment product in each case, but the present invention is not limited to these modes.

As one embodiment of the beer-flavored beverage according to the present invention, a beer-flavored beverage containing alcohol can be cited, but the beer-flavored beverage can be produced in the same manner as a general beer-flavored beverage except that the hop-treated product is added in the production process of the beer-flavored beverage. The alcohol in this case is ethanol, and the content of ethanol is preferably 1% to 10% by volume, but is not particularly limited. Further, the source of the alcohol component contained in the beer-flavored beverage is not limited to fermentation and non-fermentation. The following shows a general process for producing a beer-flavored beverage. In general, beer-flavored beverages can be produced as follows, with or without using malt as a raw material.

An alcoholic beer-flavored beverage produced using malt as a raw material is first prepared by adding an enzyme such as amylase to a mixture containing, as necessary, grains other than malt, raw materials such as starch, sugars, bittering agents, colorants and water, as necessary, gelatinizing and saccharifying the mixture, and filtering the mixture to obtain a saccharified solution. If necessary, hops, a bittering agent, etc. are added to the saccharified solution and boiled, and solid components such as coagulated proteins are removed in a clarifying tank. Instead of this mashing solution, hops may be added to the malt extract to which warm water is added and boiled. The hop can be mixed at any stage from the boiling to the end of the storage. The conditions of the saccharification step, boiling step, solid removal step, and the like may be known conditions. The conditions for the fermentation and storage steps may be known ones. Filtering the obtained fermentation liquid, and adding carbon dioxide gas into the obtained filtrate. Then, the container is filled with the beer flavor drink and the objective beer flavor drink is obtained through a sterilization process. In the above-mentioned respective steps, the hop treatment product may be added in any step up to the filling, but from the viewpoint of suppressing volatilization, it is preferably added in a step after the completion of boiling.

An alcoholic beer-flavored beverage produced without using malt as a raw material is prepared by mixing a liquid sugar containing a carbon source, a nitrogen source as an amino acid-containing material other than barley or malt, hops, a coloring matter, etc. with warm water to prepare a liquid sugar solution. The liquid sugar solution was boiled. When hops are used as the raw material, the hops may be mixed with the liquid sugar solution at the time of boiling, not before the start of boiling. Instead of this mashing solution, hops may be added to an extract using a raw material other than malt to which warm water is added, and the extract may be boiled. The hop can be mixed at any stage from the boiling to the end of the storage. The conditions for the fermentation and storage steps may be known ones. The resulting fermentation liquid was filtered, and carbon dioxide gas was added to the resulting filtrate. Then, the container is filled with the beer flavor drink and the objective beer flavor drink is obtained through a sterilization process. In the above-mentioned respective steps, the hop treatment product may be added in any step up to the filling, but from the viewpoint of suppressing volatilization, it is preferably added in a step after the completion of boiling.

The alcohol content of the final product can be adjusted by adding raw material alcohol or the like to the non-fermented and alcohol-containing beer flavor beverage regardless of the use of malt. The addition of the alcohol for the raw material may be performed in any step from the saccharification step to the filling step. In the above-mentioned respective steps, the hop treatment product may be added in any step up to the filling, but from the viewpoint of suppressing volatilization, it is preferably added in a step after the completion of boiling.

One embodiment of the beer-flavored beverage according to the present invention is a nonalcoholic beer-flavored beverage, which can be produced in the same manner as a general nonalcoholic beer-flavored beverage except that a hop-treated product is added in the production process of the beer-flavored beverage. Hereinafter, a process for producing a general non-fermented nonalcoholic beer-flavored beverage will be described. Since a fermentation step by yeast is not performed, a beverage having a beer flavor such as nonalcoholic beer can be easily produced. In general, a non-fermented nonalcoholic beer-flavored beverage is produced as follows, with or without using malt as a raw material.

An alcohol-free beer-flavored beverage produced using malt as a raw material is first prepared by adding an enzyme such as amylase to a mixture containing, as necessary, grains other than malt, raw materials such as starch, sugars, bittering agents, colorants and water, as necessary, gelatinizing and saccharifying the mixture, and filtering the mixture to obtain a saccharified solution. If necessary, hops, a bittering agent, etc. are added to the saccharified solution and boiled, and solid components such as coagulated proteins are removed in a clarifying tank. Instead of this mashing solution, hops may be added to the malt extract to which warm water is added and boiled. The hop can be mixed at any stage from the boiling to the end of the storage. The conditions of the saccharification step, boiling step, solid removal step, and the like may be known conditions. After boiling, the resulting wort was filtered, and carbon dioxide gas was added to the resulting filtrate. Then, the container is filled with the alcohol-free beer flavor beverage and the desired alcohol-free beer flavor beverage is obtained through a sterilization step. In the above-mentioned respective steps, the hop treatment product may be added in any step up to the filling, but from the viewpoint of suppressing volatilization, it is preferably added immediately before the completion of boiling.

In the production of an alcohol-free beer flavor beverage not using malt as a raw material, first, liquid sugar containing a carbon source, a nitrogen source as an amino acid-containing material other than barley or malt, hops, a coloring matter, and the like are mixed together with warm water to prepare a liquid sugar solution. The liquid sugar solution was boiled. When hops are used as the raw material, the hops may be mixed with the liquid sugar solution at the time of boiling, not before the start of boiling. Adding carbon dioxide gas to the boiled liquid sugar solution. Then, the container is filled with the alcohol-free beer flavor beverage and the desired alcohol-free beer flavor beverage is obtained through a sterilization step. In the above-mentioned respective steps, the hop treatment product may be added in any step up to the filling, but from the viewpoint of suppressing volatilization, it is preferably added immediately before the completion of boiling.

The term "beer-flavored beverage" as used herein means a carbonated beverage having a beer-like flavor. That is, the beer-flavored beverage of the present specification includes all beer-flavored carbonated beverages, unless otherwise specified. Among these, the "nonalcoholic beer-flavored beverage" is a beer-flavored beverage having an alcohol content of less than 1%, and is preferably substantially free of alcohol. Here, the beverage of the substantially alcohol-free system does not shave a beverage containing an extremely small amount of alcohol to such an extent that it cannot be detected. The beverage with the alcohol degree of 0.0% by rounding off, wherein the beverage with the alcohol degree of 0.00% by rounding off is contained in the nonalcoholic beer-flavored beverage. Examples of the types of beer-flavored beverages of the present invention include nonalcoholic beer-flavored beverages, beer-flavored refreshing beverages, and the like. The "alcohol degree (alcohol content)" herein refers to the content of ethanol and does not include aliphatic alcohols.

The alcohol content of the beer-flavored beverage according to the present invention is the content (v/v%) of the alcohol component in the beverage, and can be measured by any known method, for example, by a vibrating densitometer. Specifically, a sample from which carbon dioxide gas has been removed is prepared from a beverage by filtration or ultrasonic wave, and the sample is distilled with direct fire, and the density of the resulting distillate at 15 ℃ is measured and converted using the attached table "alcohol component in Table 2, density (15 ℃) and specific gravity (15/15 ℃) conversion table" of the analysis method specified in the Japan national tax office (Hei 19 national tax office, Commission No. 6, Hei 19, 6.month, 22 days). In the case of a low alcohol content of less than 1.0%, a commercially available alcohol measuring apparatus or gas chromatography may be used.

From the viewpoint of imparting a favorable alcoholic feel, an aliphatic alcohol may be added to the beer-flavored beverage of the present invention. The aliphatic alcohol is not particularly limited as long as it is a known one, and an aliphatic alcohol having 4 to 5 carbon atoms is preferable. In the present invention, preferred aliphatic alcohols include those having 4 carbon atoms such as 2-methyl-1-propanol and 1-butanol, and those having 5 carbon atoms such as 3-methyl-1-butanol, 1-pentanol and 2-pentanol. These may be used in 1 kind or in combination of 2 or more kinds. The content of the C4-5 aliphatic alcohol is preferably 0.0002-0.0007% by mass, more preferably 0.0003-0.0006% by mass. In the present specification, the content of the aliphatic alcohol can be measured by using a headspace gas chromatography.

(Heat)

Among beer-flavored beverages according to the present invention, low-calorie beverages are desired in response to recent preference for low-calorie beverages among nonalcoholic beer-flavored beverages. Accordingly, the caloric value of the beer-flavored beverage according to the present invention is preferably less than 5kcal/100mL, more preferably less than 4kcal/100mL, and still more preferably less than 3kcal/100 mL.

The calorific value contained in the beer-flavored beverage according to the present invention is calculated basically according to "an analysis method for nutrient components and the like in a nutrient indication standard" published by the health promotion law association of japan. That is, the amount of each nutrient component to be quantified is calculated by multiplying the sum of the energy conversion factors (protein: 4kcal/g, lipid: 9kcal/g, sugar-containing substance: 4kcal/g, dietary fiber: 2kcal/g, alcohol: 7kcal/g, organic acid: 3kcal/g) of each component, respectively, as a principle. Specifically, refer to "analysis methods for nutrient components and the like in nutrient marker standards", and the like ".

The specific method for measuring the amount of each nutrient component contained in the beer-flavored beverage according to the present invention may be according to various analysis methods described in "analysis method for nutrient components and the like in nutrient marker standards" of health promotion in japan. Moreover, if a financial group legal person is entrusted with the japanese food analysis center, such calories and/or amounts of the respective nutritional ingredients can be known.

(sugar-containing substance)

The sugar-containing substance contained in the beer-flavored beverage according to the present invention is a sugar-containing substance based on the standard for nutritional indication of food (japanese heisheng labour saving bulletin No. 176, which is equal to 15 years). Specifically, the sugar-containing substance refers to a substance obtained by removing protein, lipids, dietary fiber, ash, alcohol and water from food. In addition, the amount of sugar-containing substances in the food is calculated by subtracting the amount of protein, lipids, dietary fiber, ash and moisture from the weight of the food. At this time, the amounts of protein, lipid, dietary fiber, ash and moisture were measured according to the methods disclosed in the standards for nutritional labeling. Specifically, the amount of protein is measured by a nitrogen quantitative conversion algorithm, the amount of lipids is measured by an ether extraction Method, a chloroform-methanol mixture extraction Method, a Gerber Method, an acid decomposition Method or a Roz-Gottlieb Method, the amount of dietary fiber is measured by a high performance liquid chromatography Method or a Prosky Method, the amount of ash is measured by an ashing Method in which magnesium acetate is added, a direct ashing Method or an ashing Method in which sulfuric acid is added, and the amount of moisture is measured by a Karl Fischer Method, a drying assistant Method, a reduced pressure and superheated drying Method, an atmospheric pressure heat drying Method or a plastic film Method.

The beer-flavored beverage according to the present invention is desired to be a low-sugar-content beverage in accordance with the preference of low-sugar-content beverages in recent years. Accordingly, the content of the sugar-containing substance in the beer-flavored beverage according to the present invention is preferably less than 0.5g/100mL, more preferably 0.4g/100mL or less, and still more preferably 0.3g/100mL or less. The lower limit is not particularly limited, but is usually about 0.1g/100mL, and may be, for example, 0.15g/100mL or more, or may be 0.2g/100mL or more.

(sour agent)

As the acidulant used in the beer flavor beverage according to the present invention, 1 or more kinds of acids selected from citric acid, lactic acid, phosphoric acid, and malic acid are preferably used. In the present invention, as an acid other than the above acids, succinic acid, tartaric acid, fumaric acid, glacial acetic acid, and the like can be used. These may be used without limitation as long as they are approved for addition to food. In the present invention, it is preferable to use a combination of lactic acid and phosphoric acid, and lactic acid is used from the viewpoint of appropriately imparting soft sourness, and phosphoric acid is used from the viewpoint of appropriately imparting slightly pungent sourness.

In the beer-flavored beverage according to the present invention, the content of the acidulant is preferably 200ppm or more, more preferably 550ppm or more, further preferably 700ppm or more in terms of citric acid, and further preferably 15000ppm or less, more preferably 5500ppm or less, further preferably 2000ppm or less in terms of sourness, from the viewpoint of imparting a taste to beer. Accordingly, in the present invention, the content of the sour agent is preferably in a range of 200ppm to 15000ppm, preferably 550ppm to 5500ppm, more preferably 700ppm to 1500ppm in terms of citric acid. In the present specification, the amount in terms of citric acid is an amount in terms of the degree of sourness of each sour agent based on the degree of sourness of citric acid, and for example, an amount in terms of citric acid corresponding to 100ppm of lactic acid is 120ppm, an amount in terms of citric acid corresponding to 100ppm of phosphoric acid is 200ppm, and an amount in terms of citric acid corresponding to 100ppm of malic acid is 125 ppm.

The content of the acidulant in the beer-flavored beverage means a value calculated by analysis such as High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).

(hop)

In the beer-flavored beverage according to the present invention, hops can be used as a part of the raw material. Since the flavor tends to be similar to that of beer, it is desirable to use hops as a part of the raw material. When using hops, ordinary granular hops, powdery hops, and hop extracts used in the production of beer and the like can be appropriately selected and used according to the desired flavor. Further, hop processed products such as isomerized hops and reduced hops can also be used. These substances are contained in hops used in the beer-flavored beverage according to the present invention. The amount of hops is not particularly limited, and is typically about 0.0001 to 1 wt% based on the total weight of the beverage.

(other raw materials)

The beer-flavored beverage according to the present invention may be prepared by using other raw materials as needed, as long as the effects of the present invention are not impaired. For example, a sweetener (including a high-intensity sweetener), a bittering agent, a flavor, a yeast extract, a coloring agent such as caramel pigment, a plant extract saponin-like substance such as soybean saponin or quillaja saponin, a plant protein and peptide-containing substance such as corn or soybean, a protein-like substance such as bovine serum albumin, a flavoring agent such as dietary fiber or amino acid, and an antioxidant such as ascorbic acid may be used as needed within a range not to impair the effects of the present invention.

Thus, the beer-flavored beverage of the present invention can be obtained. The pH of the beer-flavored beverage according to the present invention is 3.0 to 5.0, preferably 3.5 to 4.5, and more preferably 3.5 to 4.0, from the viewpoint of improving the flavor of the beverage.

(beverage packaged in container)

The beer-flavored beverage can be made into a container. The shape of the container is not limited at all, and the container can be filled into a sealed container such as a bottle, a can, a barrel or a PET bottle to prepare a container-filled beverage.

Examples

The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following examples, but the present invention is not limited to the following examples.

Test example 1 (sensory additive)

To beer (beer not using hops as a raw material) produced in a trial manner by this company, alpha acids (SIGMA-ALDRICH) and 4 MMPs (tokyo chemical industries co., ltd.) were added so as to have the concentrations shown in table 1, and the carbon dioxide pressure was sufficiently adjusted to prepare beer-flavored beverages of examples 1 to 7 and comparative examples 1 to 3.

< sensory evaluation >

The flavor of the resulting mixture was evaluated by sensory tests based on a scale method. The fully trained sensory evaluators 5 were rated at 5 scores for "quality of bitterness", "intensity of blackcurrant flavor", "balance of flavor", and "overall evaluation". The score criteria are shown below. The average score of the evaluation scores was calculated with "strongly felt or very good" being 5 points, "felt or good" being 4 points, "slightly felt or ordinary" being 3 points, "basic feel not or slightly bad" being 2 points, "feel not or bad" being 1 point, and the evaluation was made in accordance with the following criteria based on the average scores. The results are shown in Table 1.

More than 1 minute to less than 2 minutes: is prepared from

More than 2 minutes to less than 3 minutes: delta

More than 3 minutes to less than 4 minutes: o-

More than 4 points to 5 points as follows: very good

[ Table 1]

As is clear from Table 1, it is found that the beer-flavored beverages of examples 1 to 7 are excellent in both the "quality of bitterness" and the "strength of blackcurrant flavor" in comparison with comparative examples 1 to 3. Since example 7 strongly imparted the flavor derived from 4 MMPs, the "balance of flavor" was evaluated in a poor manner as compared with the beer-flavored beverages of examples 1 to 6, and the results were poor as a comprehensive evaluation, but the range of the product was within the tolerable range.

Test example 2 (beer brewing)

< production of beer >

100L of filtrated wort obtained by a usual method was heated to 98 ℃ in a boiling kettle, and a hop-treated product (variety: Citra, place of production: USA) obtained by treating the raw material liquid under the conditions shown in Table 2 was added to the raw material liquid in a closed vessel so as to have the addition concentration shown in Table 2. Stirring for 1 min, and rapidly cooling under vortex to obtain cold wheat juice. Then, yeast was added to ferment, and after filtration, the carbon dioxide pressure was adjusted to prepare the beer flavor beverage of example 8. A beer-flavored beverage of comparative example 4 was prepared in the same manner as in example 8, except that untreated hops were added instead of the treated hop material. The closed vessel was a metal pressure-resistant vessel having a capacity of 5L, and a vessel capable of being completely sealed was used for the treatment. In either case, the volume of the hop-containing water before treatment in the closed container is 50 to 90 vol% of the total volume of the closed container (the volume of the void space is 50 to 10 vol%). The analysis value of "hop-treated product" in table 2 is a value after addition to the raw material liquid, and the content of each component in the hop-treated product can be converted to a value shown in parentheses.

< determination of the amount of alpha acid >

The amount was determined by the method described in method 7.7, which is a method for specifying "analytical-EBC" in the analytical method issued by the European Brewery society EBC (European Brewery convention), and the converted amount was calculated with the content of comparative example 1 being 1.

< 4 determination of MMP amount >

The method was carried out according to the method described in Anal Chim acta.2014Apr 22,821, p48-53.

< sensory evaluation >

The flavor of the beer thus obtained was evaluated by sensory tests based on the scoring method. The fully trained sensory evaluators 5 were rated at a score of 5 for "quality of bitterness", "intensity of blackcurrant flavor", "balance of flavor", and "overall evaluation". The average score of the evaluation scores was calculated with "strongly felt or very good" being 5 points, "felt or good" being 4 points, "slightly felt or ordinary" being 3 points, "basic feel not or slightly bad" being 2 points, "feel not or bad" being 1 point, and the evaluation was made in accordance with the following criteria based on the average scores. The results are shown in Table 2.

More than 1 minute to less than 2 minutes: is prepared from

More than 2 minutes to less than 3 minutes: delta

More than 3 minutes to less than 4 minutes: o-

More than 4 points to 5 points as follows: very good

[ Table 2]

TABLE 2

As is clear from table 2, the beer flavor beverage of example 8 was excellent in "quality of bitterness" and "strength of blackcurrant flavor", and the overall evaluation also gave a high score. On the other hand, comparative example 4, which was a level of adding untreated hops, was inferior in "quality of bitterness", and was evaluated to be poor.

Test example 3 (hop treatment)

Hop material (variety: Citra, origin: USA) was added to warm water at 95 ℃ and stirred for 1 minute, and then left to stand for 30 minutes to obtain a hop-treated product of preparation example 1. Further, hop material (variety: Citra, origin: USA) was mixed with water so as to have the concentration shown in Table 3, and the resulting mixture was treated under the conditions shown in Table 3 using a closed vessel to obtain hop-treated products of preparation examples 2 to 8. The hop-treated products of preparation examples 2 to 8 were ice-cooled until the temperatures shown in Table 3 were reached, and then 95 ℃ warm water was added so as to have the same hop-adding concentration as that of preparation example 1, followed by stirring for 1 minute and then standing for 30 minutes. Then, the contents of the respective components were measured according to the following measurement methods. The results are shown in Table 3. The closed vessel was a metal pressure-resistant vessel having a capacity of 150ml, and a completely sealable vessel was used for the treatment. In either case, the volume of the hop-containing water before treatment in the closed container is 50 to 90 vol% of the total volume of the closed container (the volume of the void space is 50 to 10 vol%). The "hop-treated product" analysis value in table 3 indicates a value obtained by adding warm water, and the content of each component in the hop-treated product can be converted to a value shown in parentheses.

[ Table 3]

TABLE 3

From table 3, it is clear from the comparison of preparation examples 2, 3, 4, 7, 8 that the MMP amount increased by increasing the treatment temperature by 4 and the α acid amount decreased. In addition, it is clear from the comparison of preparation examples 4 to 6 that the amount of 4MMP can be increased and the amount of alpha acid in the treated product can be significantly reduced by increasing the treatment time. The hop extracts used in the preparation of the beer-flavored beverage of the present invention can be used in any of preparation examples 2 to 8, and the hop extracts of preparation examples 6 to 8 are particularly preferably used.

Industrial applicability

According to the present invention, a beer-flavored beverage having a rich blackcurrant-like aroma and a good flavor with reduced unpleasant bitterness originating from hops can be provided.