EU: VLB to investigate the problem of gushing in beer

"Gushing", where the contents of a beer bottle or can empty when the top or ring pull is removed, can be caused by many factors. Several of these are well understood, and can be controlled by the brewer, but there is a contribution to gushing that correlates with the malt and the barley used, HGCA reports.

It is highly likely that there is an interaction between the malt and other factors, as malt which is associated with gushing in one brewery does not cause it in another. Suspicion rests with fusarium infection of the barley and there is a hypothesis that proteins produced by the mould – called hydrophobins – are a cause of gushing.

To test this hypothesis, and to conduct a wider investigation, the maltsters and brewers of Europe have banded together to fund a research project at the Berlin School of Brewing (VLB).

16 October, 2013