Beer-lovers rejoice, as the first probiotic beer is invented

Good news for everyone who enjoys a beer – a student has designed a drink that contains probiotics, so you can sip a cold one whilst enjoying its health benefits.

Ms. Chan Mei Zhi Alcine, a fourth year student in the Food Science and Technology Programme at the National University of Singapore (NUS), took on the work as her final-year project under the supervision of Associate Professor Liu Shao Quan.

Probiotics are ‘friendly’ bacteria and yeast, often added to yoghurts and food supplements, which can pass on various health benefits to us, such as helping with digestive problems. Ms. Chan had the idea of including probiotics in beer after seeing how, for many people who are lactose-intolerant, consuming dairy-based probiotic drinks wasn’t always a feasible option.

The beer contains the bacteria Lactobacillus paracasei L26, which has shown the ability to neutralise viruses and help regulate our immune system. It took around nine months to perfect the mixture – Ms. Chan had to try five other probiotic strains, and experiment with brewing and fermentation conditions such as temperature, before she found the right combination.

“Developing sufficient counts of live probiotics in beer is a challenging feat, at beers contain hop acids that prevent the growth and survival of probiotics,” she explained. “As a believer of achieving a healthy diet through consuming probiotics, this is a natural choice for me when I picked a topic for my final-year project.”

With one billion probiotic organisms per 100 ml of the beer, the drink falls within the recommendations of the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics.

“For this beer, we used a lactic acid bacterium as a probiotic microorganism,” Ms. Chan said. “It will utilise sugars present in the wort to produce sour-tasting lactic acid, resulting a beer with sharp and tart flavours. The final product, which takes around a month to brew, has an alcoholic content of around 3.5%.”

Professor Liu feels optimistic about the beer’s future. “The general health benefits associated with consuming food and beverages with probiotic strains has driven demand dramatically. In recent years, consumption or speciality beers has gained popularity too. Alcine’s invention is placed in a unique position that caters to these two trends. I am confident that the probiotic gut-friendly beer will be well-received by beer drinkers, as they can now enjoy their beers and be healthy.”

Ms. Chan and Professor Liu have filed a patent for the beer, and a Japanese company has already expressed an interest – so keep an eye out for it on the shelves!