Researchers at the National University of Singapore, NUS, have created a dream product for people who love beer and worry about their gut probiotics: A sour beer loaded with Lactobacillus paracasei L26.
The patent-pending beer was invented by Chan Mei Zhi Alcine, a fourth-year student from the Food Science and Technology Programme. Alcine, according to the NUS press release, “consumers dairy-based probiotic beverages daily.” Pints of milk are way less fun, though.
“While good bacteria are often present in food that have been fermented, there are currently no beers in the market that contain probiotics,” Alcine says in the release. She also added that “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.”
All those studies about beer being good for you — your heart, pain relief, sex drive, you name it — have nothing on Alcine’s beer.
The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics recommend a minimum of 1 billion probiotics per serving for the maximum health benefits. Foods like yogurt, miso soup, sauerkraut, pickles, and other fermented edibles have probiotics. Hops prevent the growth of probiotics, though. Lactobacillus paracasei L 26, the strain Alcine used, can neutralize toxins and viruses and regulate the immune system, the press release states.
“For this beer, we used a lactic acid bacterium as a probiotic micro-organism,” Alcine said. “It will utilize sugars present in the wort to produce sour-tasting lactic acid, resulting in a beer with sharp and tart flavors. The final product, which takes around a month to brew, has an alcohol content of about 3.5 per cent.”
Judging by the current love for both sours and probiotics, this beer is going to be a hot commodity. Alcine and her professor are looking for industry partners to produce and sell their beer.
