Abstract
Non-alcoholic beer is increasingly popular worldwide but still faces flavor challenges compared to regular beer. These flavor-related challenges include pronounced 'wort-like' notes, excessive sweetness, and a lack of desirable aroma complexity. The industry is trying to improve the taste of non-alcoholic beer by trying new techniques and yeasts. A newly isolated maltose-negative brewer's yeast (M-I) from an industrial-scale brewery collection has attracted attention due to its reduced wort-like flavor. This study aims to characterize the volatile profile of a newly isolated maltose-negative brewer's yeast (M-I) in comparison with the well-known Saccharomycodes ludwigii. The novelty of this work lies in evaluating the aroma potential of a maltose-negative isolate newly applied in industrial brewing and its contribution to improving the flavor quality of non-alcoholic beer. An SPME-GC/MS system was used to analyze aroma compounds. According to volatile compound analysis, the M-I sample has higher amounts of esters and higher alcohol composition than the S. ludwigii beer sample. Also, it has lower amounts of Strecker aldehydes, which can give a worty off-flavor. Sensory analysis revealed that, interestingly, the control S. ludwigii sample was rated as having stronger ester notes, along with more pronounced sour and bitter characteristics, whereas the M-I sample was perceived as having a more balanced flavor, leading to a more favorable rating by the panelists.