THE ORIGIN AND OCCURRENCE OF VOLATILE SULPHUR COMPOUNDS IN BRITISH ALES AND LAGERS

Abstract

A flame-photometric sulphur detector was used to identify, measure and determine the sources of the sulphur volatiles produced during the commercial processing of British ale and lager. Dimethyl sulphide was the main sulphur volatile present in malt but traces of hydrogen sulphide, diethyl sulphide, and dimethyl disulphide were also detected. Hops contained hydrogen sulphide, methyl mercaptan, dimethyl sulphide, diethyl sulphide, methional and dimethyl disulphide. Most of this material extracted into commercial worts was driven off during boiling. Brewing yeasts produced only traces of organo-sulphur volatiles both in laboratory fermentations of wort and during the processing of commercial ales and lagers. In contrast, brewery bacteria, particularly wort spoilage organisms, could generate dimethyl sulphide and sometimes traces of other sulphur volatiles in laboratory cultures. t-Butyl mercaptan was the only organo-sulphur volatile detected in significant concentrations during the primary fermentation and conditioning of commercial beers and this was attributable to the activity of wort-spoilage bacteria. Attempts to identify a volatile compound causing ‘sulphury’ smells in beer were unsuccessful but there was some evidence that it might not contain sulphur.