Innovations in alcoholic beverage production

Abstract

Beverage alcohol production faces the challenges of staying relevant to the current consumer market while producing products that are of high quality and are environmentally friendly. Alcoholic beverage production is a very large and varied industry with many different types of beverages, ranging from small traditional local products produced in small villages in Africa to the modern global mega-breweries and distilleries, able to churn out vast quantities of products standardized to specific quality parameters. This chapter highlights some of the recent developments in the alcoholic beverage industry, with an emphasis on innovations in yeast biotechnology, and discusses the changes in consumer perceptions of genetically modified (GM) organisms. High gravity brewing and immobilized cell technology are discussed. The rapid rise of craft brewing and distilling companies and their contribution to innovation are highlighted.