NEER™

A flavor enhancing brewing solution for non-alcoholic beer, NEER™

is a unique yeast concept that only requires your pure brewing skills

NEER™ is frozen Pichia kluyveri for direct inoculation that produces <0.5% alcohol only from monosaccharides
Fermentation characteristics Main benefits of NEER™
Enhanced fruit flavors: high production of esters and thiols without diacetyl Flavorful compounds from the specially isolated and selected Pichia kluyveri
Medium production of polysaccharides strain
Low ethanol production No propagation equipment or slant procedures required – direct inoculation
Low pH drop Frozen concept means that NEER™ is always ready when you need it

Application

Dosage 1000u (1kg) for 500hl.

Plato Aim for 8-9 Plato wort with ~10g/L monosaccharides. Alternatively opt for high gravity brewing (12-14 Plato) and dilute.

Tannic acid (Brewtan B) should be added during mashing and boiling. CO2 stripping is an alternative to remove sulfuric notes
Additions
after the fermentation step.

Fermentation 16-22°C / 61-71°F (18°C / 65°F is optimal).

pH NEER™ decreases pH only by 0.1-0.4 on average - pH adjustments are required.

NEER™ is not a vigorous fermenter. Content of tank should be mixed throughout the fermentation. Mixing speed should be set to
Mixing of fermentation
turnover the tank within 8 hours.

Oxygenation > 8-10 ppm oxygen for tanks < 25 hl. Extra oxygenation might be needed for larger tanks.

Until monosaccharides are completely consumed or 0.4% ethanol is reached (depending on rate of cooling, it takes approx. 3-5
Fermentation time
days).

Cooling As NEER™ will ferment down to at least 15°C, fast cooling is recommended.

Maturation Short maturation for protein stability only.

Centrifugation Recommended as yeast does not flocculate. Alternatively, filtration is an option.

Alcohol free beer contains residual sugars. We recommend implementation of high QC standards to prevent microbial
Bottling
contamination during bottling.

Ethyl
Ethyl acetate
acetate Isoamyl acetate

70
70 Fresh 4.0 Fresh
60
60 Aged 3.5 Aged
50
50 3.0
40
40 2.5
ppm

ppm

2.0
30
30
1.5
20
20 1.0
10
10 0.5
00 0.0
Pichia
Pichia 11 NEER™ Sacch. Pichia 1 + Sacch. Pichia 1 NEER™ Sacch. Pichia 1 + Sacch.
NEER™
Pichia kluyveri for production of non-alcoholic beer

Introduction
Due to increased consumer awareness and a desire to live healthier, the global beer market is experiencing a large increase in sales of low- (< 3.5 % ABV),
and non-alcoholic beers (< 0.5 % ABV), especially during the last 5 years. However, most non-alcoholic beers suffer from inferior organoleptic properties due to the
‘side-effects’ of the physical removal of ethanol or the application of cold-contact with regular brewers’ yeasts. We here present a TRUE brewing solution, NEER™,
for the production of full bodied, flavorful, non-alcoholic beers, based on the application of our patented Pichia kluyveri strain. NEER™ offers a low CAPEX and OPEX
alternative compared to the newer technical methods for production of non-alcoholic beers, e.g. membrane removal of ethanol. Furthermore, NEER™ is sold in a direct
pitch format, hereby circumventing the need for propagation. NEER™ is, to our knowledge, the only yeast for production of non-alcoholic beers sold in this convenient
format.

P. kluyveri isolation and characterization

A large array of P. kluyveri strains were screened based on the following criteria: Isoamyl/ethyl acetate
Ethyl
Pichia strain A

Isoamyl acetate (ppm)/ethyl acetate (ppm)

butyrate
0,20
Maltose negative strains No off-flavor production Saaz NEER™ 5,00
4,50
Cascade Carlsberg
4,00

No/very low alcohol production Tolerate hop compounds 0,15 Amarillo Stella Ethyl
3,50
3,00
2,50 Isoamyl
octanoate acetate
High level of esters Low to moderate oxygen demands Heineken
2,00
1,50
1,00
3 horses 0,50
0,10
Subsequently, the 7 best candidates were tested for their ester production Hollandia
0,00

Bavaria
capabilities in combination with 3 different hop varieties. From this experiment 0,05
(bar plot) the best P. kluyveri strain (Pk4 -> NEER™) was selected. When this Ethyl Isoamyl
strain was tested in a standard pilsner wort, it produced a beer with a positive 0,00
hexanoate alcohol
Pk1 Pk2 Pk3 Pk4 Pk5 Pk6 Pk7 S. ludwigii Data has been normalized to Carlsberg pilsner (4.6 % ABV)
flavor profile (spider web plot). Pichia kluyveri strains

From freezer to fermentor in 1 hour NEER™ concept

NEER™ is produced using Chr. Hansen’s proprietary production method which
ensures high product performance, consistency and low risk of contamination.
The NEER™ product is delivered on dry-ice as a 1 kg frozen block that after
thawing can be transferred to the fermentation vessel using the sterile
connection tube included in the package. NEER™ is highly concentrated and
1 bag (1 kg) can be used to inoculate 500 hL of wort and normally finishes
fermentation within 3-5 days. Minimal maturation of the beer is required.

Brewing process comparison

Compared to a regular brewing process, NEER™ can substitute brewers’
yeast without having to make significant changes to the process. NEER™ only
Pre-fermentation Fermentation Post-fermentation
assimilates monosaccharides and as a result some adjustments have to be made:
The fermentation tank needs to be mixed as lower level of produced CO2 limits Trad. full alc. Low/high gravity Maturation, filtering,
Propagation
fluid motion in the tank. beer fermentation bottling
The mashing regime and malt utilization needs to be tuned so the resulting Mashing,
wort has ~10 g/L monosaccharides content. Higher monosaccharide levels can NEER™ beer
lautering, Direct inoculation of Centrifugation or
be used, but then the fermentation needs to be stopped by cooling to avoid boiling, P. kluyveri filtration, bottling
whirlpooling
overshooting 0.5 % ABV or a subsequent dilution step with de-aerated water
implemented. The extend of the respiratory phase also influences the final Trad. low alc.
Propagation
Interrupted or halted Physical removal of
alcohol level. beer fermentation alcohol
Due to the residual oligosaccharides in the final beer, high QC standards or
bottle pasteurization have to be implemented. “The Pichia trial we did at our end produced some fantastic ester aromas and
really helped to kill off the awful wort character of typical N/A beer”
NEER™ has been demonstrated to be applicable for producing non-alcohol
version of almost any beer style. - Verified customer quote

Simon Carlsen†, David Spector ‡ and Sofie M.G. Saerens† For more information, please visit www.chr-hansen.com
† Department of Wine and Fermented Beverages,
Chr. Hansen A/S, Denmark,
‡ Cultures and Enzymes, Chr. Hansen A/S, USA

The information contained herein is presented in good faith and is, to the best of our knowledge and belief, true and reliable. It is offered solely for your
consideration, testing and evaluation, and is subject to change without prior and further notice unless otherwise required by law or agreed upon in writing.
There is no warranty being extended as to its accuracy, completeness, currentness, noninfringement, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. To
the best of our knowledge and belief, the product(s) mentioned herein do(es) not infringe the intellectual property rights of any third party. The product(s)
may be covered by pending or issued patents, registered or unregistered trademarks, or similar intellectual property rights. All rights reserved.