Researchers claim that mini robots can speed up the beer brewing procedure.
Researchers have discovered that “BeerBots” – mini robots for brewing beer – can be used to speed up the brew process. The Grant Agency of the Czech Republic funded the research.
Researchers claim that by using magnetic packages of yeast, the BeerBots can speed up the fermentation process and eliminate the need for filtering the beverage.
According to
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Researchers have previously suggested that encapsulating yeast in polymer caps could reduce the risk of spoilage because it speeds up the process. To achieve this, teams created their two-mm wide BeerBot capsules using active yeast, sodium alginate, and magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles from algae. They then dripped the mixture into ferric chloride solutions. They then made one-half of the spheres poreless by exposing them to an alkaline in an electrochemical chamber.
The team of researchers reported that the yeast beads contained sugar that could be fermented and produced carbon dioxide bubbles, which propelled them upward. They also explained that when the beads reached the surface, carbon dioxide was released into the air. Then, the beads sank back down, creating a bobbing movement.
The team discovered that when used to ferment malted wort of barley, the BeerBots self-propelled transformed sugars quicker than yeast cells. The yeast capsules fell to the bottom as the sugar ran out, and the fermentation stopped. Researchers said this made it “easy” to separate yeast from the final product using a magnet rather than a filtration process that is currently required to remove yeast cells.
Researchers claim that collected BeerBots are active for three additional wort fermentation cycles.
This research may be a game changer in the beverage industry. However, many companies still use generations-old brewing techniques. It will take time to see if Beerbots can make it into breweries around the world.