Kvasny Prum. 2018; 64(4): 161-166 | DOI: 10.18832/kp201824

Microbiology of brewery production - bacteria of the order EnterobacteralesPeer-reviewed article

Dagmar MATOULKOVÁ¹, Eva VONTROBOVÁ², Martina BROŽOVÁ¹, Petra KUBIZNIAKOVÁ¹

¹ Department of Microbiology, Research Institute of Brewing and Malting, Lípová 15, 120 44 Praha 2, Czech Republic Mikrobiologické oddělení, Výzkumný ústav pivovarský a sladařský, a.s., Lípová 15, 120 44 Praha 2

² Institute of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic Ústav experimentální biologie, Přírodovědecká fakulta, Masarykova Univerzita

The Enterobacterales order contains 7 families with more than 40 bacterial genera which are isolated from various types of environment. The genera Shimwellia, Obesumbacterium, Rahnella, Citrobacter, Klebsiella, Raoultella, Serratia and Enterobacter are often found in the beer brewing process. The ability of these bacteria to grow and multiply in the finished beer is minimal. The bacteria occur primarily as contamination of yeast. They are harmful because these bacteria produce sensory undesirable substances (e.g. dimethylsulfide, diacetyl, acetoin) at the beginning of the main fermentation and get into the finished beer. Some species are involved in the formation of N-nitrosamines harmful for health. Here we present an overview of the basic morphological and physiological properties of these bacteria and describe their importance from the point of view of harmfulness in the beer brewing process.

Keywords: enterobacteria, Klebsiella, contamination of wort, Obesumbacterium, N-nitrosamines, Rahnella, Enterobacter

Received: June 2, 2018; Accepted: June 26, 2018; Published: August 15, 2018