Application of Papain as a Clarifying Agent in Craft Ale Beer

Craft beer is beer produced using traditional methods with quality ingredients in small breweries, where craft brewers produce beers superior to similar industrially manufactured beers. Clarification operations are not performed during craft beer production, and substances such as papain, an enzyme extracted from green papaya latex, have been used by craft brewers to aid in this process. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of papain as an alternative in clarifying craft beer, inhibiting turbidity, and to sensorially analyze the acceptance (aroma, color, flavor, and overall impression) and purchase intention of the beers produced. For the sensory attributes aroma, flavor, color, and overall impression, the treatments consisted of 3 types of beer: craft beer with enzyme, craft beer without enzyme, and commercial beer. For the Purchase Intention variable, the treatments were craft beer with enzyme and craft beer without enzyme. The sensory attributes aroma, flavor, color, and overall impression met the assumptions of normality and homogeneity, with only the Purchase Intention variable failing to meet the assumptions. The variable that did not meet the assumptions was subjected to the non-parametric Friedman test. The use of papain as a clarifying agent allowed for a reduction in the turbidity values of the craft Ale-type beer. For the sensory tests, the craft beers did not differ from each other in the hedonic scale acceptance test for the sensory attributes aroma, flavor, color, and overall impression. When compared to commercial beer, the results were significant. For the purchase intention test, the craft beers did not differ from each other. Keywords: Enzyme. Turbidity. Sensory analysis.