Selection of beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria and induction of their ability to grow in beer

Abstract

There are significant differences between lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus spp., Pediococcus spp., Leuconostoc spp., Lactococcus spp.) in their resistance to hopderived constituents of beer. Resistance to such compounds is a stable character, both phenotypically and genetically, associated only with lactic acid bacteria capable of spoiling beer. Such bacteria can be induced to grow in beer if they are first grown in the presence of a sub‐inhibitory concentration of isohumulone.