WINNIPEG, MB – A group of enterprising science professors and students have a vat of unusual mash fermenting in their University of Winnipeg lab: gluten-free near-beer made entirely with Manitoba-grown corn, plus a pinch of hops.
“The project started when I read about a Japanese firm buying pea protein from a Manitoban company to add to near-beer,” says Dr. Paul Holloway, Associate Professor, Biology. “While most large breweries make a gluten-free beer, we sampled a few (for research purposes) and thought that we could do better.”
Most gluten-free beers are made using sorghum, which leaves an after-taste. Manitoba has fields of corn, so Holloway approached the Manitoba Corn Growers Association about a potential partnership. That led to funding for a summer student position in 2016.
Enter Dr. Jamie Galka ,Instructor, Chemistry, and an amateur brewer. “Making beer involves bio-chemical processes, it is real hands-on science that our students get to experiment with,” he says. Making beer from scratch also exposes students to highly technical instruments in the lab.
![Alwyn Go, Amanda Moodie, Kimber Munford - photo supplied](https://news.uwinnipeg.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Alwyn-Go-Amanda-Moodie-Kimber-Munford-.jpg)
Alwyn Go, Amanda Moodie, Kimber Munford – photo supplied
For fourth year biology student Amanda Moodie, it’s been a real learning experience. “I had no idea what went into making beer. I have a relative with Celiac disease and he wants a good gluten-free beer, so I was curious to see where this could go.” Since most beer recipes involve barley, the students had to invent their own corn roasting formula through trial and error.
![Corn near beer - photo supplied](https://news.uwinnipeg.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Corn-near-beer-photo-supplied.jpg)
Corn near beer – photo supplied
“We now have a fairly light corn near-beer, which we just trialed on the Biology Students’ Association. We have no shortage of taste-testers,” says Galka. “Our goal is to refine the taste and colour and produce a near-beer with about 5% alcohol, less strong than most gluten-free ones currently in stores.”
Corn is an under-utilized crop and gluten-free is one of the fastest growing segments in the food market. “It is possible this near-beer could be commercially available within a year or two,” says Holloway.
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MEDIA CONTACT
Diane Poulin, Senior Communications Specialist, The University of Winnipeg
P: 204.988.7135, E: d.poulin@uwinnipeg.ca