Speaker
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Andres FurukawaCEO & Founder, Macken Bryggeri AB and Brewmaster & Brewing Technologist, AEB GroupAndres Furukawa is an experienced practical brewer and senior brewing technologist with all-round technical brewing knowledge. He has worked in the brewing industry for the last 22 years.
He holds a Ph.D. degree in Brewing at the International Centre for Brewing and Distilling (ICBD), Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland in 2010. He received his Brewmaster Diploma from Versuchs- und Lehranstalt für Brauerei (VLB) Technische Universität Berlin (TUB), Berlin, Germany in 2003. In 2002, he received his Bachelor of Science Diploma in Food Chemistry at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México (UNAM).
He has worked as Senior Brewing Technologist for a British process technology company commissioning, setting up, and optimising brewhouse operational procedures with focus on energy savings for mashing, cereal cooking and wort boiling technology in several breweries in Germany, United Kingdom, Ireland, United States, Belgium and Ghana.
In addition, he has worked as Brewmaster for Lemke Brauerei GmbH, Berlin, Germany, Cerveceria Cosaco, Mexico City as well as in brewing department for Cervecería Modelo S.A. de C.V. (Corona), Santa Fe Beer Factory S.A. de C.V., Mexico City. He has carried out a professional internship in production and quality assurance for Warsteiner Brauerei Haus Cramer KG, Warstein, Germany. He has also provided technical brewing consultancy for Mexican, English regional breweries. Currently Andres is the CEO & Founder of Macken Bryggeri AB and the Brewmaster & Brewing Technologist at AEB Group, a company leader in the field of biotechnology, brewing and oenology.
Furthermore, he has authored a number of publications on brewing technology issued in international brewing magazines such as Brauwelt International, Brewing and Beverage Industry International, Food Chemistry Journal, American Society of Brewing Chemists (ASBC) Journal and Proceedings of European Brewery Convention (EBC) congress.
Likewise, he has provided brewing conference talks at the Studiedag Mouterij & Brouwerij. Fermentatio-Hogeschool Gent, Belgium, the Master Brewers Association of the Americas – District Philadelphia meeting, Brau- und Maschinentechnische Arbeitstagung der VLB Berlin, and the EBC.
Aromatic Nutrients as Beer Flavour Boosters with Andres Furukawa
Aroma- and flavour-active thiols, long known for their sensory impact in wine, have been identified only recently in beer. These highly volatile aroma-active compounds are becoming more relevant, especially in craft brewing, as consumer demand for tropical aromas in hop-forward beer styles, such as West Coast and New England IPAs and modern lagers, continues to rise.
Originally identified in wine, three potent thiols are known to give tropical fruit-like aromas to beer. They exist in free and bound form in hops, often variety-linked; and to a lesser extent in malted cereals such as barley and wheat. Their release is linked to the yeast gene IRC7, which encodes the carbon-sulphur enzyme β-lyase, responsible for cleaving cysteine- and glutathione-conjugated thiol precursors and their biotransformation into aroma-active forms. Wines made from Sauvignon grapes are rich in aroma-active thiols, yet the grape itself has predominantly the bound forms; prompting brewers to add Sauvignon grape skins to the mash rather than late hop. In contrast to wine yeast, most brewing strains lack a functional IRC7 gene, leading to the development of ‘thiolized’ yeasts using gene editing. Yeast strains have also been altered with GM techniques to promote thiol expression in beer.
Building on our research on aroma-active compounds during wine production and brewing, this study focuses on enhancing aroma and flavour sustainably through complex interactions of yeast nutrition, amino acid composition, and pH in wort fermentations. The aim is to remove the need for increased hopping, use of grape-skin based aroma boosting products, and avoid GM yeast.