Bakhar, the Indian Rice Beer Ferment

American Brewers’ Review – May, 1916

Bakhar, the Indian Rice Beer Ferment

Pure Products, 12, 4.

According to C.M. Hutchinson and C.S. Ram-Ayyar (Mem. Dept. Agri. India, Bact. Ser., 1,137-68, 1915), an investigation was conducted to ascertain whether the manufacture of bakhar, an artificially prepared ferment, can be advantageously controlled the government, and if so, in what manner.  The kind of micro-organisms and their relative physiological activities, which reference to their saccharifying power and alcoholic production in the various samples of bakhar, were determined.  The experiments show that variations in quality of bakhar, accompanied by fermentation failures, are not so much to be attributed to absence of efficient amylo-ferments as to that of good types of Saccharomyces.  Better results were obtained when the diastase secreted by Aspergillus was destroyed by heating before the addition of yeast, the action of which is seriously interfered with by the presence of any considerable amount of this enzyme in the sugar solution to be fermented.  The activity of the yeast is also increased by aeration of the liquid.