Probiotics are added to many foods to give them that edge that many healthy-conscious consumers seek nowadays. Now beer has been the latest product to receive the upgrade thanks to researchers from the National University of Singapore, who have created a sour probiotic beer which contains a strain which they claim is able to help regulate the body’s immune system and neutralise toxins.
The idea came from Alcine Chan, a 22 years old fourth year student who noticed how people who are lactose intolerant can’t enjoy most probiotic drinks in the market. As reported by The Strait Times of Singapore, she also noted how many fermented products are full of benefitial bacteria, so it made sense to try and develop a beer with probiotics.
“Developing sufficient counts of live probiotics in beer is a challenging feat as beers contain hop acids that prevent the growth and survival of probiotics.”
The resulting beer contains just 3.5% ABV and a 100 ml serve has over one billion probiotics, making it enough to fulfill the recommended intake per serving by the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics. The chosen strain, Lactobacillus paracasei L26, is believed to be helpful in sustaining a healthy gut.
It took Chan nine months to perfect her idea, and the beer itself takes about a month to brew. The creation has been patented and it has been reported that a Japanese company has already expressed interest in this innovation.
With gut-health related diets becoming a growing trend, the idea arrived with good timing, and while research on the actual benefits of probiotics is still ongoing, it’d be interesting to see how a beer enriched with probiotics performs with the hop-loving drinkers out there.