Effects of progressive freeze concentration on craft beer: Volatile compounds, sensory profile, and physicochemical characteristics

Craft beers are becoming increasingly popular due to their developed and complex flavours, and there is a potential market for developing concentrated products; thus, freeze concentration can exploit this opportunity. In this work, the changes in physicochemical properties, volatile organic compounds, and sensory profiles of three craft beers (Witbier, Bitter, and Porter) after applying progressive stirred freeze concentration (PSFC) were evaluated, both on the concentrated liquid fraction and the ice fraction. After freeze concentration, increasing the concentration of all physicochemical characteristics in the three beers was possible. It was also possible to preserve the distribution of the volatile components in the liquid fractions and change it in the ice fractions. Significant differences were found in the sensory analysis of the concentrated liquid and the recovered ice fractions, and they were associated with the changes in the volatiles and the physicochemical properties. PSFC presents an opportunity to develop new beer products since both fractions show the potential to be commercialized.