In a groundbreaking shift poised to redefine brewing conventions, researchers Christian Schubert and Scott Lafontaine have unveiled compelling evidence that milled rice can significantly enhance the production and sensory qualities of nonalcoholic beer. Their collaborative work, spanning institutions in Germany and the United States, challenges long-held brewing prejudices and opens the door for innovative, efficient, and sustainable brewing practices using rice as a primary adjunct. This newfound perspective is especially timely given Arkansas’s legislative push to incentivize the use of locally grown rice in alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages.
Schubert, a visiting postdoctoral scientist from the esteemed Research Institute for Raw Materials and Beverage Analysis (VLB) in Berlin, partnered with Lafontaine, an assistant professor of food chemistry at the University of Arkansas’s Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, to conduct meticulous studies delving into rice’s molecular and fermentable properties. Their research illuminates how integrating rice into brewing not only influences flavor complexity but also enhances the extract yield—the measure of fermentable sugars derived during the mashing process—resulting in economic and sensory advantages.
A driving factor behind this inquiry is the critical distinction between rice cultivars bred for traditional culinary purposes versus those optimally suited for brewing applications. Contemporary breeding programs, like those at the USDA, aim to maximize head rice yield to improve whole kernel recovery for food markets, while international efforts focus on developing low-glycemic varieties with higher amylose content and elevated gelatinization temperatures. However, these characteristics run counter to what brewers need for optimal starch conversion and fermentability, prompting LaFontaine’s call for intentional sourcing and collaboration between brewers and rice breeders to maintain access to rice varieties aligned with brewing performance.
The cultural context of this innovation is equally significant. Long-standing European traditions, particularly the German Reinheitsgebot, or “Beer Purity Law” of 1516, rigidly restricted beer ingredients to water, hops, and malted barley, leaving little room for adjunct experimentation like rice. This has fostered a cultural bias against adjuncts, often dismissing rice as a bland filler or worryingly inferior ingredient. Yet, the U.S. brewing landscape offers a more flexible regulatory environment, facilitating exploration into the nuanced functional and sensory benefits rice can bring, including subtle alterations to flavor profiles and fermentation behavior.
Schubert and Lafontaine’s first study takes aim at crafting nonalcoholic beer—a segment ripe with growth potential given increasing consumer health consciousness and regulatory advisories against alcohol consumption. They employed Saccharomycodes ludwigii, a non-Saccharomyces yeast strain incapable of fermenting maltose, to carefully control alcohol production, ensuring the final product contains less than 0.5% alcohol by volume as per U.S. standards. Within this framework, they investigated how incorporating milled rice affected fermentation dynamics, flavor development, and shelf stability, with rice’s lower natural aldehyde content playing a pivotal role in reducing off-flavors common in nonalcoholic beers.
Results from sensory panels conducted both in Arkansas and Germany revealed intriguing regional taste preferences. Arkansas tasters favored formulations with 30% rice and 70% malted barley, appreciating the balance of traditional malt character and rice-enhanced notes. Conversely, German participants leaned towards malt-dominant blends, highlighting cultural palate differences. At the heart of these flavor distinctions were chemical components such as 3-methyl-1-butanol, a higher alcohol molecule linked to positive mouthfeel and creaminess, which increased with higher rice content without pushing alcohol levels beyond legal limits. This not only refines the sensory profile but also accelerates fermentation thanks to rice’s abundance of simple sugars like glucose and fructose.
Complementing this sensory investigation, a second study spearheaded by food science master’s candidate Matthew Aitkens scrutinized 74 rice cultivars to assess their extract potential during brewing. They found significant variation among cultivars in terms of fermentable sugar release, with lower amylose content correlating with higher extract yields. Interestingly, varieties that cracked more easily during milling facilitated improved starch accessibility, underscoring the importance of physical grain properties alongside chemical composition. These insights offer brewers a roadmap to select rice types that maximize brew house efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
Addressing a common technical misconception, Lafontaine notes that not all rice varieties possess high gelatinization temperatures, which refer to the heat required to break down starch granules for fermentation. Certain rice cultivars display gelatinization points below 65°C (149°F), potentially lowering energy consumption during mashing and making rice more viable for craft brewers mindful of sustainability and production costs. This revelation revolutionizes the concept of rice as a rigid adjunct, instead positioning it as a dynamic ingredient capable of enhancing brewing innovation.
The practical implications of substituting rice in brewing extend beyond flavor and efficiency. Reduced raw material needs from higher extract yields mean less waste, a leaner carbon footprint, and more sustainable production processes. Given Arkansas’s status as the top rice producer in the United States—responsible for approximately 50% of national rice output—this research dovetails with economic incentives embedded in House Bill 1491, which supports the integration of Arkansas-grown rice into beverage manufacturing chains, fostering regional agricultural and industrial synergy.
Beyond technical achievements, the pairing of historical brewing tradition with modern innovation embodies a paradigm shift in beverage science. Schubert and Lafontaine’s combined expertise bridges the gap between established European brewing orthodoxy and the dynamic, exploratory ethos prevalent in American craft brewing. Their work highlights how embracing adjunct diversity, especially when informed by targeted cultivar selection and chemical understanding, can push the boundaries of beer production while preserving quality and consumer appeal.
As the global market for nonalcoholic beer expands—with Germany already seeing 5% market share and U.S. figures poised to rise significantly due to shifting consumer health priorities—the studies underscore rice’s untapped potential to meet demands for flavorful, low-alcohol alternatives. The integration of rice not only aligns with health trends but also offers brewers technical levers to control fermentation kinetics, sensory profiles, and product stability proactively.
Through a lens of sustainability, flavor complexity, and production efficiency, Schubert and Lafontaine’s research repositions milled rice from a misunderstood adjunct to a critical innovation enabler. Their work calls on the brewing industry to reevaluate resource sourcing strategies, embrace cultivar-specific brewing practices, and collaborate closely with agricultural breeders to sustain access to optimized rice varieties that enhance overall brewing performance.
In conclusion, the union of food science precision, agronomic insight, and brewing artistry showcased in these studies heralds a new chapter for rice in beer production. The evidence is clear: far from being a mere cheap filler, rice, when judiciously selected and incorporated, can enhance extract yields, improve sensory outcomes, and accelerate fermentation in nonalcoholic beers. This challenges entrenched notions and invites the brewing community worldwide to tap into rice’s latent potential, promoting innovation, efficiency, and sustainability for the future of brewing.
Subject of Research: The role of milled rice in improving extract yield and sensory quality in nonalcoholic beer production.
Article Title: Investigating the Incorporation of Milled Rice in Brewing Non-Alcoholic Beer to Enhance Sensory Quality
News Publication Date: 17 June 2025
Web References:
- Arkansas House Bill 1491: https://arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/Detail?id=hb1491&ddBienniumSession=2025%2F2025R
- International Rice Research Institute news: https://www.irri.org/news-and-events/news/irri-reveals-scientific-breakthrough-low-and-ultra-low-glycemic-index-rice
- U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory on alcohol and cancer: https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/reports-and-publications/alcohol-cancer/index.html
- Beer definition by TTB: https://www.ttb.gov/regulated-commodities/beverage-alcohol/beer/beer-and-malt-beverage-definitions
- University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture: https://aaes.uada.edu/
References:
- Schubert, C., Lafontaine, S., & Rettberg, N. (2025). Investigating the Incorporation of Milled Rice in Brewing Non-Alcoholic Beer to Enhance Sensory Quality. International Journal of Food Properties. DOI: 10.1080/10942912.2025.2520907
- Aitkens, M., Lafontaine, S., Schubert, C., et al. (2025). Unveiling Cultivar and Agricultural Factors Influencing Extract Yield from Milled Rice. Journal of the American Society of Brewing Chemists. DOI: 10.1080/03610470.2025.2499768
Image Credits: U of A System Division of Agriculture photo by Paden Johnson
Keywords: Applied sciences and engineering, Food science, Beverages, Alcoholic beverages, Agriculture, Agronomy, Crop science, Crops, Plants, Food crops, Natural resources management, Sustainable agriculture
