Spent grains – a new support for brewing yeast immobilisation

A novel carrier obtained from spent grains, a brewing by-product, was used for brewing yeast immobilisation in a continuous bubble-column reactor. The multiple-layer cell adhesion to the carrier particles resulted in a maximum cell load of 430 mg dry cell g−1 dry carrier (d.c.). After 120 h of reactor operation, the cell load of DEAE-modified carrier was below 40 mg dry cell g−1 d.c. while the values for non-modified carrier reached at least 100 mg dry cell g−1 d.c. The changes in substrate composition on the rate of yeast attachment and on its stability were also studied.