Minerals in beer

The principal ions in beer are the cations – calcium, magnesium,
sodium, and potassium – and the anions – sulfate,
nitrate, phosphate, chlorides, and silicate. The minor ions are
iron, copper, zinc and manganese. Cereals, water, hops and
adjuncts are the main sources of the minerals present in beer,
while in yeast, industrial processing and the containers contribute
to a lesser extent. The mineral content of the brewing
water is particularly important for the brewing process and
hence for the quality and fl avor of the fi nal beer. In beer most
of the minerals originate from the barley. About 75% derives
from the malt, while the remaining 25% originates from the
water. The mineral composition of the malt depends on the
variety, place where it was grown, atmospheric condition,
growing techniques, harvesting, storage, and malting system.
Hops contribute a negligible amount of the minerals in beer
because of the small quantities used (200 g to produce 100 l
beer). However hops make a notable contribution of nitrate
to the beer wort. In many countries a part of the malt can be
substituted with other cereals like maize grits and rice. These
cereal matrices normally contain fewer minerals than malt
and so the metal level is less than an all-malt wort. The large
amount of minerals from the raw materials decreases during
the brewing process due to some minerals being removed
through precipitations.