There was a decrease in dissolved solids during the beer preparations due to use of the sugars by fermenting microbes. Residual dissolved solids ranged from 2.94 to 3.56% (w/v) and from 6.59 to 7.91% (w/v) during preparation of the normal and HG beers respectively (Table 4). Initial wort dissolved solid contents were in the ranges of 4.80–6.67% (w/v) and 16.56–17.24% (w/v) for the normal and HG beers, respectively. The residual dissolved solids content in the
Zimbabwean industrial opaque beer is about 3.6% (w/v), which is lower than the levels obtained in the HG beers. High quantities of residual dissolved solids are undesirable as they can lead to production of a sweet beer. Further research is, therefore, necessary to determine the optimum processing parameters to attain more efficient utilisation of the sugars under HG
fermentation conditions.