Researchers have suggested that the brewing process can be speeded up with mini beer-making robots.

With the help of the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, researchers have discovered how to speed up the brewing processes using mini-robots for making beer, dubbed “BeerBots.”

The BeerBots comprise self-propelled, magnetic packs of yeast. The researchers believe this will help the fermentation process go faster and eliminate the need for filtering the liquid.

As per Homebrewit, the beer usually takes four and eight weeks to make. However, the researchers were looking to create self-propelled bots that would accelerate the process of fermentation and make it easier to separate yeast from the finished beer.

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Researchers have previously suggested that encapsulating yeast into polymer capsules can lower the chances of spoilage by speeding up the process. With this in mind, teams developed their two-millimeter-wide BeerBot capsules by mixing active yeast magnetized iron oxide nanoparticles and sodium alginate, a component of algae, and then dripping it into a ferric chlorine solution. Then, they made one porous half, by exposure in an alkaline-based solution within Electrochemical Cell.

The researchers reported that yeast-containing beads could make sugar and create carbon dioxide bubbles, which pushed them upwards. Furthermore, they said that once the beads came close to the surface, they released carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and then fell back, resulting in an upward motion.

Utilized to ferment malted barley, the researchers observed that self-propulsion BeerBots transformed sugars more quickly than free yeast cells. When the sugar was consumed, and fermentation stopped,, the yeast-containing capsules were lowered at the flask’s base. Researchers said the process “made it easy” to remove the yeast from the finished product using a magnet instead of using the required filtration process to eliminate yeast cells.

Furthermore, The researchers have also claimed that BeerBots were alive for three further fermenting cycles of wort.

While this study could be a significant hit in the beverages industry, Many companies rely on the same brewing techniques that have been refined over generations. It will be interesting to see the extent to which Beerbots can enter the brewing industry around the globe.