The aim of this study was to determine the amount of malt and adjunct in Pilsen Brazilian commercial beer, and to detect likely adulteration in its composition, based on the Brazilian legislation. The methodology applied was the isotopic analysis which used carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes. One hundred sixty-one beer samples from seventeen Brazilian states were analyzed. It was concluded that 95.6% used malt and adjunct (corn or sugarcane derived: 91.3% and rice derived: 4.3%) in their formula and 4.3% were "pure malt" beer. Among the analyzed samples 3.7% were beers with less than 50% of malt in their formula (adulterated), 28.6% of them were in doubtful level for any adjunct and 67.7% contained malt in the legal established limit.
Beer; pilsen; stable isotopes; IRMS; adulteration
