Beer Analysis Applications Notebook - Solutions for the Complete Brewing Process

Importance of the topic

Beer is one of the world’s most consumed beverages and must meet strict quality, flavor, safety and regulatory standards throughout its production and shelf life. Reliable analytical techniques are essential to monitor raw materials, brewing parameters and final product attributes rapidly and accurately to avoid off-flavors, spoilage, batch inconsistencies and costly recalls.

Objectives and Overview

This document reviews a suite of integrated analytical methods tailored for brewing applications. The goal is to demonstrate how discrete photometry, gas chromatography (GC/GC-MS), ion chromatography (IC) and liquid chromatography (LC) can be combined to provide:

• Rapid, high-throughput monitoring of key quality attributes (bitterness, color, SO₂, phenolics, amino nitrogen, beta-glucan)
• Selective measurement of trace contaminants (nitrosamines, diketones) and process-critical metabolites
• Advanced profiling of carbohydrates, organic acids, ions and polyphenols for process control, product stability and authenticity

Použitá metodika a instrumentace

Four main analytical approaches are presented:

• Discrete photometry: Fully automated colorimetric and enzymatic assays for bitterness, SO₂, free amino nitrogen (FAN), beta-glucan, total polyphenols and beer color in a single benchtop analyzer.
• GC and GC-MS/MS: Headspace GC with ECD for vicinal diketones; triple quadrupole GC-MS/MS for nitrosamines at sub-ppb levels.
• Ion chromatography: High-pressure and reagent-free IC for inorganic anions and cations, organic acids, carbohydrates, alcohols, biogenic amines and water quality parameters.
• Liquid chromatography: HPLC and UHPLC methods with UV, diode-array, electrochemical or CoulArray detection for targeted and untargeted profiling of polyphenols, bitter acids, isohumulones and metabolomic fingerprints.

Použitá instrumentace

Key instruments and consumables include:

• Gallery™ Plus Beermaster discrete photometric analyzer
• Thermo Scientific TriPlus 300 and TriPlus RSH headspace autosamplers
• Thermo Scientific TRACE 1310 GC, TSQ 8000 triple quadrupole GC-MS/MS
• Dionex ICS-5000+ and ICS-4000 RFIC HPIC systems with CarboPac, IonPac and CarboPac microbore & capillary columns
• Thermo Scientific UltiMate 3000 and Vanquish UHPLC systems with VWD-3400RS, CoulArray and pulsed amperometric detectors
• Hypersil GOLD and Acclaim 120 reversed-phase columns, On-Line SPE integration kits

Main results and Discussion

• Discrete photometry methods achieved up to 350 tests/hour, with linear response ranges suited to beer matrices, reproducibility CV <2 % and minimal sample preparation.
• Headspace GC-ECD enabled separation of diacetyl and pentanedione without cryogenics, while GC-MS/MS delivered sub-ppb detection of nitrosamines with R² >0.99.
• RFIC-MS suppressed conductivity IC resolved up to 16 organic acids, major ions, carbohydrates and biogenic amines in single runs, with high peak capacity and low detection limits.
• LC-EC and LC-UV methods separated and quantified individual cis/trans isomers of isohumulones in under 10 min, and metabolomic PCA plots differentiated beer styles based on complex polyphenol profiles.

Benefits and Practical Applications

• Comprehensive end-to-end quality control covering raw materials, fermentation progress, stability and final beer attributes.
• Reduced analysis time, labor and solvent use through automation, on-line SPE and reagent-free IC.
• High selectivity for trace contaminants and off-flavor compounds, enhancing safety and shelf-life prediction.
• Multianalyte workflows in a single platform improve throughput and data consistency for QA/QC and R&D.

Future Trends and Possible Applications

Advanced metabolomics and chemometric approaches will further enable authentication of beer origin and detection of adulteration. Integration with real-time process analytics (PAT) and miniaturized portable systems may allow in-line monitoring of fermentation bioreactors. Emerging detector technologies (e.g., high-resolution MS, multi-electrode arrays) will expand the detectable compound space and enhance sensitivity for ultra-trace contaminants.

Conclusion

The combination of automated discrete photometry, GC/GC-MS, IC and LC techniques provides a robust, versatile toolkit for modern breweries to ensure consistent quality, flavor integrity and regulatory compliance. By adopting these complementary methods and leveraging advanced instrumentation, brewers can optimize processes, reduce waste and maintain a competitive edge.

References

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