Beer should ONLY be beer. Application Summary Compendium

Beer Analytical Techniques Compendium

Significance of Topic
Beer production relies on precise control of multiple chemical constituents to ensure flavor, stability, safety and compliance with regulatory standards. A single analytical platform rarely covers the diverse targets—from small organic acids to high-molecular-weight polysaccharides, volatile compounds, trace elements and potential toxins. Integrating rapid, robust and high-throughput methods into the brewery workflow enhances quality assurance, reduces costs and accelerates decision-making.

Objectives and Overview

• Provide an integrated survey of modern analytical methods applied to beer and wort.
• Highlight techniques for key analyte classes: carbohydrates, alcohols, acids, bitterness compounds, haze-forming polysaccharides, nitrogenous constituents and contaminants.
• Compare performance, sample preparation needs, throughput and detection limits.

Methodology and Instrumentation

• Ion Chromatography (IC) with pulsed amperometric and conductivity detection for simultaneous profiling of carbohydrates, alcohols, organic/inorganic anions and cations using a Dionex ICS-5000+ system.
• Automated enzymatic photometric assays on discrete analyzers (Arena 20XT, Gallery series) for acetaldehyde, β-glucan and Free Amino Nitrogen (NOPA) determination with ready-to-use reagents.
• FT-NIR spectroscopy (Antaris II) coupled with PLS chemometric models to predict alcohol content, original gravity and extracts within 20 s without sample prep.
• HPLC-UV/EC on UltiMate 3000 platforms for isohumulones, chalconoids, bitter acids, polyphenols and proanthocyanidins using Hypersil GOLD and Acclaim C18 columns alongside on-line SPE.
• GC-MS/MS (TRACE 1310 GC, TSQ 8000) for nitrosamines at sub-ppb levels following AOAC extraction protocols and AutoSRM workflow.
• UHPLC-HRAM (Accela UHPLC, Orbitrap) for multi-mycotoxin screening in beer with a Hypersil GOLD aQ column and simple protein precipitation.
  
• ICP-OES (iCAP 7200) for major elements and trace contaminants (As, Cd, Pb, etc.) using a silicone antifoam and Qtegra ISDS food-safety templates.

Main Results and Discussion

• IC condensed multiple analyses into a single run with equivalent or improved performance versus standalone methods.
• Enzymatic assays demonstrated high correlation with reference chromatographic methods (r > 0.99) and reproducibility ≤ 2% CV, with minimal reagent prep.
• FT-NIR PLS models achieved prediction errors < 0.2% (v/v) for alcohol and < 0.5 °P for gravity parameters.
• Chromatographic methods yielded specific quantitation of bitterness-related isomers in 10 min, eliminating offline cleanup.
• GC-MS/MS delivered low-ppt sensitivity for nitrosamines with high specificity.
• UHPLC-Orbitrap accurately detected >32 mycotoxins in a single run with simple sample treatment.
• ICP-OES enabled direct analysis of beer with single-drop antifoam, achieving low-ppb detection of contaminants.

Benefits and Practical Applications

• Multi-analyte platforms reduce instrument footprint and capital costs.
• Automated discrete analyzers allow walk-away operation and simultaneous multi-parameter assays on one sample.
• Rapid spectroscopic screening accelerates online quality control.
• High-resolution MS methods enhance confidence in food safety compliance.
• Elimination of labor-intensive cleanup and lengthy digestions improves throughput.

Future Trends and Applications

• Integration of hyphenated techniques (LC–MS/MS, IC–MS) for deeper metabolomic profiling.
• Advances in machine-learning for predictive quality models from spectral fingerprints.
• Miniaturized and portable spectrometers for in-line process control.
• Expanded multiplex assays for emerging contaminants and bioactive compounds.

Conclusion
Modern beer analytics demand a toolbox of complementary techniques. Employing a combination of IC, enzymatic photometry, spectroscopic screening, chromatographic separation and mass spectrometric detection enables comprehensive monitoring of beer composition and safety. These approaches streamline operations, deliver high data quality and support innovation in brewing science.

Reference
Thermo Fisher Scientific Application Summary Compendium: Beer Testing, 2016