Alcoholic Beverages Virtual Symposium: Spirits

Join Agilent and GERSTEL for a 3-day live virtual seminar discussing how you can assure safety, authenticity, and quality of alcoholic beverages. The focus will be on sharing the latest in technology developments and capabilities, new applications, and customer stories.
Presentation 1: Use of FTIR Technology for the Analysis of Sugars and Sweeteners in the Production of Alcoholic Beverages
- Rogelio García Juárez, Pre-Sales Application Engineer – Agilent Technologies
Currently, fast, and accurate methods are required for the analysis of raw materials and various sources to produce alcoholic beverages, for the rapid identification and quantification of these materials, let's review FTIR technology for process controls, as the ideal alternative to other techniques such as HPLC.
Key Learning Objectives/What attendees will learn:
1. The use of Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Technology in applications for the alcoholic beverage industry.
2. Analysis for the identification and release of raw materials used in preparation of Spirits.
3. Quick methods to determine the concentration of sugars and sweeteners for process control.
Who Should Attend:
- Producers of alcoholic beverages, distillates, prepared liqueurs, juices, and extracts.
Presentation 2: GC-MS Techniques for the Determination of 2-Methylisoborneol and Geosmin in Finished Whiskey
- Nicole Kfoury, Applications Scientist, GERSTEL,Inc.
2-Methylisoborneol (MIB) and geosmin are naturally occurring metabolites formed by bacteria and fungi, most often in surface water sources. They have musty/earthy odors and very low odor thresholds, meaning they can be smelled at concentrations of 1-10 ppt in water. As a result, products, such as whiskey, that use contaminated water in the process may have musty, earthy odors in the finished product. Due to the complexity of the whiskey matrix and the low odor threshold of MIB and geosmin, they can be challenging to quantify accurately. This work shows that a selectable, heartcutting 1D/2D-GC-MSD is required to accurately quantify MIB and geosmin in finished whiskey.
Key Learning Objectives/What attendees will learn:
1. Overview of solid phase microextraction (SPME) versus stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE).
2. Overview of multidimensional, heartcutting GC-MS.
3. How to accurately measure the concentration of 2-methylisoborneol and geosmin in complex samples such as whiskey.
Who Should Attend:
- Analytical chemists in the food, flavor, fragrance, and beverage industries.
Presnter: Rogelio García Juárez (Pre-Sales Application Engineer, Agilent Technologies)
Rogelio García is an Applications Engineer for Molecular Spectroscopy in UV-Vis, FTIR, and Raman techniques at Agilent México and Latin America. Rogelio has a Bachelor’s Degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and a Master´s Degree in Environmental Engineering. He has worked in several developments of methods and applications in water, soil, and air, as well as in method design for the Pharmaceutical and Food industry. In this last one, he has developed an outstanding application method for alcoholic beverages such as Tequila using FTIR technology.
Presnter: Nicole Kfoury, Ph.D. (Applications Scientist, GERSTEL, Inc.)
Dr. Nicole Kfoury is an Applications Scientist at GERSTEL, Inc. in Baltimore, MD. She joined GERSTEL after receiving her Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry at Tufts University and working as a Research Scientist at the Tufts University Sensory and Science Center. She is responsible for developing methods for sample preparation and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and creating a Sensory Directed Analysis program at GERSTEL. She teaches customer training, supports pre- and post-sales opportunities, and provides analytical support to customers in a wide array of industries including food, flavor, fragrance, forensic, environmental, and chemical industries.
