How To Quality-Test Your Freshly Brewed Beer
The success of a business relies heavily on product delivery, consistency, and how customers interact with those products. The alcohol business is one of the most profitable industries because it has tasty products and delivers a unique experience to its customers.
Beer lovers have developed taste buds that know exactly how to react to certain tastes and processes, which adds some pressure on brewers. To quality-test your freshly brewed beer, you must implement monitoring processes and adjustment techniques to manipulate the results.
Brewing beer is a unique process that requires specific equipment to achieve a flawless process and has the flexibility to adjust the various steps. Stainless steel machinery is the best solution to maintain consistency, prevent materials from adding unwanted flavors, and deliver a smooth experience.
Analyze the pH
The pH is one of the main factors for brewing beer. It measures how acidic or basic a solution is depending on the taste you want to achieve in the results. The pH will vary during the beer brewing stages and change the final product's color, consistency, bitterness, and smell.
The best way to achieve a successful analysis is to measure the pH is with an electrode and a meter. These measurements use different voltages to measure cells in an electrode. This instrument will convert voltages into numbers that the electrode will display so you can check with a reference table. To lower the pH, add calcium ions, as doing so will not damage the product, helping to maintain consistent results.
Microbiological Analysis
This type of analysis consists of taking small samples and sending them to a laboratory to research and discover the existence of foreign organisms. These could appear due to inappropriate air circulation or having the wrong temperature in the fermentation tanks.
The first tests would take around 3 to 5 days to get results, but current technological advancements reduce time and cost and increase effectiveness. A rapid test can detect organisms and spoiling contaminants within 2 hours for a rapid response. To revert the damage, it is necessary to use disinfectant chemical solutions or to sterilize with heat.
Fermentation Process
The fermentation process takes the beer through different stages to reach the desired taste, but you can achieve various flavors depending on your stop stage. Fermentation creates chemical compounds that contribute to beer taste; cutting a process short or prolonging it will result in different outcomes.
When yeast and wort turn into alcohol, the process transforms the chemical structure of the liquid, which also affects the taste. The flavor will then expand by breaking compounds into smaller molecules, creating stronger new tastes.
Bitterness
Bitterness is essential to beer because it is one of the main attractions and a determinant factor that comes with a golden or a darker color. The bitterness of a beer directly relates to the quality and fermentation process, but also to ingredients like specific hops.
Adding gypsum, a chemical calcium formula, to the keg is necessary to increase bitterness after the fermentation and brewing process. When doing this, it is important to have commercial keg cleaning equipment to prevent the bitterness from transferring to future brews.
Determining how bitter you want your beer depends greatly on the type of hops you add from the beginning, which will also determine the beer’s overall quality. The quality of the hops varies based on the region, the best being from Oregon and the Western US.
Color and Shade
The beer’s shade directly relates to its taste and aroma, with light golden beers being sweeter and lighter and darker beers having a heavy bitter taste. Chemical reactions happen during the brewing process, where amino acids attach to sugar and break it down.
When these amino acids complete the process correctly, they elevate a beer’s quality and influence its color. To get the perfect taste, quality, and color, the beer must go through a specific and detailed process to ensure that the ingredients and equipment work in synergy.
Getting the right color shade is a visual test of the quality of your freshly brewed beer. Experienced brewers can tell when a process is ready just by looking at the liquid. Color and smell are two senses that help get an accurate idea of how tasty and done a beer is before pouring it.
Gas Chromatography
The brewing process oozes gases that various instruments can quantify to determine the stage and quality of the fermentation process. This is a popular technique to identify problems that could affect the taste and quality of the final product.
In this process, you take a small sample and use flame ionization and a thermal and electron detector to separate the chemical components of that sample. This process will determine the presence or absence of certain ingredients and allow you to modify and adjust the quality of the beer.
Mass Spectrometry
Breweries with craft beer will greatly benefit from mass spectrometry when compared to mass-produced beer because the process allows them to quickly pinpoint any problems with taste and quality. Mass spectrometry allows brewers to identify, characterize, and quantify the protein levels of the different beer styles.
Knowing exactly how many proteins and elements the beer must have will determine its quality when the numbers match the ideal quantity. Yeast for small breweries adds proteins that mass production misses because of the volume and quickness they develop. Proteins are essential for giving the beer unique properties and achieving optimal brewing results.
Beer Sampling
A good way to perfect the brewing process is to host a sampling party with beer connoisseurs and ask for their opinions. Craft beer has more versatility than mass-produced beer because you can add and adjust various ingredients to achieve a unique flavor and consistency.
Experimenting with new flavors with the help of hops and the fermentation process can change how you perform your regular brewing routine. Having the opinions of professionals to enhance their experience will organically increase your beer quality.
Brewers must consider various elements to have the perfect product and satisfy their clients. Working with industries that provide the best equipment for your process will greatly benefit your business and provide the best experience.
