Program Book - Master Brewers Association of the Americas

P-72
Evaluation of optical O 2 measurement compared with the
electro-chemical O 2 measuring system
ROY JOHNSON (1), Frank Verkoelen (2)
(1) Haffmans North America, Rockford, IL; (2) Haffmans BV, Venlo,
The Netherlands
The determination of O 2 concentration plays an important role
in the different stages of beer production. The research center at
Weihenstephan (Technical University Munich) investigated the
new optical O 2 measurement and compared it with the traditional
electro-chemical O 2 measuring system. Special attention was paid to
the testing of the optical O 2 measurement’s accuracy and precision.
The results were compared with the results of accredited electrochemical
O 2 measurement in five different tests. The paper will
present information on the test facility and procedure, discuss the
test results, and present a conclusion that confirms that the optical
O 2 measurement is well suited for the determination of O 2 content
in the brewing and soft drinks industries. Compared to the electrochemical
O 2 measurement, the optical O 2 measurement provides
faster response times and does not require frequent calibration.
Roy Johnson began his career with Miller Brewing Company at
the Fulton, NY, brewery in 1983 as a QA packaging analyst. He
transferred to Miller’s Ft. Worth, TX, brewery as a QA packaging/
product supervisor in 1987. In 1990, Roy moved into the Ft. Worth
Brewing Department, where he worked in the brewing, fermentation,
aging, and package release areas as a brewing supervisor. Roy was
later transferred to Miller’s Trenton, OH, brewery in 1994, where he
was a brewing area team manager until 1995. In 1995, Roy accepted
a position with The PQ Corporation as a national account manager
handling beer stabilization sales to key brewing accounts in North
America. Early in 2006, Roy joined Haffmans North America as
their sales manager for quality control instrumentation and units.
Roy graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 1982 with a
B.S. degree in food science and a business emphasis. He obtained a
MBA from the University of Texas in Arlington in 1994. Roy is active
in MBAA as the current president of District Cincinnati. He is also
the current MBAA Membership Committee chair and the Board of
Governors representative for District Cincinnati.
102
P-73
Matrix foaming potential—A useful tool for foamability
prediction
PETR KOSIN (1), Jan Savel (1), Adam Broz (1)
(1) Budweiser Budvar N.C., Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
There are quality parameters that can be easily evaluated by any
customer and that should be crucial for a brewmaster to take
care about. Foamability is one of them. As with all other quality
parameters, brewers need a tool to measure foamability under
standard conditions and have values concerning their foam as
soon as possible. It is best to know foamability even before a beer
is finished. This can be done by measuring its matrix foaming
potential (MFP). The matrix for these measurements can be all
the intermediate products in a brewery production line. These
measurements come from the idea that the foaming potential
of beer is hidden in its raw materials and process management.
Measurement of MFP is then a useful tool for process control and
optimization. Another task for MFP measurements is searching
for foam-destructive operations over the production line and
eliminating them. For MFP measurements a foamability meter
(1-CUBE, Czech Republic) is used. A sample of sweet wort, hopped
wort, fermenting wort, green beer or beer is degassed (if necessary),
stirred with an injection of foaming gas (air, nitrogen, carbon
dioxide or mixture of these), and standardized foam is generated.
The height of the head is then measured in time, and the time
needed to reach a given height is recorded. MFP results from beer
measurements show good correlation with other foam stability
measurements (NIBEM) and with foam behavior in a customer’s
glass. MFP values from intermediate products also show satisfactory
correlation with the foaming potential of finished beer.
Petr Kosin received an engineering (M.S. equivalent) degree in
brewing and malting at the Institute of Chemical Technology
Prague, Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology, Department
of Fermentation Chemistry and Bioengineering, Prague, Czech
Republic, in 2006. He worked on his diploma thesis, “Application
of Modern Methods for Yeast Activity Control in Brewery,” at
Budweiser Budvar, N.C. in Ceske Budejovice. He has been working
in research and development at Budweiser Budvar, N.C. since his
graduation. He also has been studying for his Ph.D. degree at the
Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague, Czech Republic, since
2007. His dissertation deals with customer perception of beer quality
parameters.