BeerGuard

Many large breweries measure the levels of diacetyl and pentanedione daily to determine the perfect value for the end of fermentation in the so-called “cold block”. The values are analyzed in the laboratory using a gas chromatograph (GC) and an ECD detector. Since measurements are usually only taken once a day, it is only possible to say very imprecisely when which tank is “ripe” for bottling. In addition, this process is very time-consuming and labor-intensive.

“BeerGuard”, on the other hand, automatically measures every 20 minutes, around the clock, and determines the desired values. The “GC IMS” method used has an incredibly low detection limit of diacetyl and pentanedione of 1 ppb (parts per billion). This is absolutely unmatched in process measurement on the market.

The system consists of a “Tank Sampling Module” (TSM), where beer samples are taken from up to 16 fermentation tanks per TSM module. Double-seat valves prevent cross-contamination between fermentation tanks. In the next station, degassing and filtering takes place. In the “transition module” a conversion to diacetyl takes place, after which the exact values of diacetyl and pentanedione are determined in the GC-IMS to determine the end point of the fermentation.

The aim is to use a “BeerGuard” to automatically measure up to 64 fermentation tanks during the ongoing process. All values are clearly displayed in tables and diagrams on displays. This complete automation of quality control in the cold block achieves significantly higher productivity. For the brewery, the fermentation time is reduced enormously and the output is clearly increased. By “moving away from sample analysis” towards automated measurement in the process, personnel are also saved and all measured values are almost error-free.