Monitoring the beer brewing process is critical to producing a consistent product. Fermentation occurs when yeast consumes fermentable sugars and produces alcohol. The largest fraction of these fermentable sugars is typically maltose. Other common fermentable sugars in beer include maltotriose and glucose, among the other less common sugars. The goal of this research is to develop a robust Infrared (IR) Spectroscopy analytical method to track the amount of fermentable sugars during the fermentation process. An analytical method based on IR is an affordable method for microbreweries using currently available portable IR probes and instrumentation.<br/>Initial research has concentrated on confirming the existence of C-C stretching bands in the Middle Infrared (MIR) range from 1100-1000 cm<sup>–1</sup>. This range was chosen based on prior research, and maltose showed strong absorbance bands in this range. Based on these results a calibration curve was generated by making maltose standards through serial dilutions and integrating the IR absorbance peaks for these standards. The peak area versus concentration plot showed a linear correlation in absorbance vs concentration. This proposed research will investigate the ability to quantify other fermentable sugars in the fermentation process, and investigate if other components in the fermentation process can interfere with the quantification of the fermentable sugars and how to mitigate these interferences.

Investigation of analytical methods for measuring fermentable sugars in beer fermentation

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