The analysis of wort aroma compounds detects medium to low volatility compounds present in high concentrations. These substances are indicators, in part, for the amount of thermal stress or the amount of evaporation during wort boiling.
This method is suitable for the determination of steam-volatile aroma compounds in wort.
Volatile aroma compounds are driven out of the sample through steam distillation. The ethanol distillate is adjusted to be alkaline and saturated with NaCl. The extraction of the aroma compounds is performed by shaking out with dichloromethane and the phases separated by centrifuging. The organic phase is further concentrated in a stream of nitrogen gas. An ammonia solution is added to remove the acids, because the acids would co-elute, thus preventing quantification of the target substances.