Valid for all non-turbid beers
By incrementally adding increasing amounts of a saturated ammonium sulfate solution to beer, haze appears as a result of protein precipitation. The amount of the ammonium sulfate solution necessary to produce haze is directly proportional to the stability of the beer. The ammonium sulfate precipitation value expresses the ml of saturated ammonium sulfate solution that must be added to 100 ml of beer in order to produce a barely perceptible opalescence.
Barley intended for the production of malt is evaluated with regard to pre-germination.
Visible pre-germination is evident at the rootlet and is therefore grounds for rejecting a barley lot. However, after the barley is cleaned and the rootlets are removed, the so-called “hidden pre-germination” can be made visible using the staining methods described below.
Kernels suspected of having pre-germinated are boiled for ½−1 min in a 20 % solution of copper sulfate, allowed to remain for 30 min in the hot solution and are subsequently rinsed with water. The acrospire is stained green, making it clearly visible.
This analysis is suitable for determining the sulfate content of beer, wort, water, NAB and fruit juice.
Sulfate ions are precipitated with barium ions in the form of barium sulfate and determined gravimetrically.
Water intended for use as an ingredient in the production of beer (brewing liquor) or other foods
Ammonium ions react at a pH of approx. 12.6 with hypochlorite ions and salicylate ions in the presence of sodium nitroprusside, which serves to catalyze the reaction, to form a green color (indophenol blue).
The method describes how to determine the sulfate content of water through precipitation.
Barium chloride sulfate is precipitated as coarse crystalline barium sulfate. The precipitate is determined gravimetrically:
SO42- + Ba2+ → BaSO4
This method describes how to determine the sulfate content in water by cation exchange.
A water sample is run through an ion exchanger in which all of the cations are replaced with hydrogen ions. The sulfate is determined through titration in the presence of a previously prepared barium chloride solution, of which a known amount in excess of that required is added in advance. The quantity is measured by complexometric titration. The difference between the initial concentration of barium chloride and the amount determined by back titration corresponds to the sulfate content.
In many cases, particularly at higher contents, an alternative and sufficiently accurate measurement is possible, called the “negative m value” or the “total mineral acid value” (without carbonic acid). This is achieved through titration. Subsequently, the mval values for the anions (Cl-, NO3-, NO2-, PO43-) are subtracted from the result.