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.
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.
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.
The method describes how to determine the sulfate content of water by means of a photometric cuvette test.
In the presence of barium chloride, sulfate ions form barium sulfate, which is only slightly soluble in water. The turbidity produced by doing so is determined with a photometer.
Determination of the high-molecular weight proteins in wort and beer by precipitating them with magnesium sulfate
This method is suitable for wort and beer.
The high molecular weight proteins are precipitated by magnesium sulfate, and the nitrogen content in the sediment is determined, e.g., according to Kjeldahl.
In order to measure the portion of the high molecular weight protein fractions in wort and beer, precipitation with magnesium sulfate is recommended. Through gel chromatography it has been established that magnesium sulfate precipitates nitrogenous compounds possessing molecular weights of approximately 2600 Da and higher [2]. A strong correlation between the nitrogenous substances precipitated by magnesium sulfate and beer foam has also been observed [3, 4].