This method describes how to mill grain or malt to produce fine or coarse grist.
Malt intended for use in beer brewing or elsewhere in the food industry
Malt is ground between two horizontally positioned, grooved discs. The lower disc is driven by an electric motor and rotates at approx. 1500 rpm; the upper disc is fixed and therefore does not move. During the milling process, the malt migrates from the center of the discs to the outer edge, where the grist falls through an outlet spout into a grist beaker.
The gap between the discs can be adjusted by turning a socket head screw on a calibrated ring bearing scale markings. The scale on the calibrated ring ranges from 0 to 20, with each scale division corresponding to a gap between the discs of 0.10 mm. Each scale division is subdivided into five smaller divisions; each of the smaller marks is equivalent to 0.02 mm. Two gap adjusting rings ensure reproducible mill settings.
This method describes how to determine the quantity of lime water necessary for softening water used in brewing (brewing liquor) and food production.
Water intended for use as an ingredient in the production of beer (brewing liquor) or other foods
Through the addition of lime water or 'milk of lime,' the hydrogen carbonates and free carbon dioxide are transformed into carbonates and are then largely precipitated:
Ca(HCO3)2 + Ca(OH)2 → 2 CaCO3 + 2 H2O
Mg(HCO3)2 + Ca(OH)2 → MgCO3 + CaCO3 + 2 H2O
CO2 + Ca(OH)2 → CaCO3 + H2O
Calcium carbonate is insoluble and precipitates out. By contrast, magnesium carbonate is to a large extent soluble in water. The addition of one more equivalent weight of Ca(OH)2 transforms magnesium carbonate into insoluble magnesium hydroxide:
MgCO3 + Ca(OH)2 → CaCO3 + Mg(OH)2
However, the amount calculated for this form of water treatment would lead to a surplus of lime in the water (and a higher than desired pH), since an especially high alkalinity is required for the quantitative precipitation of magnesium hydroxide. Therefore, the “split treatment” method, as it is known, is preferred, i.e., the quantity of lime water calculated for the total quantity is added to ⅔ of the untreated water. An excess of lime results, and therefore, the magnesium hydrogen carbonate is also precipitated. The addition of approx. ⅓ of the untreated water diminishes the lime surplus and causes the complete precipitation of calcium hydrogen carbonate. By doing so, the hardness caused by calcium carbonate is entirely eliminated, and the hardness caused by magnesium carbonate is to a large extent as well.
Determination of the moisture content in the spent grain
Spent grain
The moisture content is determined by means of the loss in mass during a standardized drying process. For this purpose, the spent grain is dried at a defined temperature over a set time in an electrically heated air drying oven. The moisture content is determined by the difference in weight before and after drying.
If the barley possesses a moisture content of more than 17 % w/w, the whole kernels shold be dried prior to grinding them and determining the moisture content in the (coarsely ground) spent grain. The moisture content of the finely ground spent grain is subsequently determined and the total moisture content calculated from both values.
This method describes how to determine the hard resin fraction in hops and hop products; for the procedure, refer to the MEBAK method R-300.03.901 [2016-03].
Hops and hop products intended for use in beer brewing or elsewhere in the food industry
The hard resins are calculated by subtracting the soft resins from the total resins. This yields the hard resin content as a percentage of the total resins.
The compounds in the malt dissolved in the mash liquor during a standardized mashing process using finely ground malt (fine grist) are determined in this analysis.
Malt intended for use in beer brewing or elsewhere in the food industry
The Congress mash method primarily serves to determine the extract content of malt.
The extract content is determined by the weight ratio sL 20/20 of the wort on the basis of the official sugar tables (Plato tables) at 20 °C. sL 20/20 stands for the weight ratio of a volume of wort at 20 °C to the same volume of water at the same temperature.
Furthermore, the following is tested over the course of this analysis: Iodine test (saccharification time), odor of the mash, wort run-off, clarity of the filtered wort; the Congress wort is also used as a basis for a wide variety of further analyses.
This method describes how to conduct a stress test for non-alcoholic beverages (NAB).
non-alcoholic beverages (soft drinks containing natural aromas and flavors, soft drinks containing artificial aromas and flavors, beverages containing fruit juice)
The time required to develop a product – from conception to launch on the market – is steadily shrinking. Since recipes are also becoming ever more complex and a wide range of different types of packaging are now employed, forced stability tests have become absolutely essential, in order to establish a realistic indication of a product’s shelf-life.
Inferences about the shelf-life of a product can only be made if the entire beverage concept is taken into consideration, such as the recipe, filling technology, packaging and distribution.
The most important stress factors in the aging process are heat, light and oxygen.
PET bottles have become a popular form of packaging for non-alcoholic beverages, and their permeability to gas, most especially oxygen, is therefore a critical parameter in the aging process.
The testing process described below operates, of course, on the assumption that the chemical reactions in the aging process are subject to the same mechanisms, whether they occur at temperatures typical for beverage storage or at somewhat elevated temperatures, and that they follow a linear relationship dependent on temperature. The same applies to forced photochemical reactions and to reactions brought about by an increase in the partial pressure of oxygen on the beverage. To verify results from forced testing, they can be compared and correlated to results from real-time tests on the same product.