How to Start a Brewery Lab in 2021

You may have a passion for beer and plan to open your brewer in 2021. You must have heard or read that there’s good money in beer. You may have also found that much of the information you’ve gathered is useful only that you may have an idea, but the application may be tricky.

While sending samples to third parties for testing may be a viable option, having your own lab for testing and analysis will help you get more insights from your results. Therefore, you’ll be in a better position to make viable changes.

Before we get into the steps, let’s talk about what the function of a brewery lab is?

A lot of the process of making beer happens behind the scenes. From the time raw materials to the last bottle shipped to the store, there’s a lot of testing and QC checks to ensure every batch is okay.

There are many types of brewery labs in different sizes and configurations, all depending on what they need to accomplish.

The following are some of the things that happen in a brewery lab.

Chemical Analysis Stage

Here, the chemical compounds present in a sample are measured. In a brewery lab, chemical analysis is carried out on wort, water samples, and finished products. The analyses are also used to assess the raw materials’ profiles in distilleries and wineries.

The testing may be done on gravity, an essential part of beer chemistry, the water, alcohol by volume, wort analysis, and other parameters. Needless to say, you need appropriate equipment to be able to carry out such tests in your lab.

 Fermentation Control Stage

Yeast will require certain conditions for perfect fermentation during the process of beer brewing. Dissolved oxygen (DO) plays a huge role here as it fluctuates depending on factors like outside temperature.

 Microbiological Control Stage

Good knowledge in the area of microbiology is necessary. That’s because, in beer handling, there’s a lot of yeast involved. While the microanalysis labs measure the yeast amount needed, they also need to test for invasive and undesirable microorganisms like lactic acid bacteria. To begin this kind of lab, you need some little training by the experts. That will help you deal with the challenges involved in testing.

Raw Material Analysis Stage

Testing of raw materials in brewing is done to ensure that the grain and water haven’t gone bad. It’s also done to ensure a higher level of quality control and that every batch is consistent. A few things can affect flavor, like air quality, water supply, and temperature. All these and the grain profile can affect the quality of beer. Thus, there needs to be beer quality testing to determine quality before use.

Having a beer testing lab helps you increase your productivity. You can increase your production significantly as long as you have the required labor. With a lab, you will be able to regulate the testing process and ensure everything is checked and in the right proportions. Having a brewing lab ensures everything is done within the right specs and meets consumers’ expectations.

 

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