Alcoholic Beverages Virtual Seminar - Beer

Agilent and GERSTEL are happy to host this 4-day live virtual seminar discussing how you can assure safety, authenticity, and quality of alcoholic beverages. The focus will be on sharing the latest in technology developments and capabilities, new applications, and customer stories. Topics include spirits, wine, beer, and cider. There is something for everyone in this seminar series and we are glad to see you here.

Presentation 1: Identification of Markers of Consumer Acceptability in Lager Beer

• Presenter: Benjamin Gelinas (Postdoctoral Researcher, Ohio State University)

Beer remains the largest alcoholic beverage category in terms of volume of consumption, with lager beer being the largest style. An un-targeted flavoromics approach coupling consumer acceptability ratings of 15 lager beers was used to identify markers of consumer acceptability in beer. Top variables of importance were isolated, quantified, and identified prior to recombination studies to demonstrate the effect of these compounds on consumer acceptance and preference.

Key Learning Objectives/What attendees will learn:

• Improved understanding of chemical drivers of beer on acceptance
• Improved understanding of the role of iso-humulones on bitterness in beer
• Implications of ingredients and processing on flavor and consumer acceptance

Who Should Attend:

Personnel involved in the production of lager beer or lager beer ingredients

Presentation 2: LC-MS Analysis of Hop-Derived Humulone Constituents in Beer

• Presenter: Prof. Bruce C. Hamper (Associate Teaching Professor, University of Missouri – St. Louis)

Hops are essential ingredients for the brewing of beer, providing bitter flavors, desirable taste and hops aroma in the final product. The contribution of humulones and related components in hops to bitter flavors in beer is dependent on numerous factors including the quality, variety and quantity of hops used, specific addition protocols during the brewing recipe, nature of other ingredients and details of the brewing process. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) using electrospray ionization coupled with selective ion monitoring (SIM-MS) is particularly useful for profiling the compounds obtained from hops utilization during brewing. Small scale brews from university brewing courses can be compared and evaluated in an efficient manner.

Key Learning Objectives/What attendees will learn:

• Importance of LC-MS using selective ion monitoring for rapid analysis of complex samples.
• Impact of key ingredients used in the brewing of beer on beer flavor.
• Key features of hops components and their contribution to beer bitterness.

Who Should Attend:

This webcast will be of interest to scientists using analytical techniques for measurement of multiple components in complex mixtures. Focusing on food analysis provides intriguing examples that can relate to everyday experience and capture the imagination. Science educators will be interested in the application of these techniques to classroom and laboratory exercises.

Presentation 3: A HS-SPME Arrow/GC-MS Method for Determination of Smoke Taint-Related Volatile Phenols in Humulus lupulus

• Presenter: Stacey Williams (Senior Chemist, New Belgium Brewing Company)
• Presenter: Justin Alexander (Analytical Chemist, New Belgium Brewing Company)

With a record-breaking fire season across the Western US, an unknown number of food crops were exposed to significant quantities of smoke. Due to the length of the season, Humulus lupulus (hops) were exposed to smoke prior to harvest and during processing. Guaiacol and 4-methylguaiacol (4MG) are routinely used as markers to determine the extent of smoke-taint in the wine industry. Quantitating these compounds in smoke-exposed hops prior to use in the brewing process is needed to predict the likelihood of perceptible smoke taint in finished beer. This presentation encompasses the validated analytical method to accurately quantitate unbound guaiacol and 4-methylguaiacol in smoke-exposed hops.

Key Learning Objectives/What attendees will learn:

• Potential challenges in the raw material supply chain for the brewing industry
• Validation of an analytical method
• The impact of high aroma active volatiles (i.e., phenols) to beer

Who Should Attend:

Anyone interested in potential wildfire risks to food crops, especially those handling raw materials used in the brewing industry

Presenter: Benjamin Gelinas (Postdoctoral Researcher, Ohio State University)

Ben Gelinas is a postdoctoral researcher at Ohio State University whose primary research focuses on Beer and Beer acceptability. Ben’s background is in analytical flavor chemistry working at the Flavor Research and Education Center at Ohio State University.

Presenter: Prof. Bruce C. Hamper (Associate Teaching Professor, University of Missouri – St. Louis)

Prof. Bruce Hamper teaches courses in brewing science and general chemistry at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He leads a research group investigating synthesis and analysis of organic compounds and potential pharmaceutical agents. Current research includes development of synthetic methods for preparation of biomolecules using continuous flow processing. His group is also involved in development of analytical methods for profiling components in fermented beverages.

Presenter: Stacey Williams (Senior Chemist, New Belgium Brewing Company)

Stacey Williams earned a BS in Chemistry at Metropolitan State College in Denver. She has extensive experience in high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas chromatography (GC) and mass spectrometry through her work in pharma, biopharma and the beer industry. She is currently a principal scientist at New Belgium in the QA lab with responsibilities including method development, validation, gas chromatography - olfactory (GC-O) and instrument troubleshooting.

Presenter: Justin Alexander (Analytical Chemist, New Belgium Brewing Company)

Justin Alexander graduated from Colorado State University with a Bachelor of Science in Fermentation Science & Technology with a Minor in Food Science & Safety. He has multiple years of experience in ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC), primarily focusing on hop bittering components, organic acids, and fermentable carbohydrates. He currently holds a Scientist role in Quality Assurance at New Belgium Brewing Company in the Analytical Chemistry Lab.