MEBAK held its 107th meeting on 30 October 2026, hosted by the ERDINGER Weißbräu private brewery in Erding, Germany. Chaired by Dr Martin Zarnkow and Matthias Hansen, the meeting brought together 29 participants, four of them online, to discuss the latest methods in analytical quality assurance. Honorary members Roland Schmidt, Helmut Klein and Dr August Gresser also attended.
Two new honorary members
At the start of the meeting, MEBAK appointed Dr Stefan Kreisz (Erdinger Weißbräu) and Markus Lüönd (Labor Veritas AG) as honorary members. Dr Stefan Kreisz is stepping down from active involvement at his own request, and Robert Jell will represent Erdinger Weißbräu in MEBAK from now on. MEBAK warmly thanks both for their many years of commitment to its methods work.
Harmonisation: international and national
Dr Martin Zarnkow reported on the work of the European Brewery Convention (EBC). EBC, the Brewery Convention of Japan (BCOJ) and the American Society of Brewing Chemists (ASBC) have jointly harmonised a method for isothermal mashing at 65 °C. It has been available in the MEBAK online method database for some time (method R-207.00.002) and is now becoming the international industry standard. At national level, Matthias Hansen reported from the beer analysis working group of the Official Collection of Analytical Methods under Section 64 of the German Food and Feed Code (LFGB). The group is currently harmonising and revalidating the determination of bitterness units in beer.
News from the working groups
The working group on Wort, Beer and Beer-Based Beverages presented revised methods for the enzymatic determination of ethanol. A new enzymatic-electrochemical measuring principle by Anton Paar for the analysis of 0.0 % beers was also presented. The first chapters of the new volume on containers and packaging materials (GuP) are now online. They cover glass bottles, cans, closures, can ends, paper labels and labelling adhesive.
824 methods, continuously updated
The MEBAK online method database now contains 824 methods, each available in German and English. In 2025, 16 methods were added or revised, and a further 10 so far in 2026. Half of these changes concerned enzymatic methods for ethanol, sugars and organic acids, which were adapted to new test kits from manufacturers. New additions include the gas chromatographic determination of low ethanol contents and of methanol. In sensory analysis, Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) and the extended in/out test were added. The methods for nitrosamines, acetoin and 4-vinylguaiacol have been simplified. Anyone still working with the printed volumes misses these updates, because the current versions are only available online.
Guest lecture and new member
MEBAK welcomed Fabian Webersinke (Brau Union Österreich AG) and Matthias Müller (Labor Veritas AG) as guests. Fabian Webersinke heads the central laboratory of Brau Union Österreich in Linz. In his lecture “Chemometric Methods and Data-Driven Modelling in Brewery Analysis”, he showed the potential of chemometric evaluation for quality assurance in the brewery laboratory. Following his talk, he was unanimously admitted as a member of MEBAK. A warm welcome!
Outlook and thanks
The next meeting will take place in spring 2027, at a venue still to be announced. Special thanks go to Erdinger Weißbräu, in particular Dr Stefan Kreisz and Robert Jell, for their outstanding hospitality.
