This method describes how to determine the acid consumption or acid capacity of water.
Water intended for use as an ingredient in the production of beer (brewing liquor) or other foods
Determination of the acid concentration of acidic cleaners.
All acidic cleaning solutions.
The same principle applies here as for determining the concentration of alkaline cleaning solutions, except that titration solutions of corresponding normality are used.
Since the titration here is performed from the acid side (and not from the alkali side as in the determination of the p-value for alkaline detergents), the "minus p-value" (-p-value) is determined for acidic detergents.
H+ + NaOH → H2O + Na+ very slightly pink against phenolphthalein
The method is suitable for the determination of water vapor volatile aroma compounds in beer.
Volatile aroma compounds are driven out of the sample through steam distillation. The ethanolic distillate is saturated with NaCl. Potassium hydrogen sulfite is added to separate carbonyl groups that might interfere with the analysis. The extraction of the aroma compounds is performed by shaking out with dichloromethane and the phases separated by centrifuging.
The method describes how to determine the free amino nitrogen in the Congress wort by means of a color reaction using ninhydrin with amino acids.
Applicable for all (laboratory) worts
Low molecular weight nitrogenous substances, especially amino acids in the wort, have an influence on the course of fermentation and the formation of fermentation by-products. For a beer’s aroma profile, the concentration and composition of the amino acids are therefore of considerable significance due to their reactivity with reducing sugars (Maillard reaction), especially during kilning in the malthouse and during mashing and boiling in the brewhouse. The products from these reactions influence the redox potential, the color and the aroma of a beer.
Aside from the quantitative determination of the individual amino acids (methods using an ion exchanger, HPLC, GC), cumulative methods of determination are customary. However, these methods also measure NH4+ ions and amines to some degree.
With methods involving color reactions, the amino acids display color at different levels of intensity. Therefore, the reaction is based upon a “standard amino acid”; glycine usually serves as the standard amino acid for comparison.
With the ninhydrin method, the color yield varies with the individual amino acids between 70 and 105 %, based on glycine. Up to approx. 30 % of ammonium salts are quantified using this method and up to approx. 7 % of proline.
The ninhydrin reaction is the most well-known of the color reactions employed for use with amino acids. Ninhydrin is an oxidant and brings about the oxidative decarboxylation of amino acids, producing CO2, NH3 and the formation of an aldehyde. The aldehyde produced in this reaction possesses one less carbon atom than the original amino acid that served as the reactant. Reduced ninhydrin then reacts with non-reduced ninhydrin and the NH3 that was liberated to generate a blue pigment (all amino acids except for proline) or in the case of proline, a yellow pigment. Fructose also takes part in the color reaction as a reducing compound. Potassium iodide present in the solution used for dilution preserves the ninhydrin in an oxidized state and thus inhibits undesirable secondary reactions. The solution to be analyzed is heated together with ninhydrin at a pH of 6.7 and the resulting color is measured at 570 nm.
This method quantifies the amino acids, ammonia and also the terminal α-amino groups of the peptides and proteins. Proline is also measured in part at the wavelength employed in this method.
The method is non-specific for α-amino nitrogen, because γ-amino butyric acid found in wort also generates a color reaction in the presence of ninhydrin.
Applicable for all (laboratory) worts
The quantitative determination described here is based upon a separation of analytes using reverse phase chromatography after pre-column derivatization and detection with fluorescence detection.
Aside from the quantitative determination of the individual amino acids (methods using an ion exchanger, HPLC, GC), cumulative methods of determination are customary. However, these methods also measure NH4+ ions and amines to some degree.
With methods involving color reactions, the amino acids display color at different levels of intensity. Therefore, the reaction is based upon a “standard amino acid”; glycine usually serves as the standard amino acid for comparison.
With the ninhydrin method, the color yield varies with the individual amino acids between 70 and 105 %, based on glycine. Up to approx. 30 % of ammonium salts are quantified using this method and up to approx. 7 % of proline.
Determination of the pH of acidulated malt
Acidulated malt intended for use in beer brewing or elsewhere in the food industry.
The pH value of the Congress wort allows for a cursory estimate of the acidifying capacity of the acidulated malt in question. If a deeper understanding is required, then determining the titratable acidity or the lactic acid content would be necessary.