Brewing analytics, notes & guides
Practical reads on beer quality control, lab testing, and getting the most out of the Beer-o-Meter.
Recurring Contamination Is a Map: How Laboratory Results Help Locate the Source
A positive microbiology result confirms that something grew, but it does not automatically explain where the contamination entered the process. When the same problem returns, repeated results can be treated as a map that connects organisms with tanks, hoses, fillers, ingredients and time. The goal of testing is not only to reject one batch, but to narrow the search until the brewery can remove the source.
The Clean-Lager Test Panel: VDK, DMS, Oxygen and Microbiology
A pale lager may look straightforward on a recipe sheet, but its clean profile leaves very little room for process faults. Butter, cooked-corn notes, oxidation or low-level contamination can become obvious because there is limited roast, fruit or intense hopping to cover them. As lighter and rice-based lagers gain attention, a focused laboratory panel can help breweries release these beers with the precision their simplicity demands.
When Beer Sells More Slowly: How to Build a 30-60-90 Day Shelf-Life Test Plan
Beer does not stop changing when it leaves the filler. In a slower market, packaged stock may remain in distribution or retail longer than the brewery originally expected, making the real product age different from the age assumed during recipe development. A structured 30-60-90 day programme helps a brewery define what changes, when it becomes noticeable and which process parameter limits the shelf life.
ABV by Design: Building a Sugar Budget for 3.4%, 4.0% and 5.0% Beer
Alcohol content is often treated as a result that is checked after fermentation, but it can also be managed as a design target from the beginning. A sugar budget links the target ABV to the fermentable material entering the process, the fraction consumed by yeast and the losses that occur between wort and packaged beer. This is especially useful as breweries create broader portfolios with sessionable, low-alcohol and conventional-strength products.
The Fermentability Fingerprint: How to Compare Malt Lots, Adjuncts and Recipes
Brewers often notice that a familiar beer behaves differently before they can explain why. The recipe is unchanged, the original gravity is on target and the yeast appears healthy, yet the fermentation curve or final alcohol moves. A fermentability fingerprint turns sugar measurements into a practical baseline for comparing raw materials, mash performance and recipe changes.
Same Gravity, Different Fermentability: Why Sugar Composition Matters in Modern Lagers and Low-ABV Beer
Two worts can show the same original gravity and still behave differently in fermentation. Gravity describes the overall density of the liquid, but yeast responds to the specific sugars and nutrients inside that total extract. As lighter lagers, low-alcohol beer and more diverse raw materials gain attention, understanding fermentability becomes more valuable than simply hitting the expected Plato value.
One QC Plan for Two Channels? Why Draught and Packaged Beer Need Different Release Rules
A keg poured near the brewery and a can travelling through distribution may contain the same beer, but they do not face the same journey. Storage time, oxygen exposure, temperature control, handling and the consequences of residual fermentation differ significantly between channels. Breweries therefore need one quality philosophy but more than one release decision.
Cost per Good Litre: The Brewery KPI That Matters in a Contracting Market
Most breweries know the cost of producing a litre of beer, but that number can hide an uncomfortable reality. Beer that is reworked, held in a tank, discounted, returned or destroyed has consumed raw materials, labour, utilities and capacity without creating its expected value. In a market where beer volumes are under pressure and operating costs remain high, the more revealing question is how much it costs to produce one litre that can be sold with confidence.
Videos & walkthroughs
Short videos on the Beer-o-Meter, sample testing, and what happens to your beer inside our lab.
Short introduction to Beer-o-Meter (Dutch).
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