Standing beneath a massive, stainless steel tank that regularly holds 100 barrels worth of beer, it’s hard to imagine how something smaller than a human hair could mean tossing all of it out. Yet the tiny bacteria that could turn this brew into an acrid, undrinkable slop are lurking all around us, entirely invisible to the naked eye. These microbes are both a brewer’s best friend and worst nightmare.
Pediococcus and Lactobacillus are two types of bacteria with voracious appetites that can wreak havoc by leaving an undesirable sour taste in their wake. They can be crucial to making some beer styles, but if unchecked in others (like say an India Pale Ale), they can ruin a batch. Russian River Brewing company in Santa Rosa, California is among the first breweries to try a new test for these germs, one that promises to take a week-long test that has become the standard among brewers, and do it in just under three hours.
Philadelphia-based company Invisible Sentinel has come up with a new rapid testing kit called the BrewPal that identifies isolated chunks of DNA from problem bacteria. It’s not meant to diagnose every potential problem that could threaten a good beer; rather, it’s designed to target the specific types of Pediococcus andLactobacillus bacteria that are responsible for serious, and often irreversible damage.
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The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: Spoiled rotten: how breweries are trying to spot bad beer through DNA
