Seven types of beer quality testing equipment

The proof of a good beer is in its taste. To gain confidence that your carefully brewed drinks are consistently tasty and will reach consumers in the best possible condition, solid beer testing QA is your priority. 

You may know it when you taste it, but how do you define ‘beer quality’? Then, once you have defined it, how is beer quality maintained? Read on for answers to these questions, a look at the typical problems brewers encounter, and our list of seven popular beer quality testing devices.

What makes a good beer?

A simple answer to this question is – a beer that consistently meets specifications. The all-important specification defines a beer’s characteristics and how they can be measured for quality.  

Every single aspect – from the taste to the branding, to the packaging – has to follow a formula. Each can, bottle, or keg of beer must be produced as intended. The brewery sets the specifications by deciding on the basic properties of flavor and color. They develop a process, a formulation approach for raw materials and a method to extract what’s needed from them. 

Beer testing benefits and common problems

A solid beer testing quality assurance protocol is essential in the industry. The amber nectar must be continually checked and monitored before products are shipped internationally. Using the right beer analysis equipment, you’ll be able to test everything from flavor to clarity, color, and foam.  

Managing consistent beer quality in taste, look and smell is important if you want people to keep coming back for your beer. The most common faults that breweries often make include oxidation issues, flavor taints, and bacterial infections that can occur all too easily.  

(For more information on the specific challenges faced by brewers and beer packagers, please download our beer packaging report.) 

What happens at the beer testing lab?

In order to offer a consistently reliable beverage, the beer manufacturer needs a plant, people and processes that can be copied without even the slightest deviation.  

Large scale beer manufacturers employ healthy QA processes at their own beer analysis labs where a continuous process of checks and balances takes place. Strict sanitary conditions are maintained, and meticulous records are kept in line with legal requirements. 

A beer has the potential to vary significantly from batch to batch – if the brewing conditions or ingredient quality changes, for example. So, regular beer quality testing of each and every batch is a vital quality control step. Members of designated beer taste testing panels sample each beer in production as well as raw materials on a daily basis… it’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it!

Perfection in packaging is key

You’ve crafted the perfectly pourable beer, now you must contain it in a can or bottle, label it and maybe protect your drinks in cardboard packaging.   

Aluminum cans are an increasingly popular choice for the beer industry, thanks to the infinite recyclability of aluminum and efficient sealing options. They’re becoming a fierce competitor to bottles. Two-piece cans dominate in the beverage industry, thanks to their excellent sealing properties and the fact that the manufacturing process particularly suits lightweight aluminum and alloys. These materials have the added advantage of helping beverages cool quickly.

With the right materials, processes and manufacturing technology, hermetically sealed aluminum cans are robust and able to withstand the challenges of the distribution process, including changes in temperature.  

Seven types of beer testing equipment

As the blog title suggests, now you’re going to read about seven of the most popular types of beer quality testing equipment. All of our beer analysis equipment is designed to maintain your brew’s taste, aroma and consistency. Our safe, efficient beer testing equipment gathers the necessary data to ensure your beers and their packaging meet standards and customer expectations.
1) Steinfurth foam tester
Foam stability is an important beer quality testing parameter – but measuring it can be a laborious and inaccurate process. Responding to customer demand for an accurate and user independent stability measurement device, we built the automatic Steinfurth Foam Stability Tester (SFT). 

2) Steinfurth Automatic CDA MK-6 CO2 tester
Testing CO2 content in beverage bottles and cans is an essential beer testing check. Our Steinfurth Automatic C02 Tester CDA MK-6 makes it easy, with high-precision measurements and dynamic sample preparation. It measures pressure and temperature, calculates CO2 content, and transfers results via data-interface to a base-unit. 

3) 360 can inspection
Our comprehensive can inspection module checks the exterior of lithographed and labeled cans. It reads barcodes and 2D matrix codes to check for errors. It can also inspect can decorations to check for damage on the exterior. It’s ideal for a huge range of packaging options including aluminum cans and bottles. 

4) Panel implosion tester
A fast, safe and accurate way to test the implosion strength of two-piece cans and PET bottles. Our implosion tester features a quick-fill system. The automated testing process of this reliable hydrostatic testing device increases its accuracy while eliminating operator error. 

5) Countersink gauge
A handy beer testing device for measuring countersink depth on beverage, and beer cans. It uses a 10-micron resolution gauge. The measurements can be sent quickly to a hosting computer for accurate countersink checking.  

Need to measure the profile and countersink depth of a wide range of food, beverage and aerosol cans? Our CDG-3000 is the ideal manual gauge. 

6) SEAMetal LT
If you need the best double seam inspection of your craft beer cans, the flexible operation of our SEAMetal LT can testing equipment is hard to rival. Quick and powerful, it will automatically capture and analyze any double seam with high resolution and accuracy. 

7) Double SEAM inspection for craft breweries
With our fully integrated double seam inspection solution, you’ll set up a seamer, analyze seams and troubleshoot seamer issues. The software alerts you to faulty specs – and even suggests ways to fix them! 

Can’t see the beer testing equipment you need on the list? Check out some of the other beer  testing lab options we manufacture in our can inspection range.  

Thirsty for innovative beer packaging

Beer consumers are thirsty for innovation. This results in a frequent need for new packaging options, plus testing solutions that enable reliably effective quality control. With more than 50 years’ experience in beverage packaging testing, at Industrial Physics we understand the problems faced by breweries and the latest technologies available to solve them.

For more information on the specific challenges faced by brewers and beer packagers, please download our beer packaging report. Then be sure to check out what’s happening in the beverage industry as a whole in our ‘Thirst for Perfection’ study. 

Get in touch with our beer testing experts

Brewing beer is a labor of love, and quality is paramount. Whether you own a microbrewery, or work for a multinational chain, a good beer quality control system will save you time and money, while protecting your hard-earned brand reputation. With complete confidence in your beer testing protocol, you can focus on brewing, canning and packaging the best possible beers.
If you’d like some expert help to perfect your beers, or to set up and improve your beer packaging testing system, be sure to get in touch with our knowledgeable team.