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Guide

Turbidity and Color in Brewing

Guide

Using Optical Sensors for Maintaining Beer Quality

Turbidity and color monitoring in beer production
Turbidity and color monitoring in beer production

Turbid beers are back in fashion. For decades only seen in specific beers like wheat beer, craft brewing has brought haze back into the glass. Both, turbidity and color have a significant impact on how consumers evaluate beer quality. 

How do turbidity and color influence each other? And what should you be aware of if measuring both simultaneously? This article from Brauwelt International spotlights two technologies used in breweries for in-line measurement of color, small and large particles.

Topics covered include:

  • The basics of turbidity and color measurement
  • The use of optical product monitors
  • Applications of turbidity and color instruments across the brewing process

     

The article looks at two technologies for turbidity and color measurement: in-line sensors using scattewred light and transmission technology and optical product monitors (Reflection Absorption Multi-Switch - RAMS). Both have specific roles to play in brewing in order to maintain beer quality, optimize processes, and reduce resource waste.

Whereas in-line turbidity sensors have been a commonly-deployed tool in breweries for many decades, using RAMS optical monitors is a more recent development. A RAMS monitor is installed in pipes from both sides of an in-line housing. RAMS uses green, red, blue, and near-infrared emitting LEDs. The RAMS is taught to identify different beers and stores information on each product like a “fingerprint”. Based on this fingerprint, phase shift operations or the recognition of a specific product are easily achieved. The absoprtion measurment with NIR captures also the turbidity.

Read in the article where and how to use RAMS monitors as well as in-line turbidity sensors. 

Author: Holger Schmidt, Industry Manager Food and Beverage, Mettler Toledo Process Analytics. Holger backs up his practical knowhow as brewer and malster with a brewmaster degree from TUM Weihenstephan. For nearly two decades he has been globally mediating the triangle between Food and Beverage producers, plant and machine builders, and automation companies, with a focus on hygienic sensor technologies.