A new tool for quality control in brewing

在过去的十年中，由于市场利益的变化，消费者的口味偏好以及对高质量产品的需求，加拿大的手工微型啤酒厂数量增加了五倍。为了微调风味特征和监控产品质量，酿酒商正在对酿造过程进行微观观察。这种在分子水平上跟踪酿造化学的愿望超出了监测代谢物和降解产物的范围;酿造商希望分离提供不同风味的异构物种，并监测这些物种的相互转化，作为衡量产品新鲜度和保质期的内部时钟。例如，α-羽扇豆酸（aka

The number of craft microbreweries in Canada has quintupled over the past decade due to shifting market interests, consumer taste preferences, and the demand for high quality products. To fine-tune flavor profiles and monitor product quality, brewers are taking a microscopic view of the brewing process. This desire to track brewing chemistry at a molecular level goes beyond monitoring metabolites and degradation products; brewers want to separate isomeric species which provide different flavors and monitor the interconversion of these species as an internal clock to gauge product freshness and shelf-life. For example, alpha-lupulic acid (aka