Quality testing is critical at multiple stages throughout the brewery process
and analysis Alcohol
The use of informatics is crucial all the way through the process of brewing, writes Sophia Ktori
L
ike any regulated industry within the food and drink sector, breweries must collect, analyse and manage data from their R&D, quality and
manufacturing processes. But dedicated brewery management
systems oſten don’t have the capacity to handle data from laboratory–based quality or other testing workflows, suggests John Boother, company chairman at Autoscribe Informatics. ‘Brewery management soſtware is commonly centred on customer relationship management (CRM) activities, invoicing, ordering and inventory, and perhaps accounting, as well as other key activities including cask management. What they don’t, as a rule, provide is any scope for managing quality control testing and resulting data and reporting.’ Yet quality testing is critical at multiple
stages throughout the brewery process, and is an imperative to satisfy regulatory requirements, Boother continues: ‘Tere are five fundamental areas where quality
18 SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING WORLD
checking is carried out. Te first is goods in, which means logging and testing the raw materials as they arrive at the brewery, before they are released into the brewing process. Multiple samples may then be taken for laboratory analysis at a number of different stages in the brewhouse, where ingredients are mixed and fermentation takes place. ‘Beer that comes out of the brewhouse
is subsequently stored in the cellar, or cold process area, where there will be another cycle of finished product testing. And associated with that there may well be shelf-life analyses, so that the product can be labelled correctly in its cans or bottles with a best-before date. Two other areas that can fit, broadly, into laboratory activities are sensory testing of the beer to evaluate taste and smell, and testing of the final product packaging to make sure that all the labelling is correct.’ All of these areas of testing are effectively
forms of quality examination, Boother suggests. ‘A sample is taken, the test is carried out, the results are compared against limits
for that particular product line, and then are validated by a supervisor before being approved so that the final product can be released for distribution.’ Importantly, these requirements don’t
lessen if you are a small, start-up or microbrewery: ‘Micro- and craſt breweries are a growth industry, and so the requirement for soſtware that can manage ingredients, product and quality testing can only increase.’
Quality testing So why, if so much testing has to be carried out as a matter of course, don’t brewery management packages include, as standard, the capacity to manage quality-related testing and data? Managing laboratory processes and results is a harder technical nut to crack than managing customer contacts, inventory, and costs, which are largely administrative functions, Boother believes: ‘Quality testing involves traceability, scheduling, regulatory compliance and reporting. Building the capability to handle those workflows, and manage and analyse resulting chemical data, operating parameters and limits into soſtware requires specialist expertise.’ In Autoscribe’s experience, while breweries are now increasingly trying to manage all
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