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Fermentation Monitoring

 
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cvpruett89




Joined: 13 Apr 2016
Posts: 2



PostLink    Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2016 3:08 pm    Post subject: Fermentation Monitoring Reply with quote


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Hey guys,

To be transparent, I work for a company that sells an instrument that is used for cell culture and fermentation monitoring. I want this to be a discussion and not an advertisement so I will not plug the instrument or company name unless it's requested.

We recently developed an Optical Density assay for the instrument for use in monitoring bacterial and yeast growth. It was developed for the pharmaceutical market, but as an avid beer fan myself I thought it may be of interest to brewers such as yourselves. It also has the ability to monitor the below metabolites that we've identified as important to the pharmaceutical market:

-Glucose
-Lactate
-Ammonia
-Sodium
-Potassium
-Phosphate
-Magnesium
-Calcium
-Galactose
-Sucrose
-Acetate

Would this instrument be of interest in a brewery environment? What assays would be relevant and are there any you would like to see that aren't offered?

Appreciate any feedback you guys have. Thanks!
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2016 4:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Welcome to the forum!

When growing yeast starters, some brewers will count yeast cells with a microscope and a click counter to extrapolate/know what count they have total so as to know if they're pitching enough yeast. More pro brewers would do this than homebrewers I'm sure. Not too many would do it at the homebrew level unless they've already got the equipment/have an interest/are serious about it. I don't myself. I simply pitch the right amount of yeast to begin with as I find that simpler. Most brewers who ramp up yeast from a single pouch/vial will simply go by volume and guestimate the amount of cells. Ie: "I need a 2L starter" using calculators like this one: http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

If that manual counting could be made simpler/automated there may be interest, assuming it isn't 10x the cost of doing it manually.

What you need to do it manually:

Neubauer-improved counting chamber ($20-100)
400x microscope ($50-200)
Pipettes ($5)
Graduated cylinders ($5-20)

How it's done:

https://eurekabrewing.wordpress.com/2012/08/03/yeast-basics-counting-yeast-cells/

If you had something that measured the PPM of the following that would be handy for water adjustments too:

Calcium
Magnesium
Sodium
Chloride
Sulfate

Bonus points if it measure Alkalinity and the presence of Chlorine/Chloramine.

You'd likely be best to ask in a pro brewer forum like http://discussions.probrewer.com/

Good luck!

Kal

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Last edited by kal on Wed Apr 13, 2016 7:12 pm; edited 2 times in total
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cvpruett89




Joined: 13 Apr 2016
Posts: 2



PostLink    Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2016 6:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Kal,

Thank you so much for your speedy and extensive reply! Though it sounds like this technology may be useful, I think the cost may be outside the scope of what would be feasible at a home brewing level. I appreciate the link to the pro brewer forum. It may be more feasible at a higher production volume, but I do have concerns about the price barrier at that level too. Thanks again for your help and the upkeep on this great forum!
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