Craft Beer Laboratory Skills 1: Basic Laboratory Skills

Explore foundational bench skills and essential safety knowledge for the brewery quality laboratory. Throughout this class, we will emphasize the importance of SOPs, standardized methods, and proper documentation of results. In addition to general quality parameters, topics include measurement uncertainty, brewery critical control points, and obtaining meaningful sensory analysis data. In the lab, students will practice data handling techniques and obtaining accurate measurements while measuring pH, pipetting, performing serial dilutions, and operating an analytical balance, light microscope, and UV-Vis spectrophotometer.

Audience

Current and prospective brewery quality control laboratory staff

Topics Include

Lab safety
Basic lab calculations
SOPs and recordkeeping
Product and process control
Measurement uncertainty
Brewery lab equipment operation, maintenance, and calibration

Learning Objectives

Recognize important features of a laboratory safety program.
Be familiar with SOPs, ASBC methods, and the importance of clear, standardized instructions.
Understand the importance of correct operation, routine maintenance, and calibration of laboratory equipment.
Understand measurement and data recording basics.
Be introduced to the concept of measurement uncertainty.
Explain the importance of process control and product control.
Identify parameters typically measured in a brewing laboratory.
Gain experience with operation of pipettes, analytical balance, pH meter, spectrophotometer, microscope, and refractometer.