Kvasny Prum. 2013; 59(3): 63-68 | DOI: 10.18832/kp2013007

Comparison of carbon dioxide determination measured by different methods.Peer-reviewed article

Jana OLŠOVSKÁ, Karel ŠTĚRBA, Pavel ČEJKA

Výzkumný ústav pivovarský a sladařský, a. s., Lípová 15, 120 44 Praha 2

The carbon dioxide content in beer is of great importance in terms of its sensory properties and its measurements provide an important criterion for assessing the quality of beer. The wide range of methods currently used for carbon dioxide determination differ in the principles of measurement as well as in reproducibility, laboriousness, time requirements and also in acquisition and operation costs of the requisite instrumentation. This article compares the results, accuracy, and laboriousness of three methods for determination of carbon dioxide in beer based on the measurement of pressure, volume expansion and thermal conductivity. The differences that were found between the individual methods can be probably ascribed to a combination of different measurement principles and variability of the composition of different beers including the content of other dissolved gases.The carbon dioxide content in beer is of great importance in terms of its sensory properties and its measurements provide an important criterion for assessing the quality of beer. The wide range of methods currently used for carbon dioxide determination differ in the principles of measurement as well as in reproducibility, laboriousness, time requirements and also in acquisition and operation costs of the requisite instrumentation. This article compares the results, accuracy, and laboriousness of three methods for determination of carbon dioxide in beer based on the measurement of pressure, volume expansion and thermal conductivity. The differences that were found between the individual methods can be probably ascribed to a combination of different measurement principles and variability of the composition of different beers including the content of other dissolved gases.

Keywords: carbon dioxide, beer, pressure measurement, volume expansion, thermal conductivity, bottleneck space, dissolved gases in beer

Received: October 12, 2012; Accepted: December 4, 2012; Published: March 1, 2013