(253h) Flavor Analysis of Beer in the Chemical Engineering Laboratory Course
AIChE Annual Meeting
2024
2024 AIChE Annual Meeting
Education Division
Engagement and innovation in emerging laboratory topics
Tuesday, October 29, 2024 - 10:06am to 10:24am
In 2023, the global craft beer market size increased by 5% (to $28.4 billion), now accounting for
24.6% of the $115 billion U.S. beer market [1]. With the brewing industry experiencing significant
growth, it is important for chemical engineering students to gain practical experience in brewing
techniques. This not only familiarizes them with process control and parameter sensitivity but also
exposes them to complex bioreactor operations that would be encountered in various industrial
sectors.
A new addition to an existing beer brewing project within a senior lab class of the chemical
engineering curriculum will involve a specific focus on hops (a critical ingredient in brewing that
impacts flavor of final products). The experiment allows students to explore this additional
parameter into an inquiry-based approach, with decisions such as quantity and timing of the
addition of hops left for the students. They would then analyze their final samples through High
Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) to quantify the presence of iso-alpha acids
responsible for flavor profiles. Using this method, students can directly correlate the chemical
compositions of the samples to known flavor profiles of beer products using prepared calibration
curves and known standards.
This exercise is part of a broader learning objective for senior students to understand the brewing
process, which includes steps like milling, malting, wort filtration, and fermentation. This
incorporation of HPLC into a laboratory project focusing on the beer brewing process presents a
consistent and reliable approach to enhance chemical engineering education, specifically in
understanding the role that hops play in flavor profiling of brewing; by comparing their results to
established standards, students will not only gain lab skills but also ensure product quality and
consistency in the brewing industry. By allowing this hands-on approach to experimenting with
flavor profiles, the students’ understanding of the brewing process and the relevance of chemical
engineering practices in the food industry underscores the importance of tasks like parameter
optimization and industrial bioreactor control.
[1] National Beer Sales & Production Data. Brewer’s Association (2022).
24.6% of the $115 billion U.S. beer market [1]. With the brewing industry experiencing significant
growth, it is important for chemical engineering students to gain practical experience in brewing
techniques. This not only familiarizes them with process control and parameter sensitivity but also
exposes them to complex bioreactor operations that would be encountered in various industrial
sectors.
A new addition to an existing beer brewing project within a senior lab class of the chemical
engineering curriculum will involve a specific focus on hops (a critical ingredient in brewing that
impacts flavor of final products). The experiment allows students to explore this additional
parameter into an inquiry-based approach, with decisions such as quantity and timing of the
addition of hops left for the students. They would then analyze their final samples through High
Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) to quantify the presence of iso-alpha acids
responsible for flavor profiles. Using this method, students can directly correlate the chemical
compositions of the samples to known flavor profiles of beer products using prepared calibration
curves and known standards.
This exercise is part of a broader learning objective for senior students to understand the brewing
process, which includes steps like milling, malting, wort filtration, and fermentation. This
incorporation of HPLC into a laboratory project focusing on the beer brewing process presents a
consistent and reliable approach to enhance chemical engineering education, specifically in
understanding the role that hops play in flavor profiling of brewing; by comparing their results to
established standards, students will not only gain lab skills but also ensure product quality and
consistency in the brewing industry. By allowing this hands-on approach to experimenting with
flavor profiles, the students’ understanding of the brewing process and the relevance of chemical
engineering practices in the food industry underscores the importance of tasks like parameter
optimization and industrial bioreactor control.
[1] National Beer Sales & Production Data. Brewer’s Association (2022).