Beer Microbiology

Affinity Labs offers a range of customised microbiological services to brewers. While most microorganisms are unable to grow in beer, the small number that can should not be ignored. Beer spoilage microbes such as Brettanomyces, wild yeasts, and bacteria, particularly those belonging to the lactic acid bacteria (LAB) family, can impart unwanted characters to beer that may damage a brewery’s reputation. 

To avoid microbial spoilage of your beer, an effective cleaning and quality assurance program should be in place including regular microbiological screening of your ferments, beers, yeast slurries, and water. Affinity Labs uses membrane filtration and traditional plating techniques, as well as rapid DNA-based tests with short turnaround times for microbiological analysis of beer. Services provided include yeast counts, species identification, sterility testing and screening for spoilage microorganisms.

Explore all beer laboratory analysis here.