THE INFLUENCE OF 2-ACETOHYDROXY ACIDS ON THE DETERMINATION OF VICINAL DIKETONES IN BEER AND DURING FERMENTATION

Abstract

During sampling and determination of diacetyl, 2-acetohydroxy acids are easily converted to vicinal diketones. A simple procedure for gas chromatographic determination of diacetyl, 2-acetolactate, acetoin and the homologous compounds is given. By careful sampling, less than 0·01 ppm of diacetyl was detected during the main fermentation in one brewery, whereas another strain of brewer's yeast yielded a maximum of 1·7 ppm of diacetyl. When samples of fermenting liquids are exposed to air at 60°C, complete conversion of 2-acetohydroxy acids takes place in less than one hour. The possibility that part of 2-acetolactate may be converted to acetoin, however, cannot be excluded. In finished beer 2-acetolactate levels of 0·2–0·5 ppm were observed. During the main fermentation the values ranged from 0·5–2·5 ppm.