Gushing in beer may be caused by microbial components present in the brewing materials. Tests for gushing tendency are indispensable, but often laborious and time-consuming. A simple and rapid test has been developed, based on extraction of gushing factors from brewing materials, addition of the extract to bottles of non-gushing finished beer, followed by the gushing test. The test can be completed within four days and is more sensitive and more reproducible than a twelve-day mini-brew test used at present. Moreover, the extraction test can be used for determination of gushing tendency in adjuncts as well as in malt.