Põhjala Lab Services

Põhjala Brewing AS lab chemistry side has been accredited by Estonian Accreditation Centre against the requirements of standard EVS-EN ISO/IEC 17025:2017. All chemical methods are performed against this standard unless mentioned otherwise.

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Alcohol Measurements

Components possible to measure:
alcohol by volume (ABV)
alcohol by weight (ABW)
density (g/cm3), apparent extract (%W/W)
real extract (%W/W), calories (kcal/100ml)*
real degree of fermentation (RDF)
apparent degree of fermentation (ADF)
sugar concentration (°P)
original gravity (°P)

ABV is essential for product registration with the Estonian Alcohol Registry.

All of this information can be used to determine if you hit the right efficiencies in your mash and if your beer fermented properly according to gravity values.

Measurements are carried out with Antron Paar Alcolyzer measuring system (DMA™ 4500 and Alcolyzer Beer ME modules)

Price of single component: 12 € + VAT

Price of following components 1.5 € + VAT per component

ABV-analysis kit, contains all components: 21 € + VAT

Required sample size: 330ml.

Sample type: Wort, fermenting and finished products, collected using aseptic technique.

Turnaround time: Approximately two business days.

Methods: PJSJ-6 ver. 1, based on ASBC Beer-2, ASBC Beer-3, ASBC Beer-4 and ASBC Beer 5.

* Method is not accredited

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pH Measurement

This value changes throughout the fermentation process and can affect flavor and microbial growth. This helps to monitor fermentation performance and knowing this throughout the process can help with consistency and can help with troubleshooting finicky fermentations.

Price: 8 € + VAT

Required Sample Size: 330ml

Sample Type: Wort, fermenting and finished products collected using aseptic technique.

Turnaround Time: Approximately two business days.

Method: PJSJ-6 ver. 1, based on ASBC Beer-9

We offer spectrophotometric analyses for beer samples using Hach DR6000 spectrophotometer and Hach pre-made cuvette test to run the analyses.

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Beer Color

Color analysis provides beer color values according to the European Brewing Convention (EBC).

Many factors can affect the color and clarity of your beer, such as changes in grain and/or adjunct suppliers, so tracking this value can help you to confirm consistency from batch to batch and troubleshoot any potential problems with ingredients. Values reported in EBC units.

Price: 32 € + VAT (includes Bitter Units analyses, see below)

Required Sample Size: 330ml

Sample Type: Wort, fermenting and finished products.

Turnaround Time: Approximately two business days.

Method: PJSJ-6 ver. 1, based on ASBC Beer-10A

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Bitterness Units

International Bitterness Units testing will determine how bitter your beer is.

The information from this test is useful for measuring batch consistency, determining utilization of the hops you are using and can help with hopping protocols. Results reported in IBU units.

Price: 32 € + VAT (includes Beer Color analysis, see above)

Required Sample Size: 330ml

Sample Type: Wort, fermenting and finished products.

Turnaround Time: Approximately two business days.

Method: PJSJ-6 ver. 1, based on LCK-241 (Iso-octane extraction).

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Vicinal Diketones (VDKs)

Vicinal Diketones (VDKs) are a group of flavor components in beer, most notably 2,3-butanedione (generally referred to as diacetyl) and 2,3-pentanedione. Sweet butter, caramel, or butterscotch flavors and aromas are characteristics of diacetyl, while pentanedione contributes more honey-like notes to beer. Analysis is spectrophotometric determination of total vicinal diketones in beer. Results reported in mg/kg.

Price: 32 € + VAT

Required Sample Size: 330ml

Sample Type: Fermenting and finished products.

Turnaround Time: Approximately two business days.

Method: LCK-242.

* Method is not accredited

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Full chemical analysis kit (Valvira)

This kit gives you the readings needed when registering a new product to the Finnish alcohol register (Valvira). All this information can be used to determine if you hit the right efficiencies in your mash and if your beer fermented properly according to gravity values. You can also learn if your kettle hop additions are giving you the correct bitterness contributions and are you hitting the correct color values for your brand. This kit is gives you a good overview of how consistent your brand in question is.

alcohol by volume (ABV)
alcohol by weight (ABW)
density (g/cm3)
apparent extract (%W/W)
real extract (%W/W)
real degree of fermentation (RDF)
apparent degree of fermentation (ADF)
sugar concentration (°P)
original gravity (°P)
IBU
EBC
pH

Price: 100 € + VAT
Turnaround time:b> Approximately two business days

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Registration Kit

This kit gives you the readings that are needed for registering your product in Finland when you get a listing at Alko. It includes ABV, original gravity, EBC and IBU measurements (see above).

Kit price: 70 € + VAT
Turnaround time:b> Approximately two business days

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Carbonation and Dissolved Oxygen

Knowing the carbonation of your finished product can help you determine carbonation loss or gain caused by your filler. This is also important for product quality and consistency.

Price: 15 € + VAT

Required Sample Size: Two 330ml. finished bottles or cans.

Sample Type: Finished product only.

Turnaround Time: Approximately two business days.

Methods: Anton Paar CBox-QC.

* Method is not accredited

Lactic acid producing bacteria (HLP), Wild yeasts (LCSM), Aerobic bacteria (WLD)

Full Screening: HLP. LCSM, WLD

Samples collected during brewing and packaging can be cultured to detect contaminants. It is important to monitor what is in your beer at every step of the brewing process in order to detect possible areas of contamination. Using special media – some developed by companies with the brewer in mind – we can gather information that will tell us a lot about yeast health, whether your beer contains beer spoilage organisms and whether those organisms are acid producing bacteria or wild yeast. Keep in mind, this method will not pinpoint exactly which organism(s) are causing issue in the brew, but for a little extra cost this method does allow us to isolate any unwanted organism(s) and then that sample can be analyzed with PCR. However, this method does reveal a lot about what is in your brew and can illuminate if and where further action needs to be taken, without PCR.

Download Sample Submission Form

Price:
Lactic acid producing bacteria: 29 € + VAT
Wild yeast: 29 € + VAT
Aerobic bacteria: 29 € + VAT
Full Screening: 75 € + VAT

Required Sample Size: Finished bottle or can OR 330ml sample collected using aseptic technique.

Sample Type: Wort, yeast slurry, fermenting and finished products collected using aseptic technique.

Turnaround Time: Approximately 5 business days.

ASBC Methods:
Microbiological Control 1. Aseptic Sampling
Microbiological Control 2. Detection of Microorganisms
Microbiological Control 5. Differential Culture Media

* Method is not accredited

Spectrophotometric determination of chemical composition of water samples. Water samples may be from a well, un-treated process water or treated process water. We offer a package for water testing that includes the following components: Hardness (°d) (+Ca), Sulphates, Chloride, Zink, Magnesium and Iron.

Hardness is reported in degrees of hardness and other components as mg/l.

Download Sample Submission Form

Price: 100 € + VAT

Required Sample Size: 330ml sample

Sample Type: well water, tap water, un-treated process water, treated process water

Turnaround Time: Approximately 3 business days.

Methods: PJSJ-7 ver. 1, based on LCK-327, LCK-153, LCK-353, LCK-311, LCK-360, LCK-326, LCK-321

We also offer identification of brewing bacteria through PCR amplification. This method provides a rapid turnaround for the results. 48 hours is needed for sample enrichment and after that in most cases only 5 hours is needed for the actual PCR diagnostics. We are using the Invisible Sentinel kits for the analysis and all analysis are done in house. Sampling can be performed from yeast slurry, pure colonies, mixed cultures, yeast packages from third-party suppliers and from other process samples. Please see the list below for offered PCR analyses:

Download Sample Submission Form
Download Sample Submission Form (PCR)

Lactic Acid Producing bacteria (LAP)
Saccharomyces diastaticus
Brettanomyces / Dekkera species
Brettanomyces bruxellensis
Megasphaera and Pectinatus

Price: 75 € + VAT for each individual analysis

Kit Price (LAP + Saccharomyces diastaticus + Brettanomyces / Dekkera): 160 € + VAT

Required Sample Size: Finished bottle or can OR 330ml sample collected using aseptic technique.

Sample Type: Wort, yeast slurry, fermenting and finished products collected using aseptic technique.

Turnaround Time: Approximately 3 business days.

* Method is not accredited