Headspace Gas Chromatographic Analysis of Sulfur Dioxide in Beer. Lourdes R. Moreno and Pablo I. de la Vega, Research and Development, Brewing Technical Directorate, San Miguel Corporation, Metro Manila, Philippines. J. Am. Soc. Brew. Chem. 47:0006, 1989.

A gas chromatographic technique for the determination of free and bound sulfur dioxide in beer was developed. Bound SO₂ was decomplexed in alkaline medium in the presence of mercuric chloride. Free SO₂ evolved on acidification was quantified by gas chromatography with a flame photometric detector. Sodium bisulfite was used as an external standard. The method showed good correlation with both the distillation and colorimetric methods. Recovery of SO₂ and reproducibility by this gas chromatographic technique were high. Because the procedure does not use pararosaniline dye, it is safer than the colorimetric method and is equally applicable to rapid analysis of SO₂ in both pale and dark beer samples.

Keywords: Beer, Gas chromatography, Headspace sampling, Sulfur dioxide