Rapid Quantification of Flavor-Active Sulfur Compounds in Beer. A. W. Dercksen, I. Meijering, and B. Axcell, The South African Breweries, P.O. Box 782178, Sandton 2146, Republic of South Africa. J. Am. Soc. Brew. Chem. 50:0093, 1992.

Sulfury notes that did not correlate with measured dimethyl sulfide concentrations were identified during organoleptic panel assessments of beer. This initiated the development of a method by which these compounds could be detected, identified, and quantified. An in-bottle purge-and-trap sampling technique was successfully coupled to a capillary gas chromatograph with a sulfur chemiluminescence detector. Analyses of beer then generated sulfur compound profiles that correlated with the sulfury notes detected by the panelists. This method should be a valuable quality control tool for flavor-active sulfur compound profile measurement and for subsequent control of unwanted high concentrations of these compounds.

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