HOME  >  Newsletter  >  VOLUME 60, No.4 - 2000

ASBC Newsletter

One of our past presidents has warned me that writing this column would prove to be the most difficult part of my job as president. Guess what? He was absolutely correct!

It is Sunday, early in October. Outside, the sky is clear blue, not a cloud in sight, and the temperature is about 78°F. The St. Louis Rams have won their game. The Cardinals have won their game. Atlanta has lost its game. That means that the first game of the baseball playoffs will be held in St. Louis on Tuesday, and by the time you read this, all that will be history, but I’m supposed to write a President’s Column.

Nothing with respect to the Society has happened since we were in Orlando. You haven’t received the "post annual meeting" Newsletter (issue 3). The fall Board of Directors’ meeting is still two weeks away, and I’m supposed to write a President’s Column!

Twentysome years ago, as a new member of the national ABC, I read the President’s Column and had a sense that the current president (always a wise person indeed) was sharing his knowledge and experience. In recent years, there has been memorable humor and interesting recounting of brewing and ASBC history and lore. Trust me here—this is my most difficult job— but here goes:

Like Colin Powell, I want to talk about volunteerism.

Our Society has a long and successful history. I consider myself to have been extremely fortunate to have been a part of the scientific side of our industry during the past 33 years. It was during this time that most of the significant technology that we consider commonplace today was discovered and applied to our industry. That meant that the ASBC had a lot of work to do, and we had a lot of people willing to put in the time and effort to get that work done. We are where we are today because of those individuals who served in national office, who served as subcommittee chairmen and members, and who kept their local sections active and viable.

Today we work in a different environment. Because of industry consolidation, there is a smaller base of people to continue the efforts of the past. The ASBC has not lost membership—in fact (in light of the consolidations, it is amazing) our membership has grown. We can only believe that interest in what we do continues to be strong. We need to appeal, then, to each of you to find an area within the Society where you can become a volunteer/contributor. Any one of the subcommittees that evaluate methods of interest to you can use you as a participant. Support your local section activities—serve as an officer; make a presentation; attend meetings. Any involvement in the ASBC, local or national, will most likely require you, as with any volunteer work, to give some of your own time. I assure you, as with any volunteer work, the rewards are worth the time spent. Get involved—become a contributor—don’t refuse when asked. We still have work to do. One of our greatest challenges will be to find the contributors of the future.

Even though the day is warm and mild, by the time you read this you will be preparing for and anticipating the holiday season, regardless of where you live or how you worship. It is a time of family, friends, contemplation, and renewal. I would take this opportunity to wish each of you a peaceful and joyful holiday season in this Y2K and a successful and happy 2001!

—Nona M. Mundy
President

P.S. The Board meeting is over—the Cards have lost and the Rams have lost, but the ASBC has not. Great meeting! Read through the highlights of the minutes in this issue to hear some of the plans.

Mostly I’ve talked about volunteerism. While in St. Paul, Steve Nelson was kind enough to share a book being distributed at the AACC Annual Meeting in Kansas City, History of the American Association of Cereal Chemists, 1915–2000. In the preface, Ray Tarleton sums it up:

May the tradition continue.

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Highlights of the ASBC Board
of Directors Meeting

October 14–15, 2000
The ASBC Board of Directors met on Saturday and Sunday, October 14 and 15, at the Headquarters’ offices in St. Paul, MN. President Nona Mundy called the meeting to order at 8:45 a.m. Saturday morning. The previous Board meeting minutes were reviewed and approved. The next item of business was a review of the fall reports from the members of the Board.

Nona Mundy reported two communications, first a letter to Masahito Nakagawa, President of the BCOJ, thanking him for an invitation for Nona to attend the October meeting of the BCOJ in Japan. Nona expressed her regrets that she was unable to attend. Second, Nona reported that she sent a letter to the Headquarters Operations Committee of the American Association of Cereal Chemists and American Phytopathological Society expressing the ASBC’s gratitude and congratulations for a job well done by the ASBC staff on the organization and execution of the WBC 2000 meeting in Orlando.

President-elect Rob Maruyama reported that he planned to draft a letter to each of the local sections of the ASBC introducing himself and inquiring about how the sections are doing. Of particular interest to Rob is the success of the joint meetings of many of the local sections with the regional sections of the Master Brewers Association of the Americas (MBAA). Rob also expressed the support of the ASBC Board in the endeavors of the local sections.

Rob has been communicating with the MBAA regarding the plan for a joint seminar series starting with the ASBC and MBAA annual meetings next year in Victoria and Guadalajara, respectively. Under the plan, the MBAA would present a seminar during the ASBC meeting and the ASBC would present a seminar during the MBAA meeting. This is part of a collaborative effort between the two groups to work together to benefit the members of the respective organizations.

Also, as part of the continuing collaboration of the two brewing organizations, Rob is coordinating an effort for another joint meeting of the ASBC/MBAA similar to the WBC 2000 held this summer in Orlando, FL. Rob is working closely with Hugo Patino, president of the MBAA, investigating the possibility of a joint meeting in the year 2004 or 2005.

Richard Dubé, ASBC treasurer, reported on the financial success of the recent WBC 2000 event in Orlando. The success of this meeting, both logistically and financially, was credited to the meeting’s coordinators, Jim Munroe of the ASBC and Joe Hertrich of the MBAA, as well as the many others who assisted in organizing the program. The Board also recognized the outstanding contribution made by the St. Paul ASBC staff in ensuring the success of WBC 2000.

Technical Committee Chair Jim Murphey reported on the many issues confronting his group in the coming year, including soluble starch, cycloheximide alternatives, the testing of new enzymes for malt analysis, test-kit evaluations, and possible expansion of the ASBC check services. Jim has the 2000–2001 technical subcommittees set in place. They include Coordination of New and Alternate Methods, Soluble Starch, International Methods, Selective Measurement of Acetohydroxy Acid Precursors of Vicinal Diketones, Determination of Hop Essential Oil Components by GLC, Beer and Malt Beverage Color Using Tristimulus Analysis, Comparison of Alkaline Methylene Violet Stain for Yeast Viability to Standard Methods, DMS Precursors in Malt by Headspace GC with Application of Nitrogen Purging of Extracts, Evaluation of Nystatin as an Alternative to Cycloheximide, and Packaging Methods.

The Board discussed its desire to utilize the various media available to the ASBC to disseminate information regarding various issues useful to brewers and consumers. One example is that of the health benefits of beer. Investigations are continuing on how to best approach these publications, whether by the ASBC Web site, other Web sites, or printed media.

Expansion of the ASBC workshops held during the annual meetings is planned. Due to the success of these workshops in the past (including the subjects of malt, hops, yeast, and new analytical technologies), new topics are planned for the future. The Program Committee will make its recommendations on these new topics.

The meeting was adjourned on Sunday at 10:50 a.m.

Tim Kostelecky
Secretary

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Packaging Seminar Planned for Victoria

A joint initiative between the ASBC and the MBAA to share expertise across the two organizations will come to fruition in Victoria. The early planning indicates that an afternoon (at the very least) will focus on packaging issues. The seminar would consist of a panel of experts and would include presentations and a panel discussion. The topics would invite discussion designed to leave the audience with a better appreciation of both the laboratory and the process issues, challenges, and opportunities in the packaging area.

A key topic of interest at this early planning stage is oxygen control: how is it measured and how is it controlled during filtration and packaging? Another major area of interest relates to packaging materials: plastic containers, oxygen barriers, etc. Whatever becomes the primary focus of this seminar, the vision is to provide the lab personnel with a greater understanding of what the process issues are and to provide production personnel with a better appreciation of measurement and instrumentation issues.

These early planning discussions have involved Rob Maruyama, Kathy Kinton, Charlie Bamforth, Greg Casey, and Hugo Patino. Nothing has been carved in stone—yet! Please contact any one of these people if you have ideas or suggestions that would make this program more valuable to you and assure your attendance in Victoria. Additionally, be aware of the formation of the Packaging Methods Subcommittee (Chuck Carns, chair; see committee report), which is looking for members. If this interests you, give Chuck a call.

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2000-2001 Technical
Subcommittee Reports

The Technical Committee and subcommittee chairs met on October 13, 2000, in St. Paul, MN, to finalize details for this year’s subcommittee work. There will be a total of 10 technical subcommittees and four check services. Of the technical subcommittees, three are new (having been recommended by the Subcommittee on the Coordination of New and Alternate Methods of Analysis); four are in their second year or more; and three are standing subcommittees. The standing Subcommittees are International Methods, Soluble Starch, and Coordination of New and Alternate Methods of Analysis. The check services are Beer Analysis (managed by Bahram Grami), Hop Analysis (managed by Steve Kenny), and Malt Analysis and Barley Analysis (both managed by John Barr).

The subcommittee chairs did an excellent job in preparation for the fall meeting, resulting in productive discussions of each method. Special appreciation is due to each of the chairs for their hard work and dedication.

Your Technical Committee is composed of James Murphey (chair), Stefan Nyarady (ex officio), Dirk Bendiak, Charles Carns, Cindy-Lou Dull, David Maradyn, and Paul Schwarz.

Coordination of New and Alternate Methods of Analysis
This is a standing subcommittee whose function is to collect, from various sources, new and alternate methods of analysis that may be useful to the industries our Society serves. These methods are reviewed to establish their merit and usefulness, and a recommendation regarding collaborative testing is made to the Technical Committee. The subcommittee is also charged with periodically reviewing existing methods for accuracy and usefulness. The subcommittee chair is John Engel.

John Engel
Miller Brewing Co.
P.O. Box 482
Milwaukee, WI 53201-0482
414/931-2099
Fax 414/931-2506
E-mail engel.john@mbco.com

John is the corporate quality services manager of product for the Miller Brewing Co. He has served in this position since November 1996. Engel began his career with Miller Brewing Co. at the Albany, GA, brewery in June of 1980. During his 20 years with the company, he has held numerous positions at various locations that include the Albany, GA, brewery; Milwaukee, WI, brewery; Trenton, OH, brewery; and corporate offices. Positions held during this time include the following: packaging quality analyst, control chemist, technical packaging supervisor, packaging quality supervisor, product quality supervisor, quality systems technologist, laboratory manager/core quality leader, and corporate quality services manager-product. Engel obtained a B.S. in chemistry from Carroll College in Waukesha, WI. He also holds a Diploma in Brewing from the Siebel Institute of Technology.

Subcommittee members: J. Carr, D. Christopher, M. Clements, C.-L Dull, R. Joy, A. Kazelis, L. Kruger, D. Maradyn, J. Miller, G. Perez, R. Sieben, R. Stewart, and J. Murphey (ex officio).

Soluble Starch
The Soluble Starch Subcommittee is a standing subcommittee whose goal is to coordinate a testing program for soluble starch that will ensure a consistent supply of quality starch for the Society. To further this goal, the subcommittee monitors process methodology utilized in the production of the starch, investigates improved methods for starch quality testing, and evaluates potential new suppliers of starch. The subcommittee chair is Michael Joyce.

Michael Joyce
Coors Brewing Co.
P.O. Box 4030/BC600
Golden, CO 80401-0030
303/277-6222
Fax 303/277-5736
E-mail mike.joyce@coors.com

Mike received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Metropolitan State University in Denver, CO. He has worked at Coors Brewing Co. since 1976 and is currently a malting/brewing chemist in the Product Control Laboratory in Golden, CO. He has been involved with the ASBC as a previous subcommittee chair and member.

Subcommittee members: E. Austin, M. Browers, S. Chan, D. Christopher, R. Hills, B. Johannes, H. Kuester, M. Maurice, C. McLinn, M. Ono (BCOJ), G. Smith, W. Swenson, and P. Schwarz (ex officio).

Selective Measurement of Acetohydroxy Acid
Precursors of Vicinal Diketones
This is the fifth year for this subcommittee, formed to evaluate an alternative method for vicinal diketone precursor conversion based on the selective measurement of acetohydroxy acid precursors using aniline hydrochloride. In its first year, unacceptable repeatability and reproducibility coefficients of variation were found. In the second year, no collaborative testing was initiated. In the third year, the calculated levels of acetolactate were found to be 10–20 times lower than expected, based on the amount of precursor sent to each collaborator, suggesting that there may have been a problem with the saponification step in the procedure. In the fourth year, acceptable repeatability coefficients and unacceptable reproducibility coefficients were found. This year, ruggedness testing will be performed to stabilize the acetolactate before distribution to collaborators. The subcommittee chair is Chantelle McRoberts.

Chantelle McRoberts
Labatt Brewing Co. Ltd.
P.O. Box 5050
London, ON N6A 4M3
CANADA
519/667-7345
Fax 519/667-7350
E-mail chantelle.mcroberts@labatt.com

Chantelle received her Ph.D. degree in organic chemistry from the University of Western Ontario in London, ON, Canada, in 1999. She joined the Advanced Research Department of Labatt Brewing Co. Ltd. in London, ON, as a postdoctoral fellow in 1999.

Subcommittee members: C. Almen, K. Bond, M. K Yang (BCOJ), P. Doringnaux (EBC), K. Ozaki (BCOJ), J. Castane, C. Eckermann, C. Garcia-Fuentes, G. Perez, A. Tinginys, M. P. Gasparri, D. Bendiak, and D. Maradyn (ex officio).

Determination of Hop Essential Oils
by Capillary Gas Chromatography
This is the subcommittee’s first year. It was formed on a recommendation from the Subcommittee for the Coordination of New and Alternate Methods of Analysis. The objective of this collaborative study is to determine whether reproducible separation and quantification of selected hop essential oil components can be achieved across multiple laboratories. The subcommittee chair is Stephen Kenny.

Stephen Kenny
Washington State University
IAREC
24106 N. Bunn Rd.
Prosser, WA 99350
509/786-9284
Fax 509/786-9370
E-mail skenny@tricity.wsu.edu

Steve is a research scientist in hop genetics and breeding at Washington State University. He received a B.S. degree in biology with a minor in chemistry from Frostburg State University. He graduated with a Ph .D. in plant genetics from Colorado State University. Steve joined Washington State University in 1981, where he is responsible for developing new hop cultivars and hop germplasm with improved resistance to hop pests. He has been a member of several ASBC subcommittees for hop analytical methods.

Subcommittee members: J. Murphey, G. Nickerson, T. Pruneda, A. Tinginys, and D. Bendiak (ex officio).

Beer Color Using Tristimulus Analysis
This is the third year for this subcommittee, formed on interest expressed by the ASBC membership and the general business meeting at the 1998 Annual Meeting in Boston to examine the use of tristimulus-based analyses in the evaluation of beer color. The subcommittee chair is Michael Clements.

Michael Clements
Guinness Research and Development
St. James Gate
Dublin 8
Ireland
9-011-353-1-408-4695
Fax 9-011-353-1-408-4816
E-mail Michael.Clements@guinness.com

Subcommittee members: C. Eckermann, G. Fisher, R. Haag, A. Itami, E. Kouhi-Lavender, P. Lynn, A. Speers, H. A. Teass, A. Tinginys, R. Ulmer, J. Connell, J. Gillespie, and P. Schwarz (ex officio).

Comparison of Alkaline Methylene Violet Stain
for Yeast Viability to Standard Methods
This is the subcommittee’s second year. It was formed on a recommendation from the Subcommittee for the Coordination of New and Alternate Methods of Analysis. This collaborative study will test the proposed method against Yeast–3A. The subcommittee co-chairs are Lynette Kruger and Maureen Land.

Lynette Kruger
Siebel Institute of Technology
4055 W. Peterson Ave.
Chicago, IL 60646-6001
773/279-0966, ext. 125
Fax 773/463-7688
E-mail lyn@hotmail.com

Lyn Kruger worked for South African Breweries as development microbiologist and microbiology consultant. She holds her B.S. in microbiology and chemistry from Rhodes University and her M.S. in fermentation microbiology from the University of Witswatersrand. Lyn is currently president and COO of Siebel Institute and is involved with various courses, lab services, and microbiological media.

Maureen Land has over 19 years experience in microbiological quality assurance relating to the brewing industry. She has a degree in biology from the University of Illinois and has been an instructor with the Institute since 1989. Maureen, as senior microbiologist, is involved in all microbiology and quality control laboratory sessions.

Subcommittee members: L. Andersen, F. Barbero, D. Bendiak, J. Carvell, G. Gonzales, G. Hulse, G. Pili, G. Pirez, T. Pugh, K. Smart (EBC), R. Stewart, H. Teass, G. Vargas, L. Wallace, C. Wright, and C.-L. Dull (ex officio).

DMS Precursors in Malt by Headspace GC with
Application of Nitrogen Purging of Extracts
This is the subcommittee’s second year, having been formed on a recommendation from the Subcommittee for the Coordination of New and Alternate Methods of Analysis. The effort will collaboratively study the method of Yang and Schwarz as an alternative method to Malt-14. The subcommittee chair is Gordon Laycock.

Gordon Laycock
Prairie Malt Limited
P.O. Box 150
Bigger, SK S0K 0M0
CANADA
306/948-3525
Fax 306/948-3969
E-mail Gordon_laycock@cargill.com

Gordon received a B.Sc. degree in chemistry from the University of Saskatchewan. He worked for a brief time in the laboratory of a potash mine as a chemical analyst. He returned to the university for one year of teacher training and then taught chemistry and physics for 12 years. In 1979, Gordon joined Prairie Malt and worked in the laboratory as a chemical technologist; in 1989, he became laboratory manager. He presently holds the position of manager of quality assurance.

Subcommittee members: D. Iwamoto, R. Joy, J. Murphey, C. Roos, and P. Schwarz (ex officio).

Evaluation of Nystatin as an Alternative to Cycloheximide
This year marks the first year of existence for this subcommittee. It was formed to evaluate nystain as an alternative to cycloheximide for the suppression of brewing yeast in culture media used for the detection of microorganisms in brewery samples. The subcommittee chair is Theresa Dowgiert.

Theresa Dowgiert
Coors Brewing Co.
P.O. Box 4.30/BC600
303/277-2313
Fax 303/277-6834
E-mail teri.dowgiert@coors.com

Teri Dowgiert graduated with a B.S. in microbiology from Colorado State University in 1983. Upon graduation, she chose to stay in Ft. Collins and worked for two years for the CSU Department of Physiology producing hybridomas and studying viral diseases of livestock. Afterwards, she moved to Fairplay, CO, and worked as a sanitarian for the Park County Health Department. Three years of wind and snow made her eager to find some employment and sunshine down under in Sydney, Australia, where she worked as a medical microbiologist for Med Path Labs. Upon returning to the United States in 1990, she began work with the QC Department at Coors Brewing Co. and has been involved with the Brewing Process Research and Development group since 1995. Beer and bugs aside, Teri dabbles in art and horsemanship and enjoys the company of her four-year-old daughter and new family of five.

Packaging Methods
This is the subcommittee’s first year, having been formed on interest expressed by the Society’s membership. The subcommittee will focus on issues, methodology, and emerging technology pertaining to packaging. The subcommittee chair is Chuck Carns.

Charles Carns
Miller Brewing Co.
3939 West Highland
Milwaukee, WI 53208
414/931-2861
Fax 414/931-4873
E-mail carns.chuck@mbco.com

Chuck graduated with a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in 1972. He then joined the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as an investigator. Following the FDA, he transferred to quality control management at Continental Can Co. In 1976, Chuck joined Miller Brewing Co. He began his career at Miller in the Container Division in Quality Assurance, where he held positions in both plant and corporate management. In the late 1980s, he transferred to the brewery, working as a special projects manager and quality manager. Chuck is currently project manager-packaging in the Brewing, Research and Quality Service Division of Miller Brewing Co.

Subcommittee members: to be determined.

—James Murphey
Technical Committee Chair

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Local Section News

Local Section 3—North Central
North Central Section held a joint meeting with MBAA on Wed., Sept. 13, 2000, at the Vine Park Brewing Company, St Paul, MN. Vine Park is the Twin Cities’ newest brewpub. A presentation was given by David Thompson, the owner of Vine Park, giving the history of his establishment. It was originally opened as a "brew your own" facility, and this aspect is still part of the business. Tours of the "brew your own" and of the brewpub brewhouse were available. The next meeting will again be a joint meeting with MBAA. It will be held Wed., Nov. 8, 2000, at the Summit Brewing Company, St. Paul, MN. This will be the annual crop report.

—Gerri Kustelski

Local Section 7—Northwest
The next joint fall ASBC/MBAA meeting will be Oct. 20–21 in Yakima, WA. There will be an open house at Murphey Analytical on Friday with demonstrations of testing procedures routinely performed in the brewing and allied industries. Topics and demonstration to be presented will be methods for determining malt modification, hop analysis, and a hand-held cell counter used for yeast during fermentation. Saturday will continue with presentations from Michael Lewis from U.C. Davis and Jeff Edgertion from Bridgeport Brewing.

—Les Wallace

Local Section 8—Wild West
Local section 8 will have a joint meeting with the local MBAA Rocky Mountain District on the evening of Nov. 9, at the Coors Brewing Company in Golden, CO.

—Mike Joyce

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Industry News

Alltech/Siebel Lawsuit Settled Out of Court
Alltech and Lallemand are happy to announce that the lawsuit entitled Alltech Inc., vs. Siebel Institute of Technology et al. has been settled. Alltech and Lallemand both feel that settlement of this lawsuit, which arose out of the sale of the Siebel Institute of Technology, is in the best interests of all parties, the Siebel Institute and the brewing industry. Alltech and Lallemand regret that they and those former members of the Siebel Institute faculty whom Alltech hired may have been misled by the circumstances surrounding the sale of the Siebel Institute earlier this year. With this settlement in place, all parties have agreed to end all litigation efforts regarding this transaction.

As part of the settlement, Lallemand and Ron Siebel will retain their ownership of the Siebel Institute of Technology. Alltech will retain five of the former full-time faculty members of the Siebel Institute. Other specific terms of the settlement agreement are to remain confidential.

All parties—Ronald Siebel, William Siebel, Lyn Kruger, Lallemand, and Alltech—hope that the brewing industry will benefit from having both Alltech and the Siebel Institute providing courses and services to the brewing industry.

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