HOME  >  Newsletter  >  VOLUME 61, No.4 - 2001

ASBC Newsletter

Greetings!

There is a game based on the idea that anyone can connect themselves with the actor Kevin Bacon within seven degrees of separation. It goes something like this. I knew a guy at work, who played football with a friend who dated a girl in Hollywood, who had a best friend who was the chef at a restaurant in downtown L.A. The owner of that restaurant went on vacation to Yellowstone, where he had dinner with his cousin, who had a small part in a movie with Kevin Bacon. You get the drift. All of us have been touched by the tragic events of September 11. I’m sure that it doesn’t take more than a couple of degrees of separation before you also find a direct connection to the sadness and courage of that day. I’m sure that some of our members have been affected in personal and direct ways. My thoughts and prayers go out to you, your friends, colleagues, and families.

The WTC and Pentagon disasters also had an impact on the ASBC. Our fall Board of Directors meeting was scheduled for September 28 to October 1. After September 11, I queried the Board members regarding their thoughts about traveling to the upcoming Board meeting. Some members had company-mandated travel restrictions. Others had experienced travel delays while on company business immediately following the attacks. Some members just reflected on their own desires to stay close to home. In the end, however, all of the members of the Board felt that it was important to get back to normal, as much as possible.

Your Board of Directors met on the last weekend in September at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort on the Santa Ana Pueblo in New Mexico. The Tamaya is located between Albuquerque and Santa Fe in New Mexico and is the site of our 2003 annual meeting. The Tamaya Resort is a wonderful property that opened in early 2001. It is nestled along the banks of the Rio Grande River. Wonderful location!

During the two and a half days that the Board met, we conducted normal ASBC business and revisited our Strategic Plan. Let’s talk about ASBC business first. As the ASBC representative for the WBC 2004 planning committee, I updated the Board on the planning process. Brian Williams (MBAA cochair) and I sent out personal invitation letters to the Presidents of the EBC, IGB, and BCOJ introducing the planning committee and opening the doors to the planning process. Dirk Bendiak, ASBC president-elect, has graciously agreed to cochair the WBC 2004 Technical Program Committee. Dirk did a stellar job in organizing the technical program for the WBC 2000 and I’m certain that he will plan another excellent program in 2004. Thank you, Dirk.

Jim Murphey, Technical Committee chairman, continues to drive one of the Society’s key strengths, collaborative analytical method validation. The Technical Committee and subcommittee chairmen completed eight collaborative studies during the year. Jim reviewed their progress and stated that one method was recommended for approval for inclusion in the ASBC Methods of Analysis. The recommendation came from the Beta-Amylase subcommittee chaired by Mike Joyce. Five other subcommittees will continue for another year. I want to thank all of the members who participated in collaborative studies because the studies are the cornerstones of our Society.

During the months since our Victoria meeting, the Global Beer Alliance (GBA) solicited financial support ($1,000) from all of the participating organizations to develop a GBA Web site. The ASBC Board of Directors approved the spending to support the development of the site. The Web site will outline the strengths and talents of the participating organizations and link visitors to the individual society home pages. Charlie Papazian, Association of Brewers (AoB), will develop the GBA site, and the St. Paul staff will help draft the ASBC portion of the site. The GBA was scheduled to meet at the Drinktec meeting during mid-September, but the global impact of September 11 kept many of the GBA representatives at home. The esteemed David Ryder is our ASBC representative. and he too was unable to attend the meeting. The GBA participants were to discuss issues such as formal agreements, statement of purpose, statement of benefits, organizational structure (Inc. or simple alliance), governance structure, budgets, and Web site development.

At the Tamaya meeting, the ASBC Board spent one full day revisiting the Strategic Plan. During the strategic planning process, Steve Nelson from the St. Paul staff reviewed the findings of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). Like the ASBC, the ASAE was interested in strategic planning. They performed an environmental scan that identified 14 key trends in societies today. Many of the trends are germane to the ASBC. The Board identified eight key trends to help focus our efforts: leadership, value/return on investment, governance, revenue usage, technology usage, competition and alliances, consolidation and mergers, and globalization. In addition to the ASAE trends, the Board discussed and brainstormed the strengths and opportunities for ASBC. What do we do well now? Where do we see ASBC in the future? The Board completed a gap analysis and identified four areas of opportunity: reaching out to other beverage industries (vintners and distillers); moving from being a provider of information and knowledge in traditional formats to being a provider in many formats; moving from traditional governance structure to a more flexible structure; moving from an organization that supports education and technical excellence through traditional formats to an organization that provides the best mechanisms for information dissemination, that meets the needs of the changing annual meeting attendees, and that broadens the scope of the information provided.

We also reviewed a simple strategic planning process that outlined three levels of focus for the Board in strategic planning: guiding (setting the strategic course), planning, and implementing. The Board used this three-pronged approach to discuss methods for attacking the identified “gaps.” It didn’t try to resolve these gaps, but individual Board members were identified to lead the Society’s efforts in bridging them. The planning for each initiative will include detailed action plans and due dates. If you receive a call from one of the Board members requesting your participation, please volunteer. To help the Board keep on task with the strategic planning process, we agreed to conduct monthly teleconferences to update our progress.

I want to say thank you to each and every member of the ASBC for making it a great Society. Your participation and commitment are the heart of our success. Have a wonderful holiday season!

See you in Tucson, June 8-12, 2002.

Cheers!

-Rob Maruyama
President

P.S. I thought it would be nice to show you the scenery around Golden. In the picture, I’m standing in front of the Continental Divide, just outside Golden.

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CONTENTS

• ASBC Foundation Established
• Highlights of the ASBC Board of Directors Meeting
• Technical Subcommittee Report
• Local Section News

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ASBC Foundation Established

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Highlights of the ASBC Board
of Directors Meeting

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2001-2002 Technical Subcommittee Report

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

John A. Engel is the corporate quality services manager of product for the Miller Brewing Co. Engel began his career with Miller Brewing Co. at the Albany, GA, Brewery in June of 1980. During his 21 years with the company, he has held numerous positions within its quality assurance organization at various locations, which include the Albany, GA, brewery; Milwaukee, WI, brewery; corporate offices; and Trenton, OH, brewery. 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.

Soluble Starch
This is a standing subcommittee that functions to procure and test lots of high-quality soluble starch for the Society. Soluble starch lot 27119A has been approved for analyzing brewer’s malts for diastatic power and alpha-amylase activity. The subcommittee will evaluate a new 600-kg lot of starch in fiscal year 2001-2002. The subcommittee chair is Mike Joyce.

Michael J. Joyce
Coors Brewing Company
P.O. Box 4030/BC600
Golden, CO 80401
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.

Selective Measurement of Acetohydroxy Acid Precursors of Vicinal Diketones
This was the fifth year for this subcommittee to evaluate acetohydroxy precursors of vicinal diketones (VDK) from other precursors in beer. The method uses aniline hydrochloride to convert alpha-acetolactate to diacetyl. Unacceptable reproducibility coefficients of variation were found for total VDK for the as-is, heat-treated, and aniline hydrochloride-treated samples. No VDK precursor conversion by aniline hydrochloride was found. Recommendations were made to initiate ruggedness testing to investigate causes for low concentrations of diacetyl measured relative to the amount of precursor added and to determine the cause of the abnormally high coefficients of variation for diacetyl measurements between laboratories. The subcommittee chair is Stephen McCarthy.

Stephen L. McCarthy
Anheuser-Busch, Inc.
1 Busch Pl Bldg 36-5
St. Louis, MO 63118-1849
314/577-0604
Fax: 314/577-1055
E-mail: stephen.mccarthy@anheuser-busch.com

Stephen L. McCarthy is a senior chemist in the Brewing Technical Services Department of Anheuser-Busch Inc. He received a B.S. degree in chemistry at the University of Missouri-St. Louis in 1976 and was employed as a senior technologist at Smith-Kline Clinical Laboratories from 1977 to 1984. In 1984, he joined Anheuser-Busch as a chemist in the Analytical Services Group. He currently works in the Brewing Research Group. His duties include work on chillproofing, beer oxidation and method development. His work on behalf of the ASBC includes chairing the subcommittees on Iron in Beer by Ferrozine Method and Fermentable Carbohydrates by HPLC, as well as presentations at four annual meetings.

Determination of Hop Essential Oils by Capilllary Gas Chromatography
This first-year subcommittee’s objective was to determine whether reproducible separation, identification, and quantification of selected hop essential oil components could be achieved across multiple laboratories without using an identical gas chromatographic procedure. The repeatability and reproducibility coefficients of variation for the 11 essential oil components measured were judged acceptable. The subcommittee recommended repeating the collaborative with more varied hop essential oil sample pairs and recruiting additional collaborators. Stephen Kenny is the chairman.

Stephen T. Kenny
Washington State University
IAREC
24106 N. Bunn Rd.
Prosser, WA 99350-9370
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.

Evaluation of Nystatin as an Alternative to Cycloheximide in Selective Culture
In its first year, this subcommittee evaluated nystatin as an alternative to cycloheximide to suppress brewing yeast growth in culture media. Nystatin was effective in suppressing ale yeast at 500,000 units per liter and in suppressing lager yeast at 250,000 units per liter. The subcommittee members recommended continuing the collaborative using well-dissolved nystatin in the media at concentrations of 250,000 and 500,000 units per liter for ale yeast cultures and 150,000 and 250,000 units per liter for lager yeast cultures. Bacterial challenge testing will be included as part of the collaborative. The subcommittee chairman is Teresa Dowgiert.

Teresa L. Dowgiert
Coors Brewing Co.
Brewing R&D
BC 600 PO Box 4030
Golden, CO 80401-0030
303/277-2313
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 five-year-old daughter and new family of five.

Beer Color Using Tristimulus Analysis
In its third year, this subcommittee evaluated beer color measurement using tristimulus analysis (i.e., L*, a*, and b* values). Repeatability coefficients of variation for L*, a*, and b* were judged acceptable. Reproducibility coefficients of variation for L* and b* were judged acceptable. The reproducibility coefficients of variation for a* were judged unacceptable. The collaborative will be repeated with a larger number of sample pairs representing a wider range in product types. The subcommittee chairman is Jeff Cornell.

Jeffrey L. Cornell
Coors Brewing Co.
BC 600 P.O. Box 4030
Golden, CO 80401-0030
303/277-6597
Fax: 303/277-6834
E-mail: jeff.cornell@coors.com

In 1983, Jeffery L. Cornell earned a B.S. degree in chemistry from Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, CO. Shortly thereafter, he joined Rocky Mountain Analytical Laboratory as an analytical chemist performing GC/MS analysis on environmental matrices. As this company grew into a large laboratory network (Quanterra Environmental Services), Jeff held several positions of increasing responsibility, including laboratory supervisor, senior chemist, and operations and systems manager. In 1998, he joined Sievers Instruments as the product specialist for the GC detector and analyzer product lines. Jeff then joined Coors Brewing Company in 2000 as the senior development chemist in the Quality, Research and Development Group. His current work interests include tristimulus beer color measurement and beer analysis applications of multidimensional GC-olfactometry.

Analytical Test Methods for Packaging
This first-year’s subcommittee was formed to address packaging methods of analysis and issues of interest to or needed by the society’s membership. As a result of the successful packaging seminar held at the annual meeting in Victoria, two new packaging subcommittees have been initiated. These are, Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide Measurement in Packaged Beer (to be chaired by John Majda) and Evaluation of Can Packaging Methodology (to be chaired by Tom Fetters). The Subcommittee on Analytical Test Methods for Packaging is chaired by Charles Carns.

Charles S. 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.

Comparison of Alternative Stains to Methylene Blue as a Measure of Yeast Viability
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 evaluate alternative stains. The chairman is Tom Pugh.

Tom A. Pugh
Miller Brewing Co.
3939 W. Highland Blvd.
P.O. Box 482
Milwaukee, WI 53201-0482
414/931-4362
Fax: 414/931-2506
E-mail: pugh.tom@mbco.com

Tom Pugh is currently group leader of the Process Microbiology and Fermentation Group in the Research and Development Department of the Miller Brewing Co. in Milwaukee, WI. Before joining Miller in 1999, he worked for three years as a principal research scientist in the Technical Center and for five years as the group leader of the Yeast Fermentation Group in the Research and Development Department of Anheuser-Busch Inc. in St. Louis, MO. Tom earned his B.S. degree in microbiology from Indiana University, and then his Ph.D. degree in microbiology from the University of Notre Dame in the laboratory of Mary Clancy, studying sporulation-specific gene expression in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. He then completed a three-year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan in the laboratory of John Pringle, studying molecular aspects of the cell division cycle and cellular morphogenesis in yeast.

Protein in Hopped Wort and Beer by Spectrophotometric Method
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. Wort-17 provides a quick and rapid means of measuring the soluble protein content of unhopped wort. This subcommittee will evaluate the work of de la Vega to measure the protein content of hopped wort in beer. The chairman is Giselle G. Perez.

Giselle G. Perez
Gerente Laboratorio Central
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
+55 21 2414 4701
Fax: +55 21 2414 4703
E-mail: nrgisell@ambev.com.br

Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide Measurement in Packaged Beer
This first-year subcommittee, formed as a result of the packaging seminar held at Victoria, B.C., will evaluate oxygen and carbon dioxide measurements in packaged beer utilizing the Orbisphere analyzer. The chairman is John Majda.

John A. Majda
Anheuser-Busch, Inc.
1 Busch Pl., Bldg 82-2
St. Louis, MO 63118-1852
314/577-3698
Fax: 314/865-9849
E-Mail: john.majda@anheuser-busch.com

John A. Majda is technical manager at Anheuser-Busch’s Corporate Quality Assurance Office in St. Louis, MO. John has been at the corporation’s office for the past two years. His prior experience with Anheuser-Busch was at their Los Angeles brewery. He worked at various positions in the brewery’s quality section and served as the brewery’s QA manager from 1996 to 1999. John has a B.S. degree in medical microbiology from San Jose State University. He also minored in chemistry. John put the degree to work by managing a clinical laboratory in the San Jose, CA, area for three years. He has been a member of the ASBC in Southern California for four years and a member of the St. Louis chapter for the past two years. He will chair his first subcommittee this year.

Evaluation of Can Packaging Methodology
This first-year subcommittee, formed as a result of the packaging seminar held at Victoria, B.C., will evaluate, modify, and update the Cans section of Packages and Packaging Materials in Methods of Analysis. The chairman is Tom Fetters.

Thomas T. Fetters
Crown Cork & Seal Co.
11535 S. Central Ave.
Alsip, IL 60803-3418
708/239-5050
Fax: 708/239-5352

Tom Fetters has been in the packaging industry for nearly 40 years, working with the development of cans for the beer and beverage, food, and aerosol trade; containers for general line such as paint and automotive; metal, plastic, and composite closures; plastic bottles for food, hot-fill juice, and beer, including the new pasteurizable plastic beer bottle; and crowns for CSD plants and breweries. A chemical engineer with a B.S. degree from Clemson University, Tom has often been sent directly to customer locations to resolve packaging issues with crowns, roll-on aluminum closures, and plastic closures, including trips to Europe and South America. He worked for 10 years as a plastisol formulator for plastic gaskets for most of the jelly, baby food, pickle, and peanut closures in use today, as well as modifying the formula to meet specific brewery requests regarding torque and flavor.

He has written three popular books on railroads in South Carolina and has a new book expected out late this year on prefabricated porcelain steel houses built in the late 1940s throughout the Midwest and East Coast sections of the country.

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Local Section News

Local Section 1—New York
ASBC Local Section 1 is planning a joint meeting with the local MBAA chapter. No date has been set. Both organizations have postponed a previously scheduled meeting because of the terror in New York.

Dennis Lenahan, Chair

Local Section 2—St. Louis
ASBC Local Section 2 met on Sept. 26 at Spiro’s Restaurant on Watson Road in St. Louis, MO. There were 40 members in attendance with two guests. One of our members, Michael Amad (manager of brewing education, Corporate Brewing Department, Anheuser Busch, Inc.) spoke about mobile brewing education programs (for example, Beer School). Mike gave a terrific talk on brewing education for consumers, retailers, and wholesalers. The combination of saganaki, talk of the Beer School, and the continuous flowing stream of beer made for a most enjoyable evening. The next meeting will be held on Oct. 25 at the Lemp Mansion Restaurant. Chaz Bennedick from Orbisphere will speak on metering devices for dissolved gases.

Mark Rennie, Secretary

Rich Ogle (Anheuser-Busch), president of ASBC Local Section 2, and Ron Tomasella (Durkin Equipment), vice-president.

Eric Beck, Joel Grosser, Rick Felder, and Stephanie Diggs (all from Anheuser-Busch) conversing at the ASBC Local Section 2 meeting.

Enjoying the ASBC Local Section 2 meeting are Doug Onesco (Perkin Elmer), John Grigsby (Anheuser-Busch, senior technical advisor of ASBC), and Nona Mundy (Anheuser Busch, past president of ASBC).

Annual ASBC/MBAA Golf Tournament
The annual ASBC/MBAA golf tournament was held Fri., Sept. 28, at Pevely Farms Golf Club, with 126 golfers participating on a fine fall day. Participants included employees of Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis Brewery, and Morgan Street Brewery, as well as various vendors and guests. ASBC Local Section 2 members set out to disprove the commonly held belief that scientists cannot play golf. As the tournament was won by a team of experimental brewers comprised of Greg Jacknewitz, Lisa Flederjohann, and Eric Beck, as well as VWR sale representative Sam White, the issue was still in doubt, since it was unclear whether experimental brewers consider themselves scientists. This raised another question—whether “brewing experiments” could be performed that do not involve science. During the course of the day, several “brewing scientist-golfers” very thoroughly investigated the hypothesis that “you can’t buy beer, you can only rent it.” The theory was well-supported by observation, but no actual measurements were recorded. Follow-up experiments were planned for future golf outings.

Winners of the ASBC Local Section 2 golf outing: Eric Beck, Lisa Flederjohann, and Greg Jacknewitz (all from Anheuser-Busch) and Sam White (VWR).

Some section 2 members were observed using the infamous “windmill” technique of swinging the club, which proved to be picturesque but not very effective. The team headed by Local Section 2 Chairman Rich Ogle, and including other Section 2 members Barber, McCarthy, and Loyet, made a determined bid to become the team losing the most golf balls during the tournament. As no other team made a formal claim for the award, it was given by default. Anheuser-Busch maltster Jim Kron was the recipient of a severe tongue-lashing by the course marshal for getting his golf cart stuck in the mud beyond the course boundary while giving a tour of “good acreage” to a teammate. Other participants experienced a less exciting but nevertheless enjoyable outing.

Stephen McCarthy, Participant

(Golf photos and background information submitted by Ron Tomasella, Vice-Chair.)

Participants Steve McCarthy, Tim Raw, Dennis Loyet, Rich Ogle, Loy Barber, and Ron Hechst (all from Anheuser-Busch) enjoy the fall day at the ASBC Local Section 2 golf outing.

Section 3—North Central
The North Central Section held an ASBC/MBAA joint meeting on Sept. 12 at the City Brewing Co. in LaCrosse, WI. Randy Smith, the president of City Brewing, reviewed their start-up and current operations.

A joint meeting is scheduled for Nov. 14 at the Summit Brewing Co., St. Paul, MN. Traditionally, the program for the November meeting is the annual barley crop report.

Gerri Kustelski, Secretary/Treasurer

Section 4—Milwaukee/Chicago
The Milwaukee/Chicago Section held a joint meeting with the MBAA on Thurs., Sept. 20 at the Great Dane Brewing Co., Madison, WI. Technical presentations and brewery tours were given by Great Dane Brewers Rob LoBreglio, Pat Keller, and Dan Vasa. The next meeting will be a joint one with MBAA on Nov. 15 at Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI.

Eric Martens, Secretary

Section 7—Northwest
The next meeting for ASBC Local Section 7 will be held on Oct. 19 and 20 in Portland OR, at the Days Inn Downtown Portland. It will be held jointly with the MBAA. On Oct. 19, there will be golfing, brewery tours, a hospitality suite, and a dinner. The following morning, the business meetings for each organization will be held concurrently in different rooms, followed by technical sessions on malt and malting. A wort-tasting talk will also be given during the day.

Dan Christopher, Chair

Local Section 8—Wild West
Surveys were distributed to the brewing communities in the local area to solicit information regarding subject matter of interest to section members (inside and outside our membership). The results are currently being evaluated in order to define the needs of the local membership for future gatherings and business meetings. Plans were made for a late summer meeting but unfortunately were abandoned due to recent world events.

The local section will again host a joint ASBC/MBAA meeting at the Coors Brewery on Nov. 19. This annual event has been very beneficial for both organizations and has featured prominent speakers from our industry, reflecting their research and providing a great deal of wonderful commentary. Patrick Dobleck, vice-chairman, is collaborating with the MBAA team to firm up the agenda and guest speakers.

Tobin Eppard, Chair

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