VIEW ARTICLE    DOI: 10.1094/ASBCJ-41-0158

Protein Content of Beer and Wort by Pyrochemiluminescence. J. C. Jancar, M. D. Constant, and W. C. Herwig, Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, WI 53201. J. Am. Soc. Brew. Chem. 41:0158, 1983.

The brewing industry normally estimates the total protein content of beer and wort by the Kjeldahl nitrogen method. This article describes an alternate method for determining total nitrogen and estimating Kjeldahl protein in beer and wort. The method, in which an Antek total nitrogen analyzer is used, is based on pyrolysis of an injected liquid sample followed by a chemiluminescence measurement. This method demonstrates linearity and less than 4% coefficient of variation in the protein range typically observed. Values obtained by this technique correlate very well with values obtained by the Kjeldahl procedure. Reagent costs are minimal, and hazardous wet chemical reagents are eliminated. In addition, the proposed method is rapid, requiring approximately 2 min per determination.

Keywords: Analysis, Beer, Kjeldahl method, Protein, Pyrochemiluminescence.