BEER SPOILAGE ISOLATION BROTH

Description

Beer Spoilage Broth is used for detection of beer contaminating organisms. Based on the principle of Kozulis and Page who developed Universal Beer Agar Medium, a basal medium to which beer is added. Beer is the product of yeast fermentations of barley grains. The yeast usually employed in beer fermentation is one of two species of Saccharomyces. The gram-positive bacteria are generally regarded as the most hazardous beer spoilage organisms in modern breweries, especially the lactobacilli and the pediococci. Even though the detection of beer spoilage organisms by cultivation in laboratory media does not always provide the specificity and the sensitivity required, the use of selective media and incubation conditions still appear to be the method preferred by breweries. Due to the presence of beer in these media, it is selective for growth of microorganisms that have adapted themselves to the existent conditions in the brewery. Among the media reported so far, no single medium can be used to detect all members within a group of specific beer spoilage organisms and further work on the development of improved substrates are required both for bacteria and wild yeasts.