VICINAL DIKETONES IN BEER. PART I: A MODIFIED EBC METHOD FOR THE DETERMINATION OF DIACETYL AND OTHER VICINAL DIKETONES IN BEER

A rapid and reliable analytical method for the determination of diacetyl and other vicinal diketones in beer is described.

Like Analytica EBC, the new assay is based on the spectrophotometric estimation of 2,3-dialkylquinoxalines. A comparison between these two methods is made, from which it can be concluded that both the recovery figures for added diacetyl and the coefficient of variation found in the modified method show a notable improvement compared with the EBC method. This method is recommended for quality control use on the basis of its speed and accuracy.