Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS
(N/A)
FAYETTEVILLE,AR 72703
Performing Department
Biological & Agr Engineering
Non Technical Summary
This work will create a carbonator for the craft brewing industry in Arkansas to help support decentralized food processors and demonstrate how engineering can be applied to small scale specialty food processors. The device is the result of an invention and will be scaled up to a commercial unit that can be operated in a brewery and produce safe and high quality beverages for the consumer. The device will be tested for function, economics, operations, and effect on beverage flavor. It will be tested in 3 local breweries where feedback will be obtained to improve the commercial viability of the device in hopes of developing value for licensing to a company for manufacture and sales.
Animal Health Component
80%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
0%
Applied
80%
Developmental
20%
Goals / Objectives
Improve the environmental and economic sustainability of the craft brewing industry in Arkansas by reducing carbon dioxide use and release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, lowering costs of carbonation, lowering labor costs, and improving quality of beverages by improving control of the carbonation process.Demonstrate how engineering research can improve the economics and reduce environmental impact of small-scale, decentralized food processing industry, which typically doesn't utilize engineering tools, but is a rapidly growing segment of the food processing industry.
Project Methods
The work under this project will construct a full-scale (4x scale up from lab prototype), commercially usable, food-grade, cleanable, portable unit that can be tested in the production stream at craft breweries to directly demonstrate the capabilities of the technology and generate commercial value through quality data, customer testimonials and case studies evaluating final beer quality, cost and performance.Beer carbonated using the pilot unit named the "Carbo Rock-it" will be safe for human consumption so testing can be performed comparing sensory profiles of beer carbonated by the invention directly to beer carbonated using current methods.If testing and statistical analysis of the data using the invention proves (alpha = 0.05) to create better tasting beer as theory and anecdotal evidence suggests, then the commercial value of the new equipment can be substantially increased.Flavor and aroma tests will be conducted by the U of A Food Science Sensory Science group headed by Dr. Han-Seok Seo.Three different beers will be carbonated using the proposed method and traditional method with replication.Internal Review Board (IRB) approval was obtained by Dr. Seo for taste testing alcoholic beverages by the panel.For flavor panel testing, a method was developed by Simonson (2020) and Seo (personal communication) so that any notable flavor or quality differences between the beer produced by each carbonation method can be determined. Three styles of beer from Core Brewing Company (Springdale, Arkansas) will be analyzed: an American red ale, a hefeweizen, and an India Pale Ale. The selected beers are Core Brewing Company's Razorback Red, Heisenberg, and Ouachita IPA. These three different beer types may respond to flavor stripping from bubbling differently and may have different resulting effects from the different carbonation treatments.Each beer type is currently in commercial production and will be produced as normal with a 40-barrel batch. Prior to the carbonation step, the batch will be split in half with one 20-barrel half carbonated with the traditional bubble method and one half using the method of the invention. Each of these batches will be carbonated using a procedure resulting in the same level of carbonation as indicated by the Gehaltemeter (Pentair Haffmans Type c-DGM/i, Venlo, Netherlands). Each type of beer will be canned using the same method, and a random sub-sample of at least 240 ounces (20-12 oz cans) from each carbonation method will be selected for a total of 1440 ounces (120 cans) (480 oz-40 cans of ale, 480 oz-40 cans of hefeweizen, 480 oz-40 cans of IPA). The beer will be transported and stored under refrigeration at 2°C until testing occurs.A triangle test will be conducted by untrained sensory panelists at the Food Science Department, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR. A total of seventy panelists will participate in the triangle test. This number of judges was determined based on Ennis (1993) with 90% power, alpha at 0.05 and delta at 1.5 standard deviations. Based on these parameters, a minimum of 66 judges is required. For a margin of safety, 70 panelists will participate in the testing.The panelists will be instructed to palate cleanse with water before the test. The triangle test is "forced-choice," meaning the panelists must select a sample and cannot respond "no difference." Alpha risk and beta risk will be set at 0.05. From the panelists' responses, it will be determined if a perceptible difference between the samples exists. Statistical analysis will be conducted using chi-square test to determine if a statistically significant difference exists between the two treatments. Flavor descriptors will also be collected from the trained panel and compared between treatments (Simonson, 2020).The Carbo Rock-it will be evaluated for performance, operating and capital cost, and gas transfer efficiency to create an estimate for total cost of use for commercialization purposes.The mixing characteristics of beer in the brite tank related to release of gas to form pressure for different beers will be modelled and tested to improve the equation to relate tank pressure and temperature to carbonation level.