BIOTECON Diagnostics is pleased to announce the release of its latest beer testing solution, the foodproof Beer Screening 2 LyoKit, which can detect more than 30 of the most important beer spoilage bacteria as well as differentiate between the lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus and Pediococcus) and the most troublesome obligate anaerobic spoilage bacteria (Megasphaera and Pectinatus). As the latest addition to our existing brewing product portfolio designed specifically for breweries, the highly sensitive multiplex kit can also screen for the hop tolerance genes, horA, and horC. 

“With the ever-expanding brewing industry, there is a definite need for quality management and early preventative controls to reduce the risk of product spoilage. A few genera have the ability to generate off-flavors, turbidity and acidity, which can often lead to entire beer batches needing to be recalled, high economic loss and in the worst case, the brand being impacted,” said Alois Schneiderbauer, CBO of BIOTECON Diagnostics. 

“As a well-established and key player in molecular biological testing for the food and beverage industry, we have long been developing and introducing kits to the market that alleviate the impact of spoilage. Our new kit complements the foodproof Beer Screening 1 LyoKit nicely and also completes our PCR diagnostics portfolio for the brewing industry, which includes all relevant beer-spoiling bacteria, spoilage yeasts, Legionella and Alicyclobacillus,” concluded Alois Schneiderbauer.

The foodproof Beer Screening 2 LyoKit is based on real-time PCR technology, which is well-established in the brewing and beverage industry as a highly sensitive and specific detection method. It also uses 5’Nuclease probes, resulting in lower production costs and a more favorable retail price. The fact that the kit is lyophilized means it is easy to handle and store, with less shipping costs, reduced cross-contamination risks and higher sensitivity. Additionally, the new kit is compatible with various existing open platform multi-channel real-time PCR instruments. These include:

• LightCycler 480 II
• LightCycler 96
• PikoReal 24
• AriaMx
• ABI 7500 Fast
• Dualo 32

BIOTECON Diagnostics also provides several DNA extraction kits for all kinds of brewery matrices and for different sample throughput rates such as the foodproof StarPrep Two Kit, which has higher sensitivity, includes mechanical disruption and is also suitable for users who also work with foodproof Spoilage Yeast kits; or the foodproof StarPrep Three Kit that has an easy and fast protocol but excludes mechanical disruption.