PIKA, based in the Hallertau hop growing region, has been a major driving force in the modernisation of the beer testing industry in Europe.

It has developed a number of key products and services that will now be distributed by Pura Diagnostics, including liquid yeast that is guaranteed to have >95% vitality while also being 100% spoilage bacteria free.

One of its most exciting products, according to technical director Pura Diagnostics, is the FastOrange range of on-site spoilage bacteria detection kits.

This allows brewers to conduct on-site testing without the need for any training or equipment. The FastOrange range detects all beer spoilage yeast and bacteria and comes in a number of formats including ready to use tubes (RTU).

When using the RTU format all the brewer needs to do is add an equal volume of beer/wort to the liquid already present in the tube and incubate at 25C for 2-3 days.  If, for instance, Lactic Acid Bacteria are present the colour of the liquid changes from a purple to orange/yellow.

He explained: “Given that traditional culture methods can take around 5-7 days, the use of FastOrange can cut the time it takes to get a result by at least half. If the brewer wants to know the strain of bacteria present, they can then send the tube to the Pura Diagnostics PCR lab for species identification.

“The other major benefit of FastOrange is the price; at a few pounds per test it allows the brewer to take control of their testing regime without breaking the bank.”