Computer assisted exotherm measurement in full-scale brewery fermentations.

Ruocco, J.J., Coe, R.W. and Hahn, C.W.

Abstract
This paper describes the application of Cooney's method of measuring the heat of fermentation to full scale production lager fermentations. The exotherm measurements were made by recording the temperature change with time in fermenting wort when the cooling control valve was off. The area under the temperature rise curve represented the heat generated by yeast activity. Small computers were programmed to monitor fermenter temperature and time data while the cooling was off. A computer programme was then employed to calculate the fermenter exotherm from the slope of the temperature rise. The graphs derived from all the data points taken during fermentation provided a means of measuring yeast activity during fermentation and of reflecting the rate of wort attenuation. A series of graphs plotting the exotherms for various types of lager are given. The potential of this method for use in computer assisted exothermic control of subambient fermentations is also discussed.
Keywords: brewing computer fermentation heat measurement