Development of an on-line beer variety indicator.

Yokoyama, A., Takahashi, N., Ohno, T. and Mawatari, M.

Abstract
In recent years, Japanese breweries have greatly diversified their product ranges, with several new beer brands appearing every year. In combination with the high speed packaging lines now in use, this presents a serious risk of errors such as the mixing of beer brands or the packaging of beer with the wrong container or label. To overcome this problem, the Kirin Brewery Company has developed a system whereby the original gravity and electrical conductivity of the beer, measured by on-line sensors, are monitored in real time by a microcomputer using discriminant analysis to check whether the measured values of the two parameters correspond to the brand specification of the beer which is scheduled to be processed at that time. An alarm signal is given in the event of an unscheduled brand change. Since the system can also identify water and caustic, it is equally suitable for monitoring CIP operations.
Keywords : 1990