276 WEST: J. ASSOC. OFF. ANAL. CHEM. (VOL. 62, NO.
2, 1979)
Malt Beverages and Brewing Materials: Calculation
of Carbohydrate Content and Caloric Content
DWIGHT B. WEST
J. E. Siebel Sons' Co., Enzyme Products Division, Miles Laboratories, Inc.,
4055 W Peterson Ave, Chicago, IL 60646
The American Society of Brewing Chemists
(ASBS) has released one new procedure and
one change in a present procedure. A new
method for calculating the carbohydrate content
of malt beverages, after determining the spe-
cific gravity, real extract, protein, and ash con-
tents by AOAC methods, is presented. The
method is applicable to either weight or volume
amounts of malt beverages. Two changes are
presented in method 10.027, caloric content of
malt beverages: (1) the calorie factor for grams
of ethanol is changed from 7.0 to 6.9, and (2)
the ash content of the malt beverage is sub-
tracted from the real extract before calculating
the calories of the extract. The 2 changes are
needed to make the caloric calculation more
precise.
The American Society of Brewing Chemists
(ASBC) has released one new method and one
change in a present method to the Associate
Referee, who is also liaison between ASBC and
AOAC, for presentation to the AOAC. The new
method is for the calculation of carbohydrate
content of beer and other malt beverages and
the change is in the method for calculating the
caloric content of beer (10.027). The new
method and the changed method have been ap-
proved by the ASBC technical and executive
committees and are in current use by the Amer-
ican brewing industry. Both of these are calcula-
tion methods based on determinations made by
official final action methods, so no collaborative
analytical work was required in their develop-
ment.
The carbohydrate content of beer and other
malt beverages has assumed increasing impor-
tance during the past few years. To better in-
form the public on the content of products, an
increasing number of breweries are putting car-
bohydrate content and caloric value on their
labels. These values thus become of greater im-
This report of the Associate Referee was presented at the
92nd Annual Meeting of the AOAC, Oct. 16-19, 1978, at
Washington, DC.
0004-5756/79/6202-0276/02$01.00
© Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Inc.
portance to the breweries and to certain govern-
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ment regulatory agencies. To increase uniform-
ity in the method for determining carbohydrates
in beer and reporting the results, the ASBC has
developed the method presented in this report.
The carbohydrates present in beer form a
portion of the real extract. The real extract is
the soluble or colloidal solid material remaining
in beer after fermentation of the wort and the
usual filtrations. In addition to small and me-
dium molecular weight carbohydrates it also
contains proteinaceous compounds, mineral mat-
ter, and part per million amounts of other or-
ganic substances. The carbohydrates range in
complexity from small molecules such as dex-
trose to dextrins containing about 20-30 dex-
trose units.
To determine the carbohydrate content it is
necessary to determine the specific gravity
(10.016) of the sample, the real extract
(10.023), the protein (10.037), and the ash
(10.035) contents. The protein and ash per-
centages are subtracted from the real extract
content, and the remainder is calculated as car-
bohydrate either on a weight basis or as an
amount per volume of beer.
The method for caloric content of beer
(10.027) and other malt beverages was pub-
lished in 1970 and is still essentially correct;
however, 2 changes in the method are now pro-
posed. As now printed, the calorie content for
alcohol is 7.0 per gram; however, revised pub-
lications indicate that a more correct factor is
6.9. Also, in the present method, the ash or
mineral content of the beer is not subtracted
before the calories are calculated. This small
amount of ash, normally 0.08-0.14%, is taken
into account in the revised method. The factors
of 4 calories per gram for protein and carbo-
hydrate are unchanged. The analytical methods
needed to obtain the figures required for caloric
calculation are all official final action.
The caloric content of beer is calculated from
the alcohol, protein, and carbohydrate contents.
 WEST: J. ASSOC. OFF. ANAL. CHEM. (VOL. 62, NO. 2, 1979)
The caloric factor is the same for protein and
carbohydrate, so the real extract of beer minus
the ash content is used as the sum of these 2
classes of compounds. The alcohol content on a
weight basis is determined (10.019 or 10.022)
and the percentage obtained is multiplied by the
caloric factor. The sum of the alcohol calories
plus the carbohydrate-protein calories equals the
caloric content per 100 grams of sample. When
caloric content per volume of product is desired,
the specific gravity of the original beer must be
determined and used in the calculation. The re-
vised ASBC method for caloric content of beer
and the calculations required are presented be-
low.
The Associate Referee recommends (1) that
the following method for carbohydrate content
of beer and other malt beverages be adopted
official first action; and (2) that the following
revised method for caloric content of beer and
other malt beverages be adopted as official first
action and that the present method, 10.027, be
deleted.
The recommendations of the Associate Referee were ap-
proved by the General Referee and by Subcommittee D and
were adopted by the Association. See / . Assoc. Off. Anal.
Chem. (1979) 62, this issue.
Received August 21, 1978. Accepted September 15, 1978.
277
The Associate Referee also recommends that
the official first action method for diacetyl in
beer (10.D01-10.D04), be made official final
action.
Caloric Content—Official First Action
10.027 Determination
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Det. sp gr, 10.016, % alcohol by wt, 10.019 or 10.022,
real ext, 10.023, and ash, 10.035, of beer sample.
K calories/ lOOg = (g real ext - % ash) x 4 + (%
EtOH by wt x 6.9)
K calories in a vol. = (K calories/100 g) x (beer
vol.20° x spgr)/100
where vol. is expressed in units required by test.
Carbohydrate Content—Official First Action
10.E01 Determination
Det. sp gr, 10.016, real ext, 10.023, ash, 10.035, and
protein, 10.037, of beer sample,
g Carbohydrate/ lOOg = g real ext/ lOOg - (% protein
+ % ash)
g Carbohydrate in a vol. = (g carbohydrate/lOOg) x
[(beer vol.20° x spgr)/100]
where vol. is expressed in units required by test.