Concentrating spoilage organisms from larger beverage sample volumes for same-shift culture or molecular workflows
Spoilage organisms and microbial contamination can create significant challenges for breweries, wineries, and beverage producers. Traditional enrichment-based microbiological testing can take several days, delaying product release and increasing inventory hold time. Rapid methods such as qPCR and other molecular assays can shorten time to result, but they are often limited by the small amount of sample that reaches the assay.
In carbonated beverages, sample preparation adds another challenge. Dissolved CO₂, foam, haze, yeast, particulates, hops, color, fruit solids, and other matrix components can affect concentration, recovery, and downstream analysis. Preparing the sample before detection can make a meaningful difference.
InnovaPrep’s Carbonated Beverage 4C Workflow combines BeFlat™ degassing with CP Select™ concentration and Wet Foam Elution™ to concentrate larger beverage sample volumes into a smaller, assay-ready volume. This approach can support culture-based, enrichment, qPCR, dPCR, sequencing, or other validated downstream methods.
Beer and wine demonstration
In a beer and wine study, samples were experimentally inoculated with Lactobacillus brevis and processed using InnovaPrep’s Concentrating Pipette workflow. The workflow concentrated organisms from 12 oz / 355 mL beer samples and 750 mL wine samples into smaller volumes suitable for rapid detection.
Key findings:
- 70% to 92% concentration recovery efficiency in beer sample
- 1000× to 2000× concentration of L. brevis in red and white wine samples.
- Compatibility with qPCR-based analysis for same-shift beverage quality workflows.
These results demonstrate how concentrating larger sample volumes can help improve the effective input into rapid microbial detection methods.
Download the Poster: Concentration of Lactobacillus brevis from Experimentally Infected American Lager Beer and Wine by Innovaprep’s Concentrating Pipette Select and Be Flat Degassing Jar
Related carbonated beverage resources-
For additional guidance on carbonated beverage sample preparation, degassing, and CP Select™ concentration, review the related resources below:
- Application Note: Rapid Spoilage Detection in Carbonated Beverages Using CP Select™ and BeFlat™ Degassing Jar
- Quick Guide: BeFlat™ Degassing Guidance for Carbonated Beverage Workflows – InnovaPrep
- Guidance: Carbonated Beverage Sample Prep Workflow Guidance – InnovaPrep
- Protocol: Carbonated Beverage Concentration Protocol Using CP Select™ and BeFlat – InnovaPrep
