The Southern Tier Quality Team is dedicated to upholding our brands’ high standards. The scientists work alongside the other departments to handle everything to do with fermentation, packaging, laboratory, yeast management and sensory for each brew we make.
We’re currently trained to recognize up to 22 off-flavors or aromas in beer, some down to the ppb (parts per billion is like a single second in a span of 32 years, or 1 single silver dollar if a roll of them stretched from Detroit to Salt Lake City). So, yes, we do drink (sensorize by smelling and sipping) beer EVERY day- just not ALL day, because there’s lot of other Science going on.
From day zero when wort meets yeast in the fermentation vessel, to when it’s time to ‘crash the tank’ we take samples and make tank manipulations daily to monitor fermentation until it’s complete.
From the labels on the bottles, to the date codes on the can wraps, to the amount of CO2 in a keg, we’ve looked at it, handled it and/or measured it (and yes, tasted it) before it gets to you.
We measure chemical and microbiology specs on our beer throughout its fermentation and packaging processes to make sure that the only thing in the package is the delicious product you expect from us. And, speaking of ppb- we also run a Headspace auto-sampler-Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer to measure diacetyl down to the ppb level. It’s some robust new technology that only a handful of other breweries in the country use, so we’re thrilled to have it in our toolkit.
Each strain of yeast we use in our brews is kept in our laboratory and new propagations are started from scratch every so often to keep our beer clean-tasting for you. From slants>plates>test tubes>flasks>Carlsberg flask>yeast propagation tank, we nurture it up to its full potential.
The Quality Team is a fine bunch who are very proud of their work and of our brands, and they thank you for telling us how much you love our product.
Cheers to you, from the Southern Tier Quality team
Questions, comments, concerns? Reach out on our quality form.
