The Hidden Beer Spoiler: Finding diastaticus with FPDM (new CBB webinar)

Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. diastaticus has become a major beer spoilage concern in the craft beer industry — causing over-attenuation, over-carbonation, off-flavors and burst bottles — and in our next (totally free) CBB webinar, the big brains at Weber Scientific (webinar sponsor) will discuss an awesome new method to test for it and prevent it.

The webinar is happening live on Wednesday, June 19, at 1 p.m. EST (with the recording available afterward). I mean, what more do you need to know? Head here to sign up.

If you do need to know more, keep on scrolling, friend.

FPDM: What is it?

Previously, finding diastaticus was only possible through genetic testing methods, but Dr. Matt Farber at the University of the Sciences has created a new method to test for diastaticus using traditional microbiological media, dubbed Farber Pham Diastaticus Medium. We covered this news in December last year, noting that FPDM has been successfully used for:

• Detection of diastaticus contamination of beer through traditional sample plating on FPDM agar, with samples including fermenting beer, finished beer, yeast slurries and environmental swabs.
• Detection of low diastaticus contamination in yeast slurries through enrichment in FPDM broth.
• Isolation of diastaticus in brewery samples which tested positive via rapid, PCR-based methods but negative on all traditional culture media.

Meet the presenters

Tom Boudreau is the technical brewing specialist at Weber Scientific, focusing on technical support for quality laboratory testing in the brewing industry. He has a Master’s in Fermentation Science and previously worked as the Mircobiologist for Stone Brewing Richmond.

Dr. Matthew Farber, Assistant Professor of Biology, is the founder and director of the Brewing Science Certificate program at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.  His research focuses on innovative applications of biotechnology for the improvement of beer production.