THE QUANTITATIVE DETERMINATION OF GLYCEROL IN BEER BY GAS-LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY

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Abstract
The glycerol present In beer in conjunction with the constituent sugars was resolved as the trimethylsilyl derivative on a 2 ft. × 1/4 in. o.d. stainless steel column packed with 1% OV 17 on Chromosorb W-H.P., 80–100 mesh. Complete separation and quantitative estimation were obtained. Coefficients of variation for determination of glycerol in aqueous solution were found to be 2·7% for machine operation alone and 4·1% for the total procedure. For glycerol determination in the presence of beer the coefficient of variation for the total procedure was doubled. A survey of Canadian beers indicated a glycerol level of approximately 2 mg./ml. and showed no trend according to type, locality or brand. Taste test studies revealed the threshold level of glycerol detection in a test beer to be 10 mg./ml. The addition of glycerol to beer above and below the threshold level was found to modify the flavour of the product.