Rapid Gas Chromatographic Method for Analysis of Dimethyl Sulfide in Beer¹

1 Presented at the 44th Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada, May 1978.

Abstract

A simple, rapid, and reliable method for determining beer dimethyl sulfide (DMS) concentration involves direct headspace analysis of bottled or canned beer using an Altech clamping platform piercer and a gas chromatograph equipped with a flame photometric detector. The detector is calibrated by standard addition of DMS to beer in the presence of ethyl methyl sulfide as internal standard. A short (18-in.) glass column of acetone-washed Porapak QS and column temperature programming from 150 to 200°C permit a single analysis to be completed in less than 5 min. Method reliability, reproducibility, and facility are discussed, and the method is compared with other techniques. The results of a survey of DMS concentrations in bottled beers from several countries are presented, and analytic data are correlated with flavor data.

• Analysis
• Beer
• Dimethyl sulfide
• Gas chromatography
• Method