Behind the Brew: The Science of Quality at Riggs Beer Company
When you sit down to enjoy a beer in our taproom or pick up a six-pack of your favorite Riggs brew, you might focus on the color, aroma, and taste. But there’s an intricate dance of microbiology happening behind the scenes that makes each perfect pint possible. As craft brewers, we face the complex challenge of maintaining consistent quality while preventing contamination – a challenge we meet with scientific precision. The Science of Quality at Riggs Beer Company.
At Riggs, we’re fortunate to have Dr. Ken Ringwald leading our quality control efforts. With a Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology and extensive research experience in microbiology, he brings laboratory precision to our brewing process. As he explains, “I’ve been in love with biology my whole life, especially with microbes… it might seem like a strange path to go from doing research science on disease-causing bacteria to brewing, but microbiology as a field really owes its existence to Louis Pasteur.”
In this article, we’ll take you behind the scenes of our brewing process to show you:
- How we ensure every pint meets our exacting standards
- The scientific principles we use to prevent contamination
- Why our beer is naturally resistant to harmful microbes
- How we balance beneficial and harmful organisms
The Chemistry of Clean
Our journey to quality beer begins with water treatment. While our city water arrives pre-treated with chlorine and chloramines from the Mahomet Aquifer, these chemicals can negatively impact beer flavor. We employ a careful process of:
- Reverse osmosis filtration
- Carbon filtering
- Precise mineral additions to create the perfect brewing water while maintaining safety.
Natural Protection
The remarkable safety record of our beer isn’t just luck – it’s chemistry. Multiple factors work together to create a hostile environment for harmful microbes:
- Moderate acidity that inhibits many pathogens
- Alcohol content that acts as a natural preservative
- Low oxygen levels after fermentation
- Antimicrobial compounds from hops
- Competition from our healthy brewing yeast
Behind the Brew: Staying Vigilant
Despite these natural protections, we maintain constant vigilance. Several unwanted microorganisms can potentially affect beer quality, which is why we have strict protocols to prevent:
- Lactobacillus:
- Creates unwanted sourness
- Can survive in beer conditions
- We detect through regular taste testing
- Pediococcus:
- Produces buttery off-flavors
- Creates unwanted diacetyl compounds
- We prevent through strict sanitation
- Britanomyces:
- Found naturally in wood
- Creates funky aromas
- We control through careful material selection
- Anaerobic Spoilers:
- Can survive without oxygen
- Produce severe off-flavors
- We prevent through aggressive cleaning
Behind the Brew: Prevention Is Our Priority
We take a proactive approach to quality control. As our team likes to say, “It’s much easier to prevent a contaminant than to try and figure out where it is. And once a contaminant’s present in beer, you can’t get rid of the off-flavor compounds that it makes.”
Our prevention strategy includes:
- Rigorous cleaning protocols
- Consistent standard operating procedures
- Regular monitoring of fermentation metrics
- Careful temperature control
- Immediate sanitization of sampling equipment
Behind the Brew: Keeping It Clean
One of our biggest priorities is preventing biofilms – bacterial communities that create protective barriers against cleaning efforts. We like to compare it to “raccoons that have not just moved in but built a house.” Through strict cleaning protocols, we ensure these unwanted guests never get a chance to establish themselves in our brewery.
Behind the Brew: Quality Through Time
To ensure our beer maintains its quality over time, we:
- Store samples at different temperatures
- Conduct regular sensory evaluations
- Monitor for developing off-flavors
- Track batch consistency
Our Commitment to Excellence
As our brewery continues to grow, we maintain our commitment to scientific precision in every batch. Our team likes to say we’re “really nerdy janitors” – combining scientific expertise with practical cleanliness to create consistently excellent beer.
The next time you enjoy one of our craft beers, know that behind that perfect pour lies our unwavering dedication to quality. From carefully monitored fermentation to rigorous quality control, every step in our process is designed to deliver the exceptional beer you’ve come to expect from Riggs Beer Company.
Visit our taproom to learn more about our brewing process, or join us for a tour to see our quality control measures in action. At Riggs Beer Company, we’re proud to share not just our beer, but also the science and care that goes into every batch.
