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Quality Control: Dealing with Diacetyl

Understanding this off-flavor, how to test for it, and how to reduce it is key to producing commercially viable beer.

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Photo: Jamie Bogner
Photo: Jamie Bogner

All brewers encounter diacetyl, and it’s likely that all our customers experience it, too—whether they realize it or not.

Diacetyl is one of the more common off-flavors that can occur in beer, and yet it’s easily preventable. There are natural ways to reduce diacetyl, and there are tests you can perform to monitor its levels during fermentation. Whether the source is bacteria or yeast, you can still avoid diacetyl in your finished product.

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