… and rich? 🙂 Foam stability is an important beer quality parameter, because really, who wants flat beer? The longer the head lasts, the better the party, right? This was one of my favourite duties in the six months I worked at SAB. In retrospect, the 18 months I studied Biomedical Technology and the time at SAB were the best time of my life.

Working in the QC lab, I loved my job, convening and sitting in on two of the three daily taste test, testing samples’ foam stability, turbidity (isn’t that an awesome word?), pH analysis, baking kieselguhr, and occasionally helping out with the mixing and pouring of culture media in the biochem lab.

Admittedly, while working there I went off consuming beer (order has since been restored), and I did feel like condemning my soul to dark place every time I poured whatever was left of a sample after I’ve done all my tests on it down the drain.

Each morning I received three packs of each sample from the lines for my tests: one for taste and pH, one for foam (and pH when, in the case of a can, for example, there was not enough product left after tasting to do pH testing), and one for clarity testing.

So what/how does one do foam stability? You start by taking a barometric pressure reading, doing a little calculation, and getting a figure you add to whatever reading the machine gives you, since barometric pressure influences foam. You can read the technical bits of how the testing machine actually works on the webpage. Before and after the day’s testing, the machine is flushed with distilled water, sealed in a sample bottle.

Some samples by default have a great reading, like milk stout, which has a very dense foam.

I’m always asked if I participated in the taste testing, and the answer is no – you actually need to undergo training for it. But I did make sure there were cold samples, testers, and water for them to rinse after each taste. Unlike wine, beer has to be swallowed to get a good taste – the taste buds that recognise bitterness is located on the back of the tongue. During these sessions testers will also make a visual analysis (backed up by clarity/haze testing later). At the end of the session one of the testers would sign off the comments in a “logbook”.

The remainder of the tasting samples would be used for pH analysis.

Prepping samples for the Hazemeter was my least-favourite task, involving hot and cold water baths before the actual measurement could take place.

Anyway, not to bore you with the details, I met great people at SAB. In hindsight I kind of regret not considering applying for a bursary to continue studying chemistry and working for them. Yes, it’s been over a decade since I worked there, and I’m sure a lot has changed, but in my mind, SAB will always be one of the best companies I’ve worked for, and by extension, the best anyone can work for.