Rheonix Launches Enhanced Technology That Detects More Than 60 Organisms Responsible for Beer Spoilage

Rheonix Inc., a developer of fully automated molecular testing solutions, has expanded its Beer SpoilerAlert ™ assay to detect more organisms that may cause spoilage in beer. The Beer SpoilerAlert assay now detects over 60 bacterial and yeast spoilage organisms plus four hop resistance genes, all in a single test, making it the most comprehensive beer spoilage panel available. Rheonix will showcase this new technology for use on the Encompass Optimum ™ workstation at the Craft Brewers Conference, April 30 to May 3 in Nashville, at booth 3200.

“The expanded SpoilerAlert assay is the simplest, but also the most comprehensive beer spoilage assay in the market,” said Kenny Salky, executive vice president of sales at Rheonix. “Combined with our new pricing on the workstation and kits, it is now the most cost-effective molecular method in helping brewmasters maintain the quality of their beer.”

The Encompass Optimum   workstation and the Beer SpoilerAlert assay enable:

• Comprehensive coverage: The highly multiplexing system simultaneously detects critical spoilage organisms and the genes that enable these organisms to grow in and spoil beer.
• Reduced labor and laboratory costs: The automated system requires no technical expertise to run and only 10 minutes of hands-on time. Users can place 24 samples on the workstation, press “start” and walk away.
• Faster results: The technology provides next-day results, versus four to seven days for conventional methods, enabling rapid detection of spoilage indicators.

The expanded Beer SpoilerAlert assay features the ability to detect at least 60 different bacteria and yeast species that may spoil beer:

• Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. diastaticus
• Brettanomyces; expanded detection of five species
• Lactobacilli; expanded detection of 39 species
• Pediococcus; eight species detected
• Megasphaera; added detection of four species
• Pectinatus; added detection of three speciesHop resistance genes; horA, horC, bsrA, bsrB

The SpoilerAlert assay now has the broadest coverage of any commercially available assay. Even when using three distinct assays, other spoilage testing solutions detect only between 26-34 different species of yeast and bacteria and two or fewer hop resistance genes. The Rheonix solution not only provides broader coverage in a single test, but requires minimal hands-on time, reducing laboratory costs and saving brewers time and effort.

In an increasingly competitive brewing landscape, quality control and product consistency are critical. Even with regular cleaning of facilities and equipment, it can be difficult to completely eliminate all of the microorganisms that have the potential to cause spoilage in beer. The complete sample-to-answer Rheonix system can help breweries large and small, enabling them to quickly identify and eliminate organisms that could negatively affect flavor, appearance and aroma of their beer.

About Rheonix

Through experienced leadership and creative vision, Rheonix has developed the Encompass Optimum ™ workstation, a highly customizable sample-to-answer system, for use in research and applied testing laboratories. The workstation performs fully automated, complex molecular assays in an easy-to-use and economical format on the Rheonix CARD ®  cartridge. With both the Rheonix CARD cartridge and Encompass Optimum workstation family of products, Rheonix is well positioned to penetrate key molecular testing market sectors. In 2016, Rheonix introduced the Encompass Optimum workstation for rapid, fully automated multiplexed detection of pathogens in food samples and for beer spoilage