How to measure the beer color with TS4010 spectrophotometer

As a globally popular fermented beer, beer has a diverse range of categories and styles, and color is one of the key indicators to distinguish beer types and reflect product quality. Whether it's the refreshing and translucent color of light beer or the rich and full-bodied color of dark beer, precise color control directly affects product consistency and consumer experience. What is beer color?How to check the beer color? Let’s show you in detail.

First what is the beer color?

Beer chromaticity refers to the depth of the yellowish to yellowish brown color tone presented by beer, essentially reflecting the total amount of various pigment substances in beer. The sources of these pigments mainly include two aspects: first, the natural pigments extracted from the raw materials themselves, such as the pigment components contained in malt shells and hops; The second is the dissolution contribution of colored malt or specialized coloring substances added during the production process. Chromaticity is not only a visual representation of the appearance of beer, but also closely related to the quality of raw materials and fermentation processes, and is an important indirect indicator reflecting the stability of beer production.

So how to check the beer color? Any international standard?

According to the national standard GB/T4927-2008, beer can be clearly classified into the following categories based on color, providing clear basis for production and quality inspection:

4.1 Light colored beer: beer with a color range of 2EBC~14EBC.

4.2 Dark beer: beer with a color range of 15EBC~40EBC.

4.3 Black beer: Beer with a chromaticity greater than or equal to 41EBC.

4.4 Special beer.

With this standard GB/T4927-2008, how can we measure the beer color?

The measurement of beer color should follow the national standard GB/T 7416.2-2025 "Quality Requirements for Beer Raw Materials Part 2: Beer Malt". This standard specifies that EBC (European Breweries Association) is the core unit of measurement, and the measurement benchmark is 10mm optical path liquid. The specific calculation formula is:C=25 × A430× F  .

Wow after we knew these standards and measurement ways, let’s start to measure the beer color with our 3nh brand model TS4010 spectrophotometer.

I prepare 2 kind of beers A and B.

First we have to choose the cell scale in the setting and then use it for calibration or it will affect the test result.

After this we start to do the calibration for 3nh brand TS4010 spectrophotometer. It should use the black board for 0% calibration and then use the clear water for 100% calibration with 10mm glass cell.

After calibration we choose the EBC in the color option and then we can measure the beer color now.

Just go back to measurement test and press the test button. Here it is the beer EBC value of A and B.

It also displayed ASBC value there which is short for The American Society of Brewing Chemist. ASBC use various forms of beer color analysis based on the method to closely monitor processing and changes. The range of the ASBC color scale is from 1 to 11 units [ASBC method beer-10 (2015)] where a higher ASBC Beer Color value indicates a lighter color beer. The ASBC color is generally expressed as °SRM (Standard Reference Method).

Both EBC and ASBC value all can display for the beer color and welcome people to check more detail for our beer color spectrophotometer in our 3nh website and leave me a message by email(sales@3nh.com).