Scientists pour money into pint research

The bad pint could be a thing of the past thanks to scientists who have secured a £30,000 grant to research what makes beer go off.

Researchers in Aberdeen, Scotland will collect samples of microbes from beer which has been spoiled by unwanted bacteria during the brewing process.

The information will then be used to create a test kit which brewers will be able to use to root out spoilage organisms before their product goes on sale.

Researchers from Finland, Germany and Norway are also involved in the three-year project, with the British team based at the National Collection of Industrial Food and Marine Bacteria, an offshoot of Aberdeen University.

Terry Dando, production and patent manager, said: "Our role is to provide the material of known brewery contaminants so that other partners can test them and monitor how they work.

"It is very important they have an easy to use system that can detect very low numbers of microbial contaminants at source to prevent them fouling the taste and smell of the beer at a later stage.

"It will mean the breweries can determine possible contamination at an earlier stage so there is no spoilage at the end of the day. The quality control will be much improved."