QA at Two Roads: 0 to 60 in 2 years flat Presentation to MBAA Summer Technical Meeting Middlebury,...
-
Upload
collin-hill -
Category
Documents
-
view
218 -
download
0
Transcript of QA at Two Roads: 0 to 60 in 2 years flat Presentation to MBAA Summer Technical Meeting Middlebury,...
QA at Two Roads: 0 to 60 in 2 years flat
Presentation to MBAA Summer Technical MeetingMiddlebury, VT August 8, 2015
Kendra Frederick, Ph.D. Director of Quality Assurance,
Two Roads Brewing Co - Stratford, CT
An Outline
1. Intro1. Two Roads’ story, challenges, strengths
2. Growth of QA 1. Focus2. Equipment3. Personnel
3. Current Focus / Testing4. Future
Setting the StageTwo Roads Brewing (TRB)
- Dual Business model: contract & own brand- Contract customers (13)- Large number of recipes (89 in 2014)- Numerous Yeast Strains (12 total; 7 in regular use)
- Rapid growth- Volume- # of recipes- Personnel
- Location- converted old factory next to train tracks; warehousing
outdoors- Lab space OK at first…quickly became small
Growth since inceptionYEAR
BBLSTRB
brandTotal
% growth – total
2012¹ 40 1002013 6,643 24,1962014 16,886 69,849 154%2015 25,000* 100,000* 34% *projected
BBLS
¹ Launched in Dec
ChallengesCan we slow down for a sec?
Rapid Growth – volume- Increasing testing throughput
- heavy reliance on technology/automation - Prioritizing testing
- Everything tested for micro- Some tests only every X batches, # packages- TRB brand-only tests: IBU, Color, Sensory
- Recipes (large #)- Takes a longer time to assess consistency, detect brand trends
ChallengesWhat’s your name again?
Rapid Growth – Personnel- Training
- Split & 3rd shift- Method creep- SOPs! (words vs pictures)
- Learning to Manage- Adjusting to supervising instead of doing- Learning to Trust someone else doing- I’m hands off…I hope you are too! - Agile Leadership
ChallengesWould you like fries with that?
Customers- Matching brand flavor across breweries- Communication
- One customer changed their yeast & forgot to tell us!- I’m 2 months behind on reports
- Numbers: just because it’s on the label, doesn’t mean it’s true- We’d hit target OG & FG…but ABV would be out of compliance
with label - Special requests
- >20 beers sent out for external testing for a single client
Strengths
- Funding- Start-up & subsequent phases have been well-funded- Debt OK if permits growth, improves quality, reduces risk
- Experience- Brewmaster 25 years, CEO & CMO >15 years each- Past negative experience w/ contract brewing = desire to do it right
- Support from Owners- Quality is important to Owners- Regional/National craft breweries serve as models
My background / philosophy- Education
- Degree in Biophysical Chemistry- Lots of pipetting!- Research, reading literature- Show me the Data
- Biopharmaceuticals- Product = Process- Documentation, SOPs- Cleanliness- Method development /
assay validation
QA = Quality Assurance- Preventative measures to ensure
quality- SOPs, Process Monitoring, Raw
material testing, Quality CCPs
QC = Quality Control- Measurements taken after the fact
to check for quality / prevent the release of inferior product
- Finished goods testing
HOW QA HAS GROWN at TRB
QA Focus
PROGRESSION1. Basic Data (gravity, pH), Micro, DO2. Compliance & package integrity (fill volumes, seam checks)3. Process Consistency (wort aeration, cell counts, sensory)4. Add capabilities (IBU, Color, Haze, ABV, sensory training)5. Reduce risk / time to test result (PCR, TPA)6. Shelf Life (TPA)
ALWAYS AT THE FOREFRONTA. Throughput (digital meters, automation, filtration manifold)B. Precision (digital, automation)C. Documentation
Equipment - growth
Approx DateApprox
Annualized BBLS
Instruments Use
Start-up Dec 2012:
Getting off the ground
n/a
• Microscope• pH meter• Hydrometers• Scale• Laminar Flow Hood• Micropipettors• ATP swabs / luminometer
Basic measurements, micro
• Automated Cell counter (Nucleocounter)
Yeast counts & viability
• Dissolved Oxygen Meter + package piercer DO, TPO
Equipment - growth
Approx DateApprox
Annualized BBLS
Instruments Use
early 2013:Increasing throughput
15,000
• Handheld density meter (Anton Paar DMA 35)
Increase throughput / precision of gravity measurements
• Filtration Manifold* Increase throughput of micro testing
• Headspace airs tester (Zahm-Nagel) TPO
Equipment - growth
Approx DateApprox
Annualized BBLS
Instruments Use
late 2013 – early 2014:Increase
capabilities, consistency
24,000
• Seam Check equipment* Package integrity
• High-range DO meter Wort aeration
• UV-Vis IBU, Color, et al
*at recommendation of Packaging Manager
Equipment - growth
Approx DateApprox
Annualized BBLS
Instruments Use
Mid 2014:Increase
capabilities, throughput, reduce risk
50,000
• PCR equipment* Rapid detection of micro contamination
• 2nd handheld DMA Increase throughput of gravity measurements
• Alcolyzer ABV, density
*decision driven by need to supply timely results to contract customers; got a good deal on instrument
Equipment - growth
Approx DateApprox
Annualized BBLS
Instruments Use
Late 2014:Increase
capabilities, precision /
consistency
70,000
• Turbidity meter* Haze
• Cell counter (Cellometer)
Improve precision / accuracy of cell counts. Add capabilities (vitality)
• Digital carbonation tester (CboxQC) CO2, DO
Mid 2015Increase
capabilities, thruput
90,000• Total Package
analyzer (Hach Orbisphere)*
TPO
*purchase driven by issue with particular contract brand & desire to match measurements across 2 sites
Lab Growth: PersonnelDate
Approx Annual BBLS
# Empl.
BBLS / Employee
before -- after new hire
Notes
11/12 01
0
06/13 17,28017,280 Intern ~10 hrs/wk starting 03/13
28,640
09/14 50,40025,200 Intern ~10 hrs/wk starting 09/13
316,800
12/14 56,34818,763
3.516,100 0.5 FTE dedicated to sensory
07/15 90,93325,981
4.75 19,144 A real QA Department!
CURRENT STATE OF QA at TRB
Current brewery set-up- Brewhouse:
- 100-bbl, 4 pieces- Fermentor Tanks: 34, >200k capacity
- 12 x 100-bbl- 18 x 300-bbl- 4 x 600-bbl (new as of 06/12)
- Yeast Brinks: 4 x 15-bbl - Centrifuge: HP2 GEA (150 bbl/hr)
- Brite Tanks:- 1 x 50-bbl- 2 x 100-bbl- 1 x 200-bbl- 3 x 300-bbl
- Bottle Filler- 40-head, 300 bpm
(750 cases/hr)- Formats: Heritage, long-neck, 22-
oz, 375-mL, 750-mL- Crown, cork & cage
- Can filler- 32-head, 280 bpm
(700 cases/hr)- 12-oz & 16-oz- High-cone; 4-, 6-, 12-pack wraps
- Keg line- 1 keg/min (60 kegs / hr)- 4-station
ShiftsBrew: 24/5
Package: 12/5
Current Quality Focus minor
major
x
Kegging
xCentrifuge
Micro testingFermentation Bright Tank Packaged
Beer Yeast
Timing: 24 -72 hours post-KO
once per week
2 from each run; >12-24 hrs
post-fill
When harvested to
brink
Media
LMDA+ / aero X X Every 3rd New propWLD / anaero X X Every 3rd New prop
NBB X X X New propLCSM¹ X 1/wk New prop
LWYM¹,² X 1/wk New propWLN XRDM³ X
In case of positive:
Retest at 5-7 days
PCR on package
Retest if BS; PCR if NBB is
posWLN: test beer;
dump yeast
¹Saisons not tested²Hefs not tested³YPD + TTC overlay
BS = beer spoiler
Micro
“Clean room” was an old bathroom…so hood was a must!
Yeast Testing
Strain cross-contamination:- Currently: Plate on WLN 4-5 days.
Look for colony homogeneity- Coming soon: PCR assay?!
Ale Lager French Saison
Micro: PCR- Real-time PCR thermocycler (AB
StepOne Plus)- Kits available to detect Lacto/Pedio
and Dekkera- Sensitive enough to detect after 1-2
days of pre-incubation- “Open source”: can develop own
assay- Currently collaborating to develop assay
to detect yeast cross-contamination
*PCR = Polymerase Chain Reaction; detect DNA from target organism / gene
Cell CountsPreviously: Nucleocounter- Cassettes – expensive. Images: low resolution. No
opportunity to manually adjust counts
Now: Nexcelom Cellometer- Higher magnification, brightfield image,
manual adjustment possible, several “staining” options including vitality.- Required fair degree of method
development & user training (pipetting!)
Finished Beer TestingFinished Beer Testing Package Testing
Test Frequency Test Frequency
Gravity Every batch TPO Every run
pH Every batch Fill Volume Verification
Every TRB; contract: > every
4000 casesABV Every batch Carbonation Occasionally
Haze Nearly every batch Seam Check At least every
4000 casesColor TRB onlyIBU TRB only
UV-Vis Spectrophotometer
Turbidimeter
Phys-Chem
Orbital shaker for IBU sample prep
Seam Check Equipment
Date
Adjustment
Alcolyzer- Have had issues keeping in
“calibration” from the get-go.- We use to perform daily
gravity checks. Requires more vigorous cleaning, but worth it.
- Peristaltic pump broke. Service tech of 17 years had never seen one break.
Dissolved Gasseso-DGM
- DO into/out of centrifuge
Previously:- DO in BT’s- DO in packages
CboxQC- Carb & DO in
BT’s- Required
significant training, despite seeming simple to use!
Our Newest Toy: TPO analyzer
- Broke within the first week!
Other Testing- ATP swab (after every CIP)- Water testing (weekly)- Swabs on fillers- Sieve testing of grist (as “needed”)
Data Management- Lots of work / attention / time devoted to
documentation- measurements, volumes, dates/times, etc
- Series of Excel spreadsheets “linked” via Macros (saving, copying / pasting automated)
- Leveraging Dropbox to share data/files with customers
- Will investigate more elegant data management solution in 2016
Data Management
Primary Sources List of all filesAlcolyzer/DMA output Alcolyzer - data manipulationsIBU/Color data files Batch List - 2015Control Room Sheet Yeast TrackingDO log QA Batch DataBatch List Log Book - reportsFill Volume data files (CRS) Data Grab MacroMicro monthly log files IBU & Color - TemplateWeekly Data Sheet Micro Summary
QA Batch DataQA Batch Data
Data ManagementPrimary Data Primary Source Data Transfer 1-->2.1 Secondary
Destination 1
Density, ABV, FG Alcolyzer/DMA outputcopy raw data to 'Alcolyzer - data manipulations' file. Then use macros to export to 2 dest
QA Batch Data
Package Date Batch List use macro in 2 dest to pull from 1°CRS Batch Sheet - Testing tab
Cell Counts Control Room Sheet use macro in 2 dest to pull from 1° Yeast Tracking SheetOG, pH Control Room Sheet use macro in 2 dest to pull from 1° QA Batch Data
Brew Date,Sep Date
Control Room Sheetues 'Log Book - reports' macro to generate report; copy manually into 2 / auto copy to 2
Batch List
Dry hop date Control Room Sheet formulas in-fileCRS Batch Sheet - Testing tab
DO - BT Control Room Sheet **need procedure DO data log
Carbonation Control Room Sheet formulas in-file / manualCRS Batch Sheet - Testing tab
TPO - PKG DO log use macro in 2 dest to pull from 1°CRS Batch Sheet - Testing tab
Fill Volumes Fill Volume data files **need procedureCRS Batch Sheet - Testing tab
IBU, Color IBU/Color data files macro in 1 sends data to 2° QA Batch Data
Final pH Weekly Data Sheet manual QA Batch Data
Micro Micro monthly log files manualCRS Batch Sheet - Testing tab
Haze Weekly Data Sheet manual QA Batch Data
SensoryA work in progress…
- Began formal sessions in March 2013- Differing visions for how to approach, begin, conduct sensory
- Me: start with training. Others: dive right into descriptive analysis- Different groups with different goals/needs
- Brewers/Cellar: Off-flavors in wort, green beer, and finished beer- Sensory Panel: trueness to brand, off-flavors in finished beer- Sales – Internal: brand recognition, off-flavors in the “field” (oxidation,
dirty lines)- Sales – External: as above, plus “Cicerone” (general beer IQ)
SensoryStruggles…
- Schedules: “9-5’ers”, 2nd& 3rd shift, sales- Attendance
- 11am ideal palate-wise, but we’ve found mid to late afternoon better schedule-wise
- Lots of management “too busy” for sensory- Space
- (currently) No dedicated sensory space. Use event room, second bar, meeting room.
SensoryA compromise…
- 2 sessions a week, focusing on consistency & stability of TRB brands. Occasional trainings & external comparisons
- Brand Attribute forms – to guide tasters.- Brand-specific list of desirable (or not) attributes + target strength.
SensoryRighting the course…
- Hired a dedicated employee for sensory! (0.5 FTE)- More availability to accommodate different groups’ schedules
- Training- Flavor Recognition: Using Sigma & Aroxa spikes- Sales: 3 sessions so far, seeing progress (!), giving them ideas - Brewers & General Panel getting trained as well.
- Methods:- Introducing & using triangle
- Space- Coming soon!
THE FUTURE
Expansion!
+
QA Focus1. Basic Data (gravity, pH), Micro, DO2. Compliance & package integrity (fill volumes, seam checks)3. Process Consistency (wort aeration, cell counts, sensory)4. Add capabilities (IBU, Color, Haze, ABV, sensory training)5. Reduce risk / time to test result (PCR, TPA)6. Sensory (trained & validated panel!)7. Kegs 8. Shelf Life (TBARS, TPO, chill haze)9. Consistency (wort & green beer IBU & color, GC)10.Raw Materials