Step 11: Bottle, Can or Keg

Bottles & Cans: ABV and apparent extract should be checked and compared to Brite Tank values to monitor for dilutions (a common issue at startup) and ensure TTB compliance. Fill volume is also critical to track over time for the TTB, at least three months of regular records are necessary to remain in compliance.
From a process control standpoint, dissolved oxygen and carbonation are important to control for shelf stability, and package integrity tests such as crimp diameter and glue/cardboard fiber tear are some other critical basics to cover.
Having clear and accurate date codes on your product is not only important for wholesaler stock rotation and customer impressions of freshness, they are also critical to batch traceability through your facility should you get a customer complaint from the field.
Micro stability and sensory should be performed on all packages too. Consider increasing your sample size or creating a composite sample to find sporadic issues that will affect some but not all packages.
Although all the same analytics can be done on bottles as on brite tanks, determine what the added value is to your lab before committing to tracking these long-term.

Kegs: Fill volumes can be determined by weight and are important to track for TTB purposes. Dissolved oxygen and carbonation are important to monitor, as is microbiological stability. A Rotech keg or equivalent can help keep tabs on key cleaning, sanitizing, purging, and filling processes.

Bottles
Production Level	Test	Method	Tools
<1,000 bbls/yr	Inspection	Bottles-2
	Crimp Test	Bottle Closures-6	Crimp Gauge
	Fill Volumes	Fills-1
	Bottle pH	Beer-9	pH Meter
	Sensory	Sensory: 1-5
	Packaged Beer Archive	No dedicated ASBC Method	Storage Space
	DO/TPO	No dedicated ASBC Method	Low-Range DO Meter, Piercer
	Carbonation	Beer-13D	CO₂ Meter, Piercer
	ATP Validation	Microbiological Ctrl-6	ATP Meter
1,000-15,000 bbls/yr	Micro	Microbiological Ctrl: 1-5	Incubator, Autoclave, Microscope
1,000-15,000 bbls/yr	INCLUDE ALL TESTS, METHODS, AND TOOLS FROM THE PRODUCTION LEVELS ABOVE
15,000-30,000 bbls/yr	ABV	Beer-4G	Near-Infrared Spectroscopy
	Foam Stability	Beer-22	Foam Funnel
	INCLUDE ALL TESTS, METHODS, AND TOOLS FROM THE PRODUCTION LEVELS ABOVE
30,000+ bbls/yr	Turbidity	Beer-27	Haze Meter
30,000+ bbls/yr	INCLUDE ALL TESTS, METHODS, AND TOOLS FROM THE PRODUCTION LEVELS ABOVE

Cans
Production Level	Test	Method	Tools
<1,000 bbls/yr	Inspection	Cans-1
	Seam Test	Cans-3	Seam Gauges
	Fill Volumes	Fills-2
	Can pH	Beer-9	pH Meter
	Sensory	Sensory: 1-5
	Packaged Beer Archive	No dedicated ASBC Method	Storage Space
	DO/TPO	No dedicated ASBC Method	Low-Range DO Meter, Piercer
	Carbonation	Beer-13D	CO₂ Meter, Piercer
	ATP Validation	Microbiological Ctrl-6	ATP Meter
1,000-15,000 bbls/yr	Micro	Microbiological Ctrl: 1-5	Incubator, Autoclave, Microscope
1,000-15,000 bbls/yr	INCLUDE ALL TESTS, METHODS, AND TOOLS FROM THE PRODUCTION LEVELS ABOVE
15,000-30,000 bbls/yr	ABV	Beer-4G	Near-Infrared Spectroscopy
	Foam Stability	Beer-22	Foam Funnel
	INCLUDE ALL TESTS, METHODS, AND TOOLS FROM THE PRODUCTION LEVELS ABOVE
30,000+ bbls/yr	Turbidity	Beer-27	Haze Meter
	Coating Coverage	Cans-8	Copper Sulfate
	INCLUDE ALL TESTS, METHODS, AND TOOLS FROM THE PRODUCTION LEVELS ABOVE

Kegs
Production Level	Test	Method	Tools
<1,000 bbls/yr	Visual Inspection	Kegs-1
	Sensory	Sensory: 1-5
	DO	No dedicated ASBC Method	Low-Range DO Meter
	ATP Validation	Microbiological Ctrl-6	ATP Meter
1,000+bbls/yr	Micro	Microbiological Ctrl: 1-5	Incubator, Autoclave, Microscope
	Fill Volume by Mass	No dedicated ASBC Method	Scale, Hydrometer/Digital Densitometer
	Carbonation	Beer-13D	CO₂ Meter
	INCLUDE ALL TESTS, METHODS, AND TOOLS FROM THE PRODUCTION LEVELS ABOVE

Step 11: Bottle, Can or Keg ​

Bottles

Cans

Kegs

Step 11: Bottle, Can or Keg