Blog: Industry

Brewery LIMS Provides Repeatable Quality and Compliance in a Maturing Industry

31st July 2017

Brewery LIMS Flow 200x120

Laboratory testing forms an essential part of the quality management process in a brewery. However, many management systems used in breweries are unable to provide the functionality needed to accommodate the processes and procedures associated with testing of this type. A Brewery LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System) solution provides the framework to drive quality checks and ensure compliance.

Brewery LIMS Covers All Key Stages

Laboratory testing usually follows a consistent format:

  • Take a sample
  • Register it in the system
  • Carry out a test(s)
  • Check that the test results lie within the permitted limits
  • Validation of results by a supervisor
  • Report the results
  • Release approved batches to the next production stage
  • Brewery Lims Flow

Typical lab testing flow through a Brewery

The nature of the specific tests undertaken at each stage of production are likely to be very different and so the LIMS needs the flexibility to be able to accommodate this. There are five key stages of production where laboratory or equivalent testing is used:

  • Goods in – testing of raw materials
  • Brewhouse – may require numerous testing stages during the brewing process itself
  • Cellar – testing of the beer when it has been matured and filtered and possibly shelf life testing
  • Sensory – sensory tests such as taste, smell and appearance must also be undertaken and the results recorded
  • Packaging – making sure that product labeling and packaging is correct

For many breweries, especially micro and craft breweries, laboratory testing is outsourced to contract laboratories, yet there is still a need to incorporate the results reported back into an overall quality management system. However stricter regulatory requirements throughout the food and beverage industry are encouraging breweries to bring laboratory testing in house. With this comes the need for a management system that can handle the specific requirements found in a laboratory environment.

In The Lab

Quality testing involves traceability, scheduling, regulatory compliance and reporting. The Brewery LIMS provides this capability, capturing the workflows, managing the data and providing a repeatable means to analyze and extract the resulting information. More importantly however is the flexibility that Brewery LIMS provides through its configuration tools to adapt the system to match exactly the requirements of an individual brewery. The Matrix Gemini Brewery LIMS provides transparency for the laboratory functions and delivers a ready means of proving regulatory compliance.  However it doesn’t stop there. Although Brewery LIMS is configured for laboratory data management requirements, it can be further extended to handle a range of more general quality functionality such as invoicing, inventory control, asset management, customer feedback and corrective and preventive action (CAPA) management.


For more information on Brewery LIMS please contact us.