ANALYSIS
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BAPS at 25 Pro ciency testing in brewing – 25 years on
by the United Kingdom Accreditation Services (UKAS). The scheme was established to enable brewers to: • compare their laboratory’s measure- ments with those of their peers • check the effectiveness of their quality systems • monitor an individual’s capability as part of their training programme • monitor trends in measurements over time • demonstrate competence to third parties such as accreditation bodies, regulators and customers. How has BAPS developed? In the early 1990s BRF International (now Campden BRI) was looking at launching a pro ciency testing scheme for the brewing industry. At the same time the Laboratory of the Government Chemist (now LGC PT) was planning a similar scheme.
Rather than set up two compet- ing schemes, the two organisations decided to combine and establish a scheme which would bene t from LGC’s expertise in alcohol analysis and BRF International’s technical expertise in brewing. Consequently in 1994 the Brewing Analytes Pro ciency Scheme was born. Within two years of the scheme’s launch over 100 laboratories were taking part, from several different coun- tries, demonstrating that the scheme was delivering a service the global industry valued. Since then, even though there has been a great deal of rationalisation in the brewing industry, with many mergers and takeovers, BAPS has continued to grow globally and now has over 500 participating companies in more than 100 different countries. Figure 1 shows the growth in the number of participants over the past 25 years.
ByGordon Jackson
This year marks 25 years since the Brewing Analytes Pro ciency Scheme (BAPS) was launched. Gordon Jackson, of Campden BRI, explains what BAPS is, how it started and how it bene ts the brewing industry. What is BAPS? BAPS is an international pro ciency testing scheme, designed to promote quality in the measurement of a range of chemical, microbial and sensory ana- lytes in beer – and to help participants monitor and improve the quality of their measurements. BAPS is accredited
november 2019 I BREWER AND DISTILLER INTERNATIONAL ● 53
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