By Sierra Hunter

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sarah Smith

Abstract

The Maltese Brewing Company developed the Signal One 2.0 Beer, which is infused with Carolina reaper chilies during the brewing process, in an attempt to make the world’s hottest beer. To be considered for a Guinness World Record, the beer requires a numerical value in the scale of Scoville heat units (SHU). Though quantification methods of SHU for solids such as peppers and semi-liquids such as hot sauces have been well-studied, complex matrixes such as beer have little background. Capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin are the two capsaicinoids that are responsible for over 90% of the heat in hot peppers and are the basis for most SHU research. Therefore, by quantifying the concentration of these two capsaicinoids in the beer sample, a close approximation of the overall heat of the beer, in SHU, can be determined. The standard addition method was used to make solutions for high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis. Results may allow for the beer to have a SHU value and be submitted for consideration as the spiciest beer.