Easy Alcohol Measurement
The intuitive biosensor solution for low alcohol concentrations – in the lab or close to the production.
Key Features
Accurate
Accurate results due to highly selective and sensitive enzyme technology.
Easy
No chemical expertise necessary.
Fast
2 minutes measuring time.
Versatile
Measure in the lab or in the production environment.
System Components
Biosensor
Immobilized enzymes on the sensor surface catalyze the oxidation of alcohol molecules producing an electrical potential. Single use strips, factory calibrated.
Reader
Handheld device that measures the electrical sensor current. An integrated QR code scanner reads in the sensor calibration constants.
Support
Technical support, assistance on validations and new applications.
PC Software
Gets the measuring results from the reader via USB or BT. Helps reviewing and organizing the data, creating pdf or xls result files, LIMS connection.
Why choose DirectSens® Alcohol
- GC: High invest, high complexity, typically used in large labs with high sample throughput.
- Outsourced GC (contract lab): High costs, long waiting times – often three or more days.
- Enzymatic test kits: Complex procedure taking > 14 minutes. Gas bubbles, turbidity or fruit pulp can lead to erroneous results.
- The DirectSens® Advantage: Low investment, simple workflow, and results in about 2 minutes. That means faster decisions, lower costs, and accurate data you can trust.
3 Simple Steps
No calibration work, no cleaning.
1. Dilute
Dilute the sample with buffer.
2. Scan
Transfer the calibration constants with a QR scan.
3. Measure Alcohol
Apply 100 µl diluted sample to the biosensor and wait for 50 seconds.
Multiparameter System
We designed our biosensor system for multiparameter capability. The variety of available sensor types will continuously increase over the next years.
Currently available
OatSens® – Maltose & Glucose for sugar free oat or rice drinks (3 min. measuring time)
2025
Maltose & Glucose
2026
Alcohol, Glucose only and Sucrose
2027
Fructose and Lactate
Future
Further parameters according to customer demands
Products
DirectSens® Alcohol Kit
(Coming soon)
- Measuring range Alcohol: 0.005 – 1.5 % v/v
- Verified applications: Non-alcoholic beer, apple juice
Included:
- 25 biosensors, factory calibrated
- 2 x 125 ml buffer
- 2 ml positive control (ethanol)
- User manual
- Quality assurance certificate
- Technical service
DirectSens® Reader Kit T4
(Coming soon)
- Handheld (battery powered)
- Touch screen
- Intuitive software
- Multi parameter capability
- Integrated QR code scanner
- USB / BT data exchange
- Robust aluminum housing
Included:
- Reader
- USB A/C cable
- Calibration Device (LM10)
- Spare front adapter
- Manuals (on USB flash drive)
- DirectSens® PC software (on USB flash drive)
- Carrying hard case
Technical Details
Benefits
No chemical expertise needed
The user is led by an intuitive software through a simple measurement procedure. After an initial training on how to use a pipette and how to perform the measurement, anyone can do it – chemical expertise is not needed. Calibration work is not necessary – the sensors come readily factory calibrated.
No problems with turbid or coloured samples
Turbid beer and juice samples contain microscopic particles making centrifugation or filtration mandatory for optical measurement techniques. Also colored ingredients can cause false results with optical equipment. The DirectSens Alcohol Kit works on the basis of enzymes in combination with electrochemical detection and can therefore accurately measure colored or turbid samples without complex sample preparation. Just dilute the sample with buffer and measure.
Measurement Close To The Production
No lab environment and no lab personnel are required. Just find any space that is large enough to do the dilution and the measurement and ensure that the room temperature stays between 20 – 24 °C (68 – 75 °F).
Results After 2 Minutes
The measurement including dilution with buffer takes approximately 2 minutes, for clear and for turbid samples. Beer and other carbonated samples need degassing e.g. by ultrasound prior to the measurement.
Positive Control And Reader Check Tool Included
A professional QC operation includes periodic check-ups of the system performance. The standard delivery content of each DirectSens® Biosensor setup includes everything that is needed to do this quickly, reliably, easily, and fully traceable, including electronic reporting. Two procedures are supported:
- Measurement performance check: Each Alcohol Kit comes with a vial of positive control to ensure the validity of maltose and glucose results.
- Reader performance check: The reader kit includes an electronic reader check device.
No Maintenance
The reader is maintenance free. If sample liquid accidentally enters the biosensor slot, you can exchange the front part of the reader easily and quickly without the need for service people coming to your place. It´s a simple one-screw operation that anyone can do.
Easy Data Export / LIMS Connection
You get your measuring data as readily formatted xls or csv files plus pdf report files. The csv data format can be used by LIMS systems to import the data.
Small Footprint
The reader fits into the palm of a hand – therefore it does not occupy valuable lab space. Just take it out of the cupboard when you need it.
Robust Aluminum Housing
The housing is made of massive aluminum and protected by rubber bumpers. Not easy to destroy.
DirectSens Tech Support
We help you to get your measurements right: With product manuals, application notes, tutorial videos, online trainings, technical service, and application support via email, online or phone – fast, competent, and friendly. All services except training are free of charge.
Certified Quality
We work under strict quality control and full ISO 9001 certification to ensure that each product leaves our house in full compliance with the specified performance.
We are the only producer of food biosensors holding an AOAC OMA and a Nordval certificate (for the LactoSens®). We are aiming for equivalent external certifications also for our newer products in the future.
Environment & Safety
All liquids involved in the measurement are water based, nontoxic, nonflammable and can after use be disposed of in the wash basin. Wearing gloves is only necessary in case of allergies against ingredients. The biosensor test strips can be disposed of in standard household waste.
Good For Your QC Budget
Are you struggling to keep the costs down for your QC operations? Regular measurements not only imply the investment costs for the instrument and the costs per test, but also labor cost, service and maintenance, costs for the lab bench space and labor costs for the time that is needed to bring the sample from the production to a centralized laboratory – if on site measurement is not possible.
For low to medium sample throughput, DirectSens® Alcohol is an effective way to save on total costs of operation (TCO).
Interested in a total cost comparison of your alcohol measurement setup versus a biosensoric solution from DirectSens? Then we are looking forward to your request via the contact page.
Non-Alcoholic Beers
The measurement of alcohol is a critical step during the production of non-alcoholic beers because any non-compliance with the labelled alcohol content can compromise the health of vulnerable consumer groups like pregnant women. Currently brewers are facing the problem, that the measurement of low alcohol concentrations must be carried out by chemically trained lab personnel in a laboratory environment which means that in most cases the ongoing production cannot be checked during night and weekend shifts. Especially to produce 0.0 % beers with an alcohol limit of max. 0.05 % v/v, there are currently no easy to do quick methods available. The DirectSens® Alcohol Biosensor Assay Kit was developed to help brewers to get their products compliant 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. No chemical expertise and no lab environment are needed.
Craft Breweries
Due to the easy and quick workflow and the low investment costs, the DirectSens® Alcohol kit is an interesting option for craft breweries to control the alcohol level in non-alcoholic beers. With appropriate predilution of the beer samples, also the alcohol content of standard beer types can be measured.
Juices
Elevated alcohol levels are typically an indicator of storage problems that lead to unwanted fermentation of the product. It is important to keep the alcohol level below the sensory threshold and in compliance to internal or public regulations. In many small to medium juice producing operations, the alcohol content of the products is still assessed by sensory testing introducing a huge uncertainty. The DirectSens biosensor assay kit for alcohol is a real game changer for these producers: It enables to take critical decisions based on reliable and accurate analytical facts in order to assure a consistent product quality and long-term regulatory compliance.
Other Applications
We are interested to verify our technology for alcohol measurement also in other fields like kombucha, fruit preparations, cream liqueurs, eggnog or solid samples like chocolates. If you are interested, we would be happy to learn about your needs and cooperate to get a new application going. Please let us know via our contact form.
Areas of Use
Product Development:
If you are developing a dealcoholizing process or an innovative fermentation to produce non-alcoholic beer, wine or spirit, the DirectSens Alcohol Biosensor Assay Kit is the convenient and accurate way to keep the alcohol concentration under control.
Production Check-Ups:
Validate the alcohol level upstream of the filling line – because in the filled product, it is too late to react. The DirectSens Alcohol Kit was developed to enable quick production check-ups 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. Whenever and wherever needed. Even for alcohol levels below 0.05 % v/v.
Product Release:
Prevent legal issues and customer complaints by ensuring that every batch of your product is in line with the labelled alcohol content.
Free Validation Service
You want to test the DirectSens® Alcohol Kit for your samples? Just send us up to three stabilized samples. We measure alcohol with our biosensor system and share the results with you. You can send the same set of samples to a lab for GC analysis to have trustable reference results. We offer three analyses per customer free of charge.
Measurement
Verified sample matrices
Non-alcoholic beer, apple juice
Measuring range alcohol
0.005 – 1.5 % v/v
Repeatability st. dev. alcohol
< 8 %
Measuring time
2 min.
Minimum sample amount
100 µL
Sample and ambient temperature
20 – 24 °C (68 – 75 °F)
Measuring principle
Electrochemical biosensor
Environmental / safety hazards
All chemicals are water based, nontoxic, nonflammable
Shelf life of biosensors, buffer and positive control
12 months at 2 – 8 °C (36 – 46 °F)
Electrochemical Reader T4
Dimensions
125 x 65 x 32 mm (4.92 x 2.56 x 1.26 in)
Housing
Anodized aluminum with rubber sleeve
Weight
407 g
Display
58 x 44 mm (2.28 x 1.73 in) touch screen
Battery
Li-Ion rechargeable, ≈ 7 hrs. lifetime
Data interfaces
USB C, Bluetooth
PC / Software
PC requirements
- Windows 10 or 11
- 25 MB free hard disk space
- 1 × free USB A port
Output file formats
- XLS
- CSV
Additionally Required Materials
Eppendorfer vials, precision pipettes, pipette tips
For carbonated samples: Degassing equipment
Laptop or PC (specifications above)