DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD  
  DUS DEAS 63 
Second  Edition  
2017-mm-dd 
 
 Reference number  
DUS DEAS 63: 2017 
© UNBS 2017 
   
Beer — Specification  
 
 DUS DEAS 63: 2017 
ii                © UNBS  2017 - All rights reserved 
 Compliance with this standard does not, of itself confer immunity from legal obligations  
A Uganda Standard does not purport to include all necessary provisions of a contract. Users are 
responsible for its correct application  
© UNBS 2017 
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilised in any 
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without prior written 
permission from UNBS. 
Requests for permission to reproduce this document should be addressed to 
The Executive Director 
Uganda National Bureau of Standards 
P.O. Box 6329 
Kampala 
Uganda 
Tel: +256 417 333 250/1/2/3 
Fax: +256 414 286 123 
E-mail: info@unbs.go.ug  
Web: www.unbs.go.ug  
 DUS DEAS 63: 2017 
© UNBS  2017 - All rights reserved                iii National foreword 
Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) is a parastatal under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and 
Cooperatives established under Cap 327, of the Laws of Uganda, as amended.  UNBS is mandated to co-
ordinate the elaboration of standards and is  
(a) a member of International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and  
(b) a contact point for the WHO/FAO Codex Alimentarius Commission on Food Standards, and  
(c) the National Enquiry Point on TBT Agreement of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). 
The work of preparing Uganda Standards is carried out through Technical Committees. A Technical 
Committee is established to deliberate on standards in a given field or area and consists of representatives of 
consumers, traders, academicians, manufacturers, government and other stakeholders. 
Draft Uganda Standards adopted by the Technical Committee are widely circulated to stakeholders and the 
general public for comments. The committee reviews the comments before recommending the draft standards 
for approval and declaration as Uganda Standards by the National Standards Council.  
This Draft Uganda Standard, DUS DEAS 63: 2017 , Beer — Specification, is identical with and has been 
reproduced from an International Standard, DEAS 63:2017, Beer — Specification , and is being proposed for 
adoption as a Uganda Standard. 
This standard was developed by the Subcommittee on Water and alcoholic beverages, SC 16, under the Food 
and agriculture Standards Technical Committee (UNBS/TC 2 ). 
Whereve r the words, “ East African Standard " appear, they should be replaced by "Uganda Standard." 
This standard cancels and replaces US 46: 2014 , Beer — Specification, which has been technically revised. DEAS 63:2017
ICS67.160.10
© EAC 2017 Third Edition 2017
DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD
Beer —Specification
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITYEAS63:2017
ii © EAC 2017 –All rights reservedCopyright notice
This EAC document is copyright -protected by EAC. While the reproduction of this document by
participants in the EAC standards development process is permitted without prior permission from EAC,
neither this document nor any extract from it may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form for
any other purpose without prior written permission from EAC.
Requests for permission to reproduce this document for the purpo se of selling it should be addressed
as shown below or to EAC’s member body in the country of the requester:
© East African Community 2017—All rights reserved
East African Community
P.O.Box 1096
Arusha
Tanzania
Tel: 255 27 2504253/8
Fax: 255 27 2504481/2 504255
E-mail: eac@eachq.org
Web: www.eac -quality.net
Reproduction for sales purposes may be subject to royalty payments or a licensing agreement.
Violators may be persecutedDEAS 63:2017
©EAC 2017 –All rights reserved iiiForeword
Development of the East African Standards has been necessitated b y the need for harmonizing requirements
governing quality of products and services in the East African Community. It is envisaged that through
harmonized standardization, trade barriers that are encountered when goods and services are exchanged
within the Community will be removed.
In order to achieve this objective, the Community established an East African Standards Committee mandated
to develop and issue East African Standards.
The Committee is composed of representatives of the National Standards Bodi es in Partner States, together
with the representatives from the private sectors and consumer organizations. Draft East African Standards
are circulated to stakeholders through the National Standards Bodies in the Partner States. The comments
received are discussed and incorporated before finalization of standards, in accordance with the procedures
of the Community.
East African Standards are subject to review, to keep pace with technological advances. Users of the East
African Standards are therefore expec ted to ensure that they always have the latest versions of the standards
they are implementing .
EAS 63was prepared by Technical Committee EASC/TC007, Alcoholic and non -alcoholic beverages .
This second edition cancels and replaces the second edition ,EAS 63:2014,which has been technically
revised.EAST AFRICAN STANDARD EAS 63: 201 7
© EAC 2014–All rights reserved 1Beer —Specification
1Scope
This East African Standard specifies the requirements and methods of sampling and test forbeer.
2Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for t he application of this document. For dated
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced
document (including any amendments) applies.
CODEX STAN 192, Codex general standard for food additives
EAS 1 2,Drinking (potable) water —Specification
EAS 38, Labelling of prepackaged foods —Specification
EAS 39, Hygiene in the food and drink industry —Code of practice
EAS 10 0,Food stuffs —Methods of determination of Lead
ISO 1842, Fruit and vegetable prod ucts —Determination of pH
ISO 4832 , Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs —Horizontal method for the enumeration of
coliforms —Colony -count technique
ISO 4 833-1,Microbiology of the food chain —Horizontal method for the enumeration of micro -organisms —
Part 1: Colony -count at 30 degrees C —Pour plate technique
ISO 6634, Fruits, vegetables and derived products —Determination of arsenic content —Silver
diethyldithiocarbamate spectrophotometric method
ISO 17240, Fruit and vegetable products —Determination of tin content —Method using flame Atomic
Absorption Spectrometry
3Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this standard, the following terms and definitions shall apply.
3.1
alcohol
as ethyl alcohol (C 2H5OH)
3.2
beer
beverage, containing ethyl alcohol prepared by fermentation of sugars derived mainly from malted and/or
unmalted cereal grains and/or approved adjuncts2 © EAC 2017 –All rights reserved3.3
malt
cereal grain (often barley), which has been steeped, allowed to germinate and then dried or kilned to halt
further germination
3.4
unmalted cereal grains
cereal grains that have not undergone the processes in 3.3
3.5
brewing
process of converting malt and/or un malted cereal grains and adjuncts into beer
3.6
adjuncts
any other source of fermentable sugar from an agricu ltural origin  other than malted barley
NOTE These materials are usually but not exclusively added in the brew house during the process of brewing.
3.7
potable water
water complying with the requirements of EAS 12
3.8
extraneous matter
include sinorganic matter such as sand, glass, metal, gravel, dirt, pebbles, stones, lumps of earth, clay and
mud and organic matter such as chaff, straw, weed seeds and grains of crops, insects or insects fragments,
rodent hairs or any other foreign matter. Extraneous matt er does not include substances produced by
interaction of normal beer ingredients as a result of natural ageing process such as polyphenols -protein
interactions
4Requirements
4.1 Ingredients
4.1.1 Essential ingredients
The following ingredients shall be used for the production of beer:
a)malted and /or unmalted grains;
b)hops and /orproducts derived from hops; and
c)potable water complying with EAS 12 .
4.1.2 Optional ingredients or adjuncts
These may include unmalted cereal grains (see 3.4) and adjun cts (see 3.6).
4.2 General requirements
4.2.1 Beer shall be free from:
a)any substances injurious to health;
b)any extraneous matter;©EAC 2017 –All rights reserved 3c)artificial sweetening agents;
d)any artificial colorants except for those colouring agents prepared from sugar, barley, malt or any cereal
grains; and
e)any added alcohol.
4.2.2 Bright lager beer shall have maximum haze of 2.5 EBC units when tested in accordance with EAS
104.
4.2.3  classes
Beer may be classified as below based  on ethyl alcohol  content given in Table 1
Non-alcohol icbeer
Low alcohol/light beer
Mild beer
Medium beer
Strong beer
4.3 Specific quality requirements
Beer shall comply with the specific quality requirements specified in Table 1.
Table 1 —Quality requirements for beer
S/No. Characteristic Requi rement Test method
(i) Ethyl alcohol content, % ,v/v:
Non-alcohol icbeer
Low alcohol/light beer
Mild beer
Medium beer
Strong beerless than 0.5
0.5-2.4
2.5-4.0
4.1-5.5
more than 5.5EAS 104
(ii) pH 30-4.75 ISO 1842
(iii) Carbon dioxide, %, v/v
Bottled/ canned beer.
Keggedbeer2.4-7.0
1.0-2.5EAS 104
5 Food additives
Food additives may be used in the preparation of beer in accordance with CODEX STAN 192. subject to
provision of 4.2,1c
6 Processing aids
Only food grade processing ai ds generally recognized as safe for human consumption shall be used during
the manufacture of products covered by this standard.4 © EAC 2017 –All rights reserved7Hygiene
Beer shall be manufactured and handled in a hygienic manner in accordance with EAS 39 and shall conform
to the micro biological limits stipulated in Table 2.
Table 2—Microbiological limits for beer
S/No. Organism Limit Test method
i) Coliforms Nil ISO4832
ii) Total plate count, cfu/mL, max. 100 ISO 4833 -1
8Contaminants
8.1Pesticide residues
All the raw materials used in the production of beer shall comply with the maximum residue limits for
pesticides as established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission.
8.2Heavy metal
Beer shall not contain heavy metals at levels exceeding the limits indicated in Table 3.
Table 3—Limits for heavy metal contaminants in beer
S/N
o.Type of impurity Limit Test method
(i) Arsenic (as As), mg/L , max. 0.01 ISO 6634
(ii) Lead (as Pb), m g/L, max. 0.01 EAS 10 0
(iii) Tin, (as Sn) , mg/L, max. 150 ISO 17240
8.3Aflatoxin limits .
Total aflatoxin shall not exceed 10 µg/Land aflatoxin B 1shall not exceed 5 µg/Lwhen tested with ISO 16050
9Weight sand measures
The volume and fill of  beer shall comply with the weights and measures regulations of Partner States or
equivalent legislation.
10Packaging
10.1Beer shall be packaged in suitable food grade containers.
10.2Beer shall be packaged for bulk delivery and storage in containers that shall prevent contamination of
the product and preserve its safety and quality.©EAC 2017 –All rights reserved 511Labelling
In additi on to the requirements of EAS 38, the following specific labelling requirements shall apply and shall be
legibly and indelibly marked:
a)name, physical location and address of manufacturer;
b)ethyl alcohol content, % by volume;
c)list of ingredients in descendin g order of proportion by mass;
d)net content in millilitres or litres ;
e)a declaration by common name of any additives used;
f)date of manufacture, batch identification number/code;
g)best before;
h)country of origin; and
i)statutory warnings.
12Sampling and test
Sampling and testing of beer shall be done in accordance with EAS 104.EAS 63:2017
© EAC 2017 –All rights reserved