DEAS 63: 2017 
ICS 67.160.10  
© EAC 2017                                                                                                                        Third Edition 2017 
 
DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD 
Beer — Specification 
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY EAS 63: 2014 
ii © EAC 2017 – All rights reserved
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Violators may be persecuted DEAS 63: 2017 
© EAC 2017 – All rights reserved  iii
 Foreword 
Development of the East African Standards has been necessitated by 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 Bodies 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 expected to ensure that they always have the latest versions of the standards 
they are implementing .  
EAS 63 was prepared by Technical Committee EASC/TC 007, Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages . 
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition, EAS 63:2000, which has been technically revised. 
 EAST AFRICAN STANDARD EAS 63: 2014
 
© EAC 2014 – All rights reserved 1 
 Beer — Specification  
1 Scope 
This East African Standard specifies the requirements and methods of sampling and test for beer.  
2 Normative references 
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the 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 12, Drinking (potable) water — Specification  
EAS 38, Labelling of prepackaged foods — Specification 
EAS 39, Hygiene in the food and drink industry — Code of practice 
EAS 100,  Food stuffs — Methods of determination of Lead  
ISO 1842, Fruit and vegetable products — Determination of pH   
ISO 4832 , Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
coliforms — Colony-count technique 
ISO 4833-1, 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  
3 Terms 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 adjuncts EAS 63: 2014 
2 © EAC 2017 – All rights reserved
 3.3 
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 agricultural 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 
includes inorganic 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 matter does not include substances produced by 
interaction of normal beer ingredients as a result of natural ageing process such as polyphenols- protein 
interactions 
4 Requirements  
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/or products 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 adjuncts (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; DEAS 63: 2017 
© EAC 2017 – All rights reserved  3
 c) 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-alcoholic beer  
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 Requirement Test method 
(i) Ethyl alcohol content, %, v/v:  
 Non-alcoholic beer  
 Low alcohol/light beer  
 Mild beer  
 Medium beer  
 Strong beer less than 0.5 
0.5 - 2.4 
2.5 - 4.0 
4.1 - 5.5 
more than 5.5 EAS 104 
(ii) pH  30 - 4.75] ISO 1842 
(iii) Carbon dioxide, %, v/v  
 Bottled/ canned beer. 
 Kegged beer  
  
2.4 - 7.0 
1.0 - 2.5  
EAS 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 Formatted:  Font: BoldEAS 63: 2014 
4 © EAC 2017 – All rights reserved
 6 Processing aids 
Only food grade processing aids generally recognized as safe for human consumption shall be used during 
the manufacture of products covered by this standard. 
7 Hygiene  
Beer shall be manufactured and handled in a hygienic manner in accordance with EAS 39 and shall conform 
to the microbiological limits stipulated in Table 2. 
Table 2 — Microbiological limits for beer 
S/No. Organism Limit Test method 
i) Coliforms  Nil ISO 4832 
ii) Total plate count, cfu/mL, max. 100 ISO 4833-1 
8 Contaminants 
8.1 Pesticide 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. 
8.2 Heavy 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), mg/L, max. 0.01 EAS 100 
(iii) Tin, (as Sn), mg/L, max. 150 ISO 17240 
 
8.3 Aflatoxin limits. 
Total aflatoxin shall not exceed 10 µg/L and aflatoxin B 1 shall not exceed 5 µg/L when tested with ISO 16050 
9 Weights and measures 
The volume and fill of  beer shall comply with the weights and measures regulations of Partner States or 
equivalent legislation. 
10 Packaging  
10.1 Beer shall be packaged in suitable food grade containers.  DEAS 63: 2017 
© EAC 2017 – All rights reserved  5
 10.2 Beer shall be packaged for bulk delivery and storage in containers that shall prevent contamination of 
the product and preserve its safety and quality. 
11 Labelling 
In addition 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 descending 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. 
12 Sampling and test 
Sampling and testing of beer shall be done in accordance with EAS 104. 
 EAS 63: 2017  
 
© EAC 2017– All rights reserved