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Answering IBD Multiple Choice Questions

The aim of these pages is to:
o show you some examples of the different sorts of questions that
you will encounter when sitting a Certificate Examination in the
Fundamentals of Brewing and Packaging
o explain why a question is being asked the way it is
o point you to what you need to know to give the correct answer.
First Things First The Front Page
Read these instructions carefully before you begin you could lose
marks (each exam someone does) if you do not follow them,
particularly those concerned with marking the answer boxes.
INSTRUCTIONS AND INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES

Write both your candidate number and your centre number in the spaces
above. No other information about your identity or centre should be given.

Use a blue or black ink pen

Answer all questions

Show your choice of answer by entering a single diagonal line in the
appropriate box, as shown below:
Correct
a

If you wish to change your choice of box cross out your first choice with
an additional diagonal line and enter a single diagonal line in the box you
have chosen for your answer, as shown below:
Correct
a

If you leave two or more boxes with single diagonal strokes, no mark will
be awarded, e.g.:
This is wrong
a

All questions carry one mark.

_______________________________________________
For examiners use only
Total Mark

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All the questions have four possible answers; your task is to mark the
box corresponding to the right answer with a diagonal line. The box in
the margin is for the marker to score your answer.
The alternative answers will always be plausible, not silly or easily ruled
out like those on a T.V. quiz show. Some questions are more difficult
than others, but you do need to know your subject. Here is an easy one
from a Brewing paper.
Marker
Question 1
Only
What rapid procedure can be used to check that starch
conversion in the mash is complete?
a. Iodine test.
b. Wort viscosity measurement.
c. Wort gravity measurement.
d. Imhoff test.
a

These are all tests done in the brewhouse but only one is done on a
sample of the mash itself, and only one will show the presence of
starch. Try adding a drop of iodine solution to a sample of mash
immediately after mashing has finished; then repeat the exercise just
before starting the run-off.
Some questions will be made harder by giving wrong answers, or
distractors as they are called, which are right, but one will be more
right than the others. Here is a Health and Safety question which might
appear on any paper.
Marker
Question 2
Only
Which is the most important procedure to be completed before
a beer tank is entered by a person?
a. CO2 test.
b. Inlet valves locked closed.
c. Available oxygen test.
d. Permit to Enter.
a

The key words in the question are most important. All the things listed
need to be done before entering a tank, but only one of them will
ensure that everything that needs to be done to ensure safety has
been done. Which do you think it is?

Some questions do not actually ask a question; they expect you to

complete a statement with the correct choice of words. This is from a
Packaging paper.
Marker
Question 3
Only
Kegs are filled with beer at a low temperature to
a. ensure accurate volume control
b. counteract temperature pick up from the hot keg
c. minimize microbiological growth
d. keep dissolved gases in solution.

Two of these distractors are consequences of filling at low temperature;

one is untrue. Packagers know that CO2 and N2 gases become less
soluble in beer as beer temperature rises. So which is the right answer?
It is important to know the sequence of events in a process. The exam
tests that knowledge with questions like this one from Brewing.
Marker
Question 4
Only
What is the sequence of events as malt grist is prepared?
a. Screening > destoning > weighing > milling
b. Weighing > destoning > screening > milling
c. Destoning > screening > weighing > milling
d. Destoning > screening > milling > weighing

Remember that destoning is always done first as stones can do

damage, and malt is weighed before it is milled. Only one of the options
achieves these requirements.

Diagrams are a good way of remembering what goes on in a piece of

plant but the diagrams need to be accurately labelled. You may be
asked to supply the correct labels like this question from Kegging
Marker
Question 5
Only
Which of the label sequences for the sections of a flash pasteurizer is
the correct one for the diagram below? The labels apply in numerical
order 1-4.
a. Heating : Regeneration : Chilling : Holding
b. Chilling : Heating : Holding : Regeneration
c. Heating : Chilling : Regeneration : Holding
d. Holding : Chilling : Heating : Regeneration
3

Flash
Pasteuriser

Careful! The labels of the sections are not in the same order of events
in a pasteurizer that would be too easy. Beer goes in to the section
labelled 2 first and leaves by section 3. The incoming beer is first
heated by the beer from the holding section, then heated further to
pasteurisation temperature. Now work out the answer.

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Calculating such things as blending volumes, efficiencies, extract
performance is an everyday task that you are expected to be able to do
accurately. There will be at least one, probably two, calculation
questions in every examination. The data will be realistic, but avoid any
difficult mathematics. Non-programmable calculators are allowed and it
is recommended that you take a small, simple device with you but
dont rely on a mobile phone calculator because they are not allowed in
the examination room. Here is one from Brewing.
Marker
Question 6
Only
Calculate the volume of yeast slurry to pitch a brew from the
following data. (Round your answer to the nearest whole litre).
Specified pitching rate . . . 0.6 litres/hl at 90% viability
Wort volume . . . . . . . . . . . 500 hl
Actual viability . . . . . . . . . . 86%
a.
b.
c.
d.

314 litres
368 litres
396 litres
412 litres
a

Enter the data along with the right mathematical signs into your
calculator: Volume to be pitched x pitching rate then a correction to
compensate for a low viability i.e. to increase the amount of slurry
pitched.
500 x 06 x 90 / 86 = 314 litres (your calculator may show 313.999, but
yeast pitching on a production scale is done to the nearest litre.)

Units are always important and numbers are meaningless without them.
You are expected to know which units are appropriate for anything that
is measured in brewing or packaging. Expect a question like this one,
which could appear on any paper.
Marker
Question 7
Only
The alcohol content of beer is most commonly expressed in
which one of the following units?
a. %
b. mg/l
c. %w/w
d. %v/v
a

You may have heard the expression alcohol by volume. This is written
%v/v. Some companies use alcohol by weight, but this is not very
common world-wide. You should check that any units used in your
brewery are internationally used.
You are also expected to able to recognise the normal values for
measurements of beer parameters.
Marker
Question 8
Only
The maximum level for dissolved oxygen in bright beer that is
accepted as good practice is
a. 0.01 mg/ml
b. 0.10 mg/l
c. 0.50 g/l
d. 1.00 mg/l.
a

This question tests both your knowledge of normal values and the units
for measuring oxygen in beer. Option b is generally accepted as a
maximum in good practice, but many breweries aim to be lower, but
none of the distractors are a lower value.

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Sometimes a question will be asked in a negative way.
Question 9

Marker
Only

Which of the following is not a key objective of Total Productive

Maintenance (TPM)?
a. Achieve zero defects
b. Achieve a short term repair
c. Involve people at all levels
d. Achieve autonomous maintenance.
a

Total Productive Maintenance is system with well defined objectives

quick fixes not designed to last isnt one of them.

Now here are nine more questions for you to answer.

Question 10

Marker
Only

Beer is most accurately defined as

a. a beverage containing alcohol and made from cereals and
hops
b. a carbonated, alcoholic beverage flavoured with hop
compounds
c. a beverage made by fermenting sugars derived from barley,
adjuncts and hops
d. a beverage made by fermenting sugars extracted from
malted barley and flavoured with hops.
a

Question 11
What filtration mechanism is used in most sterile filters?
a. Depth.
b. Surface.
c. Absorptive.
d. Electrostatic.
a

Marker
Only

Question 12
What is the most desirable flow rate to transfer beer from bright
beer tank to filler?
a. 1.5 m/s (5 ft/s).
b. 2 m/s (7 ft/s).
c. 1 m/s (3 ft/s).
d. 2.5 m/s (8 ft/s).
a

Question 13
The process of fermentation is carried out in the absence of
a. vitamins
b. sugars
c. oxygen
d. amino acids.
a

Question 14
Which of the following two materials may form a haze in beer, in
the presence of oxygen?
a. Lipids and proteins.
b. Yeast and tannins.
c. Lipids and yeast.
d. Proteins and tannins.
a

Question 15
Which one of the following is being measured to determine the
bitterness level in beer?
a. Hop oil.
b. Beta-acids.
c. Iso-alpha-acids.
d. Alpha-acids.
a

Marker
Only

Question 16
Suggest an additional essential Quality System document that
might be added to the following list:
o Instructions on how to operate the plant
o The process specifications.
o Procedure to be followed in the event of a nonconformance.
o The arrangements for auditing.
o ..
a.
b.
c.
d.

A list of emergency telephone numbers.

An explanation of the organisation and responsibilities.
The Final Inspection check list.
The disciplinary procedure.
a

Question 17
Which of the following is best suited to clean a bright beer tank
under CO2 top pressure?
a. Phosphoric acid
b. Caustic soda
c. Sodium hypochlorite
d. Peracetic acid
a

Question 18
What is a useful graphical format to identify and target areas of
the brewery that most influence a particular effluent parameter?
a. Cusum chart
b. Distribution curve
c. Pie chart
d. Vertical bar chart.
a

Answers
Ques. 10
Ans.
d

11
a

12
c

13
c

14
d

15
c

16
b

17
a

18
c