A method of illuminating and extracting scattered and transmitted light from a liquid within a sealed glass bottle, the method comprising initiating transmission of an incident light beam from a light source to the sealed bottle, directing the incident light beam to totally internally refract within a wall of the sealed bottle and thereby cause an evanescent wave within the liquid to generate scattered or absorbed light, receiving the scattered or absorbed light from the liquid contained in the sealed bottle, and processing one or more signals representative of the scattered or absorbed light, the signals indicative of one or more molecules indicative of a characteristic being present in the liquid contained in the sealed bottle.

A sampling device for taking samples from a gaseous beverage under pressure includes a connection for a beverage line, a pump having a pump chamber, a particle filter, a discharging opening for a beverage sample, an outlet for waste, a control device, and a line system connected to the pump chamber with adjustable valves. The sampling device is configured so a beverage sample with a volume smaller than the volume of the pump chamber is introduced from the connection into the pump chamber. The pump chamber is then separated from the connection and is expanded so gas exits from the beverage sample. The pump chamber is then connected to the outlet opening and compressed so gas which has passed out of the beverage sample is displaced. Then, the pump chamber is connected to the discharging opening via the particle filter and compressed so the beverage sample is displaced.

A beverage dispenser comprises a bottle holder, a motor, and a controller. The bottle holder is configured to hold a bottle of a liquid beverage. The motor is connected to the bottle holder and configured to move the bottle holder in an angular movement to bring the bottle into a pouring position. The controller is configured to control the bottle holder via the motor in a set pattern to dispense a portion of the liquid beverage from the bottle into a serving receptacle. The liquid beverage may be wine, and the serving receptacle may be a wine glass. The liquid beverage may be liquor, and the serving receptacle may be a shot glass. The portion of the liquid may be an amount of liquid to fill the receptacle to a designated level. The portion of the liquid beverage is less than the entire capacity of the bottle.

A system and method are provided to monitor, store and communicate data on parameters of a consumable product stored in a sealed container. In one embodiment, the method includes hermetically sealing the product in the container, and packaging the container for sale to a consumer. Packaging includes attaching a system to the container to monitor and store in the memory data on parameters of the consumable product. Attaching the system includes affixing a flexible substrate including a laser-detector pair directly to an outer surface of the container. The laser-detector pair is configured to pass laser light through the container to reflect from a reflector affixed to the outer surface of the container opposite the laser-detector pair to non-invasively sense parameters of the consumable product. The method further includes providing an interrogator to the consumer to communicate with the system to access the data.

The present invention relates to colorimetric polydiacetylene (PDA) sensor arrays for detection of analytes and levels thereof in aqueous solutions. In particular the present invention relates to methods of characterizing an aqueous solution for at least one analyte, comprising the steps of a) providing a sensor array comprising at least two different poly-diacetylenes, wherein said poly-diacetylenes are spatially separated and individually addressable, b) contacting said sensor array with a sample of said aqueous solution, c) measuring the colorimetric response of said poly-diacetylenes to the aqueous solution, wherein said poly-diacetylenes are polymerized from a composition comprising one or more diacetylene monomer(s) said poly-diacetylenes are capable of a colorimetric response upon contact with said analyte, and wherein the at least one analyte is selected from the group consisting of an organic molecule with a molecular weight below 2000 g/mol, salts thereof and an inorganic salt.

Devices, systems and methods are disclosed which relate to using containers with a multitude of nucleation sites covering a major portion of the inside wall of the container to enable rapid and nearly complete removal of soluble gases from fluid samples, including carbonated beverages and other carbonated fluid samples. A fluid sample is rapidly poured into the described container initiating a catastrophic release of the soluble gas from the sample.

Method for determining the concentrations of constituent chemical species in a mixture, including the steps of: using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, acquiring an NMR measurement for a sample of the mixture; and for each of the constituent chemical species, retrieving a reference model representative of the NMR FID signal or frequency domain spectra from a database. Each model has a number of parameters, and for at least one of the constituent chemical species, the reference model is a quantum mechanical model. The method further includes, using a computer, generating a model signal for the mixture and adjusting some or all of the model parameters to fit the model signal to the measured data; and based on the fitted model signal, calculating and displaying the concentrations of the constituent species in the sample.

Methods and systems are disclosed for determining characteristics of a liquid, a headspace above the liquid, and/or a gas within a container.

A system for monitoring the characteristics of a material by measuring electrical properties of a material uses a material monitoring device and a cloud database that relates electrical properties of a material to characteristics of that material. The aging and fermentation processes of wine and other alcohols can be monitored. The status and decomposition of foodstuffs can be monitored. The progress of chemical reactions in a vessel can be monitored. Water quality of water from a water conduit can be monitored. These characteristics can be indicated on a product monitoring device or can be communicated to an external computing device.

A control method and an associated apparatus for a winemaking process, wherein a must obtained from the pressing step is sent to one of a plurality of fermentation tanks or a must is taken from a maceration and fermentation tank. The method comprises the steps of: preselecting at least one colorimetric value of the said must; colorimetrically measuring the must; comparing the colorimetric value measured with said preselected value andin the case of a deviation by a predefined amount between said two values: sending said must obtained from the pressing step to a second tank different from the one said must was directed to; stopping the maceration and fermentation of said must taken from the maceration and fermentation tank and transferring it into an aging tank or barrel.