To establish a method for the detection of 4-methylimidazole in beer by solid-phase extraction (SPE) coupled with ultra high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS).Methods Samples were extracted by water and purified by Agala PCX solid phase extraction column, then the sample was separated in a Waters ACQUITY BEH C18 column (100 mm×2.1 mm, 1.7 μm). The 4-methylimidazole was determined by UPLC-MS/MS in the multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) mode and quantified by internal standard. Results The calibration curve had a good linearity in the range of 1.0-200 μg/L with correlation coefficient of 0.999 3. The detection limit was 6 μg/kg. The average recoveries at three spiked levels were in the range of 88.2%-89.6%, and the relative standard derivation was below 5%.Conclusion The method is simple, rapid, sensitive and accurate, which could be used for the detection of 4-methylimidazole in beer.