Coopers new malthouse nears completion
Cranes busily bow against the backdrop of the Mt Lofty Ranges in Adelaide, South Australia. They herald that the construction of Australia’s newest state-of-the-art malthouse for Coopers, which is within a “bulls roar” of completion. The malthouse is a 55,000 t per annum, Bühler Group-designed and fabricated facility whose construction is being managed by the Ahrens Group, who previously assisted Coopers in the building of its Regency Park, Adelaide brewery 17 years ago and subsequent enhancements.
The triple steep, cylindrical germination and kiln set up will handle batches of 180 t of barley. Silo storage for 16 days of barley is provided on site, along with twelve silos to receive the malted barley to enable some flexibility in malt specifications for differing customer expectations. This new malthouse is pretty much on schedule, with the first steeping projected to occur in October this year.
Most Australian beer drinkers rightly associate the Coopers family with the production of their iconic ales and home brew kits. However, Coopers has also been in the malting industry before as the majority owner of Adelaide Maltings up until late 2002.
The new Coopers malthouse is on the south-east corner of the Regency Park brewery site. As such, Coopers’ Managing Director, Dr Tim Cooper, has directed that the malthouse will conform to the cleanliness standards of the brewery. This means that conveyer belts, in-bound barley receival and other processes are cladded and present the same gleaming surfaces both inside and out of the malthouse.
The plant’s exterior is by no means the end of the innovative features of the new malthouse. Maltster-in-waiting, Dr Doug Stewart, has developed a number of innovative ideas for the new maltings. These naturally include the extensive use of conveyor belts to treat the developing malt gently and the installation of refrigeration units, in association with energy recovery systems, to ensure that the malt production conditions are controlled at optimal conditions regardless of climatic conditions.
These controls will ensure the production of high quality malt for brewing of Coopers beers and those of external customers, as well as the ability to malt heritage varieties such as Schooner for the craft brewing market.
