Australia – the debut location for Steinecker’s CombiCube B

The anticipation in the air was palpable when the guests from the brewing industry entered the production hall of Krones AG’s Steinecker plant in Freising, Germany. Swathed in bright blue was the CombiCube B, a compact-size brewhouse, the latest innovation from Steinecker.

The guests were welcomed by Ulrich Walk, Divisional Manager Process Technology I, who lucidly explained the reasons why Steinecker had developed this new product: “Breweries with a brew size of 50 to 100 hectolitres of cast wort have hitherto not really been able to benefit from Steinecker’s innovations and capabilities. Our customised installations beyond this output could not be readily adapted for the smaller output range. But since we have the right technology for each brewery, we set ourselves to modify the large-size kit for the lower output range.” High-performance technology streamlined to meet mid-tier requirements – which means that mid-tier breweries, too, can enjoy the advantages of top-quality, optimised and consistently reliable engineering from Krones.

But this compact brewhouse can also be used by breweries with a higher output who want to produce their seasonal and specialty beers in a separate brewing process, independently of their principal brands.

Depending on the mashing process chosen, a maximum of four vessels of the compact brewhouse are used as a mash tun, a mash-wort copper, a lauter tun or a mash-lauter tun, complemented by a whirlpool. The vessels are equipped with state-of-the-art technological features already familiar from their large-size counterparts in Steinecker’s range.

The compact dimensions of the frame construction, with vessel sizes specifically tailored to the needs of mid-tier breweries, save an impressive amount of space as well. Depending on the version involved, the entire brewhouse has a footprint of only 97 to 117 m2. And this also reduces the costs required for transport and erection.

Operational debut in Australia

After the presentation in Freising, the CombiCube B is now embarking for Australia. The Australian firm CoPack Beverages, located in Derrimut, Victoria, is the first company in the world to start operation with the new Steinecker CombiCube B compact brewhouse from Krones AG. CoPack Beverages is a contract bottler for both alcoholic and soft drinks. This is the first time that CoPack Beverages has produced beer in-house, and for these beginners the CombiCube B brewhouse was just what they needed. “We examined all possible options of this size on the market very carefully indeed, and came to the conclusion that the CombiCube B offers the most convincing technological concept in every regard!”, explains General Manager Mark Berwick.