A freshly tapped beer is regarded by many consumers as being the best possible way of enjoying this beverage. And rightly so, because the qualitative standard of draught beer delivered to restaurants and bars is of the highest order. Nevertheless, as of the mid 90’s, repeated reports about considerable microbial contamination in draught beer have sent waves throughout the sector. In practically all cases, the cause of contamination could be put down to inadequate cleaning of the dispensing unit.

The manner, frequency and quality of cleaning are the major factors having a bearing on hygiene of a dispensing unit. Legal regulations and technical standards exist for dispensing unit cleaning (1, 2, 3). This procedure has no germicidal effect. ...

The working mechanisms and application parameters for common products based on different active agents such as per-oxy acetic acid or monobromoacetic acid are compared, taking a novel, non-oxidising disinfecting agent as an example.

The stringent hygiene requirements in the beverage industry require tailor-made disinfectants to ensure optimal product safety and uncompromising consumer protection. The range of available disinfectants is constantly growing due to the continuous efforts to increase process safety during production. The industry constantly strives to use less chemical agents and adjust exposure times whilst still achieving enhanced disinfecting performance. This process is based on chemical interaction.). A low foaming capacity makes it suitable for CIP processes..

Dosing and effects of surfactants in bottle washing agents are oftentimes not sufficiently well known in commercial operations. Surfactants are contained in additives for cleaning caustics. In this paper, tests are described for determining the effect of residual surfactants on surface tension and foam stability.

part from effectiveness, economics also play an important role in bottle washing; one wants to reduce not only energy but also water consumption to a minimum. This can be achieved only through addition of active cleaning agents. Additives thus have an important role to play in cleaning caustic for bottle washing.
Many operators of bottle washing plants know practically nothing about dosing of surfactants and their effects on quality of the cleaning process..

Ecolab, known for its innovative global hygiene technology, once more premiers safe and efficient solutions for the beer and beverage industries at this year’s Brau Beviale in Nuremberg.
In addition to cleaning and disinfecting products and services, Ecolab claims total hygiene solutions, performance-based cooperation contracts and comprehensive hygiene management know-how which make the production process easier, more efficient and safer,
Ecolab will introduce several innovative concepts, targeted specifically at the beverage production:
This year’s exhibition highlight will be the latest development from Ecolab laboratories - a Non-Oxidising Disinfectant called Trimeta NOD which may be used with different cleaners..

The techniques used for cleaning kegs differ in terms of the intensity and the intensity distribution of the fluid-mechanical cleaning effect in the keg interior. This article compares the mechanical cleaning effect of different cleaning techniques by analysing the results from theoretical models that were developed for this purpose. Of the cleaning techniques examined, alternating surging between the keg wall and the riser pipe was found to have the highest fluid-mechanical cleaning effect on the internal keg walls. Pulsed cleaning is therefore the preferred method for cleaning and rinsing of kegs.

The process steps used in practice for cleaning kegs vary significantly, even for comparable applications. In practice, the processes shown in Fig. 1 are used for cleaning kegs....

Beer remains one of the most popular beverages in Germany even though it has lost ground in some instances in recent years. "Draught beer is something special" (GFO/Association for Ecology in 1997) but reality is oftentimes something different. Between 1995 and 1997, many publications referred to hygiene problems in dispensing of draught beer. Though pub operators are responsible for dispenser hygiene, assisting them in achieving this is in the interest of brewers.

In chemical science peroxyacetic acid (POAA) is known for about a hundred years. In 1902 Freer & Novy reported the excellent microbicidal and especially sporicidal efficacy of dilute peroxyacetic acid that was prepared from diacetyl peroxide [1]. Only 10 years later D’ans & Frey succeeded to synthesise POAA [2].

In the mid 60s of the last century, Sproessig & al. surveyed POAA for medical use in the former GDR [3,4]. But still any use of this highly efficient disinfectant on a larger scale and outside laboratory environments was inhibited, because POAA was only available as a 40 % solution in glacial vinegar (anhydrous acetic acid). This is a very corrosive, flammable and even explosive preparation that has to be stored at temperatures below 0°C. 1). 2).

Draught beer is special for the consumer, and it makes a major contribution to the image of a brewery. The dispensing of beer is at the end of the quality chain and, as such, it has a considerable influence on the quality of the product when it reaches the consumer. This contribution describes initial results from an investigation into the influence of hygiene conditions of beverage dispensing equipment on quality of product.

The frequently inadequate status of hygiene in beer from open dispensing equipment became known to the general public for the first time as a result of routine investigations carried out by
the responsible surveillance authorities (1994, 1997) (3,5).g. micro-organisms, contaminations, odours, temperatures or climatic influences" (1).
....

A brewery laboratory should nowadays regard itself as a service provider for the overall beer production process. The functions to be offered by the laboratory are defined by production or filling.

Laboratory staff in white coats attract attention in the production and filling area, also due to the way they are dressed. They are oftentimes not regarded as helpful colleagues but as inspectors checking on others.
A brewery laboratory should nowadays regard itself as a service provider for the overall beer production process. The functions to be offered by the laboratory are defined by production or filling. The brewery laboratory operates in the context of an internal customer-supplier relationship, i.e. the laboratory is a fully fledged service provider.
....

Taking used cleaning caustics from the beverage industry as pH correction agents for the acidification step, an investigation was carried out into the consequences for process variables in pre-treatment of organically highly contaminated effluent in two-stage anaerobic compact plants. In the tests, the caustic originated from CIP and bottle washing units of breweries.

reweries and other operations in the beverage industry produce large volumes of effluent every year, this is considerably contaminated with residuals from production and with dirt particles and caustic solutions from cleaning processes. In Germany, most beverage operations still discharge effluent indirectly into public sewage. This leads to considerable costs in the non-productive area.67 (1). An average of 0.

The multiplicity of regulations imposed by authorities governing disposal of brewery effluent are becoming increasingly important in promoting environmental protection. In-house measures to reduce effluent volumes and concentrations are inadequate in many instances.

Long-term objectives of water policy include preserving the ecological equilibrium of waters and assuring quantitative and qualitative supplies of drinking water and service water. Between 0.4 and 0.8 m3 of fresh water/hl of sales beer are required in beer production. Thus, the brewing process gives rise to a specific effluent volume of 0.25 - 0.6 m3/hl (1). Costs for both fresh water and effluent are currently in the same range, at about 2 - 4 DM/m3.
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