Preserving beer freshness in plastic bottles (Part 1)

In the area of beverage filling, packaging has the function of maintaining the quality of the filled beverage as near to the original state as possible, until drunk by consumers. The first part of this contribution summarises the current conditions pertaining to filling in PET and the properties of plastic bottles.

For beverages which belong to the group of especially sensitive foodstuffs (including beer), this means that, if possible, no oxygen whatsoever penetrates through the packaging or the respective closure, that no carbon dioxide and no water vapour escapes from the packaging and that also sufficient protection from light must be ensured.

PEN bottles
In Germany, plastic bottles have not established themselves in beer filling.
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Practical experiences of cleaning and disinfecting aseptic filling lines from the view of a hygiene chemical and services company

In the last few years the use of cold aseptic filling lines has increased more and more. Such filling lines are mainly used for beverages without CO2 and with a low CO2-content. This is a new trend in Europe but well-known in Asia.

Polyester bottles for beer (I). Gas permeability, migration properties, physical and chemical stability

The use of PET bottles for filling beer has been discussed for a number of years. PET has meanwhile established itself as packaging for soft drinks. A great variety of beverages are filled in plastic bottles: mineral water, CSD, ACE drinks and ice teas. T

Tankless and continuous? Compact plants for inline manufacture of carbonated, alcohol-free soft drinks as an alternative to a conventional syrup room

The steadily increasing diversity of beverages coupled with bigger filling capacities, triggered by the increased use of large-volume PET bottles, raises questions about the practicability of beverage manufacturing methods used to-date. A conventional syrup room, with preparation of ready-made syrups and their storage in large tanks, is approaching the limit of economic viability in terms of performance, flexibility and spatial requirements. There is a need for new investment projects, alternative concepts and technologies to meet changed requirements.

In-line or inline process engineering! Nowadays, these two keywords stand for modern processes to manufacture and fill soft drinks. Thus in the literature concerning, e.g. Both are pure fiction.e.
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Filling plant with multifunctional packaging sectionFocus on new plants: Warsteiner Brewery Haus Cramer GmbH & Co. KG, Warstein

One of Europe’s most modern plants for filling of cans and non-returnable bottles has been commissioned at Warsteiner Brewery. In designing the plant, particular emphasis was accorded to flexibility in the packaging and palletising section so as to facilitate future-focused portfolio management.

The shortest possible reaction times for introduction of product innovations and a wide-ranging diversity of packaging with optimised costs were the most important criteria laid down for the new can and non-returnable filling plant. This was commissioned in Warstein in February 2000 after a six month planning phase and a further four month installa-tion phase. The plant is designed to fill products for the German as well as for the whole of the European market.
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Care of bottle pool in breweries

The NRW pool seems to be in need of attention, this was evidenced in investigations and calculations into the degree of scuffing. This contribution contains proposals for effectively improving conveying of bottles in filling plants and gives limit values for chemical stress in bottle washers. A method for analysing weak points in a bottling plant in terms of mechanical stress on bottles is also presented. This method developed at the Faculty of Brewing Equipment and Food Packaging Technology provides every brewery with a tool to evaluate in-house filling plants.

Scuffing is damage to the surface of bottles, resulting from a combination of mechanical and chemical influences on a returnable glass bottle (Fig. 1). 2). Approximately 2.3 million bottles were checked.
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Standards for data acquisition in the bottling hall

Currently, many breweries cannot take advantage of automatic data acquisition in the bottling hall because the installation of such systems involves excessively high costs and thus is not economically justifiable. Therefore, a standard performance specification has been drawn up in Weihenstephan, this will allow the sector to use cost-effective and efficient DA systems.


Plant data acquisition (DA) systems for filling plants have been used in the brewing sector for over a decade with the objectives of improving the accuracy and continuity of information flow, increasing transparency in production and providing a better basis for decision-making processes. The goal is to improve plant performance, increase productivity and efficiency and assure product quality.
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Effect of reliability of machinery on layout of filling plants

The efficiency achieved on filling plants depends largely on the reliability of individual machines as well as on layout of the filling plant. In planning filling plants, it is very interesting to determine the degree to which these two parameters correlate and to see whether established "rules of thumb" can be found to apply to plant planning.

Filling plant have to be operated as efficiently as possible. This is one of the reasons why engineers and production specialists are increasingly having to deal with efficiency considerations, benchmarking and similar new challenges. Nevertheless, efficiency levels in breweries are oftentimes no more than 70 to 85%. In operation of filling plants, many important events arise by chance (e.g.
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Measuring foam inhibitor in returnable bottles and washing plants

Washing of dirty returnable bottles has been greatly facilitated by the use of chemical cleaning agents. Carry-over of individual cleaning components into the product to be filled can be problematic. A method is presented for quantitative analysis of surfactants in bottles and in the washing plant. This method is based on HPLC which is already in use for beer analyses in a number of breweries.

Sizing criteria for boiler plants of breweries

Production and filling conditions as well as the heat recovery system in the brewhouse must be taken into account in order to arrive at a proper basis for sizing a boiler plant.

Focus on new plants: Brauerei Gotha GmbH, GothaMulti-function canning line at Gotha brewery

The Oettinger Company Group has entered the field of canned beer production. By commissioning a new canning line from KHS at its Gotha brewing plant last summer, Oettinger now also supplies the discount sector with its own products filled in 0.5-liter and 0.33-liter cans. The Gotha brewery uses the new line for contract filling as well.