Löwenbräu have set themselves the ultimate objective of filling one day standard beers in cans in an efficient and responsible manner, without tunnel pasteurisation. The second major significant factor related to filling yeast turbid "weißbier" as a canned product, this called for a special filling technology. This is described in this article.

About a year ago, GEA Till announced their new filling system "Direct Flow Control". In the meantime more than 12 months of practical experience has been gained which has fully supported the expected technological advantages.

Technical developments in filling of glass bottles appear to be tapering off, the trend is simply shifting somewhat away again from super-fast machines with extremely high hourly bottling capacities. In contrast, there are numerous new developments associated with kegs, cans and PET bottles.

In the context of a large-scale commercial test, the objective of this study was to investigate the extent to which conveyor lubricants with a disinfecting component could contribute to stabilising and/or improving the hygiene situation in the bottling section.

In what direction is today’s social structure developing? And what will be the impact of this on the beverage industry?

Since the late 1960s, a minimisation of oxygen pick-up by beer during the filling process has been pursued. Trials in the hot filling of beer were largely responsible for the realisation that the "stale flavour" was mainly caused by oxygen uptake by the beer on its way from the storage tanks to the filled bottle, can or barrel/keg.

A research project "Development of innovative strategies for efficient and environmentally friendly control of biofilms in the food industry, using beer filling as an example" has been awarded to the Special Section for Biology/Chemistry of Osnabrück University/Germany.

This project is sponsored by Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (German Federal Foundation for the Environment), Osnabrück, in co-operation with the Gerhard-Mercator-University Duisburg, Special Section for Aquatic Microbiology, Rolinck GmbH & Co. Private Brewery, Steinfurt, and Bitburger Brewery Th. Simon GmbH, Bitburg/Germany.

Biofilms are ubiquitous

Biofilms exist everywhere. They can arise in a great diversity of environments and are perceived as "biofouling", e.g.
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To ensure the filling quality of draft beer on a long-term basis, the Dortmunder Actien-Brauerei commissioned a new kegging line, designed to fill 30 or 50-liter kegs at a rate of 480 kegs per hour, as a replacement investment for an existing inline system. KHS was awarded the complete contract.

The Dortmunder Actien-Brauerei with its 4 million hectoliter output is the largest brewery in the Ruhr district and Germany’s fifth largest. As a subsidiary of the Binding Group, it ranks third in the list of exporters with an export volume of nearly 762,000 hl. The brands DAB, Kronen, Thier, Stifts, Hövels, and Hansa are united under the umbrella of the Dortmunder Actien-Brauerei.5 blood alcohol limit.
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The design of bottling lines fixes the mechanical factors which determine bottle appearance. Furthermore, cleaning agents, disinfectants and belt lubricants also have a decisive influence on appearance.

Returnable PET bottles have advantages e.g. they are accepted by customers, they are lighter etc., but special attention must be paid to the chemical structure of the packaging material.

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) belongs to the polyester group and is attacked during cleaning in caustic solution baths. This corrosion problem which manifests itself in the form of stress corrosion ("stress cracking") and greying of bottles ("hazing") is largely influenced by the caustic additives used.
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About one year ago, no adequate technological values could be guaranteed for beer in PET bottles and taste stabilities achieved ranged from a few weeks to a number of months. With the advent of multi-layer and physical bottle treatment processes, technological values very similar to those of "glass packaging" are just around the corner.

In view of the expected improvement of taste stability expected of beers filled in PET bottles and a preference for ever lighter containers on the part of the beverage industry and consumers, DIS decided to avail of these market opportunities and develop in-house know-how in the "PET beer sector", in addition to available PET know-how in the soft drinks sector. The plant has a capacity of 30,000 bottles/h, either 33 or 50 cl. 60 °C.
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Only ten years old, not yet grown out of infancy, and already the largest brewery plant in eastern Europe. The incredible success story of the Russian showpiece brewery Baltika, St. Petersburg was sired by many.

Baltika was established as a state-owned brewery in 1990 and in 1991 started with an output of 270,000 hl. Privatization of the company began in 1992 when the Scandinavian Baltic Beverages Holding (BBH) - a group comprised of Pripps and Hartwall - acquired the con-trolling interest. By 1997 Baltika reached an output of 3 million hectoliters; 12% of the total Russian beer market. During the same year, Baltika acquired the majority interest in the southwest Russian Donpivo Brewery in Rostov-na-Donu.9 million hl. Planning includes 6. 1" through "Baltika No. 6) with 7....