Detection of trace bacterial contamination in the brewery using conventional culture methods is often a long, complex process. Since bacteria multiply only very slowly under certain conditions, the time required to achieve reliable analysis results is equally lengthy (5 – 10 days). A modern method, such as real-time PCR shortens analysis times significantly (24 – 48 hours). With the foodproof Beer Screening Kit from Biotecon Diagnostics, almost all beer spoilage contaminants can be identified without any additional effort or loss of time. With this essential information, the risk management response can be improved and costs reduced dramatically.

Increasing competition, pressure on the margins due to higher costs for raw materials, more stringent legislation for the disposal of diatomaceous earth and effluent water and a tendency of product differentiation to maintain the margins – these are just a few of the challenges breweries are facing in virtually every geographical area that force brewers to change their investment philosophy and to optimize their economies of scale. Therefore large brewing groups tend to design and construct multiple three to five million hectoliter Greenfield operations instead of enlarging existing Brownfield plants to 10 or even 15 million hectoliters.

A new composite filtration material is now on the market, Celite Cynergy™, which is aimed to replace the conventional mixtures of diatomaceous earth (DE) and silica hydrogels and xerogels that are required for beer stabilisation and shelf life. This article describes the results of the trials carried out at Rupp Bräu brewery, Lauenau, Germany.

Reducing energy and water consumption is an important topic for the brewing industry. Both economic and environmental factors play a decisive role in the quest to minimise energy and water consumption. The question is what energy efficiencies do other breweries achieve and what is best practice? Prompted by an agreement with the government, the Dutch Brewers Association (CBK) set out to develop a methodology in 2000 to establish the worldwide benchmark in specific energy consumption for the brewing industry. The benchmark has been repeated in 2004 and again in 2008.

The search continues for alternative filter aids in light of the growing number of problems associated with kieselguhr. Mid-sized breweries are particularly in need of solutions that can be implemented using their existing equipment. From time to time, research is published about pre-coat filtration using cellulose fibers. A systematic review [1] and assessment of the current literature yielded the following information regarding the basic properties of cellulose-based filter aids. It is possible to use cellulose fibers for pre-coat filtration if the beer has already been well-clarified. However, in order for this method to be economical, multiple regeneration cycles are necessary due to the high cost of cellulose as a filter aid.

Stability problems in packaged beer and problems with filtration are encountered on a daily basis in breweries. The sources of these problems are so diverse that they can be traced back through virtually every step in the entire production process. This report offers practical hints for help with situations that typically crop up over the course of a normal workday in a brewery.

The InPro® 8600 dual-angle scattered light sensor from Mettler-Toledo, Gießen, monitors turbidity after the sheet filter and controls dosage for the kieselguhr filter at Herforder Brewery. This process assures beer quality and optimises filtration.

As part of a dissertation, the influence of the mashing operation of the filterability of beer was investigated on an industrial scale at the Oettinger Brewery’s South Facility in Oettingen. For this purpose, beers were produced with and without vibration input during the mashing process, and filtered using a crossflow membrane filtration system. In these trials, the beers with a vibration input exhibited significantly better filterability, not explainable in terms of traditional analytics. It is, rather, the result of a different particle size distribution in the beers being filtered, attributable to the more efficient conversion processes involved.

This article introduces a new software solution, the “Virtual Expert”. The products, virtual Filtermanager and Lautermanager, developed by gimbio, have been operating successfully at InBev in Munich (Franziskaner Weißbier, Löwenbräu and Spaten). Average lautering time was shortened by more than ten minutes, while quality and yield were simultaneously improved. Kieselguhr consumption during filtration was reduced by 20 percent, running times were extended by 50 percent.

Filtrox AG, St. Gallen, Switzerland, a manufacturer active in the field of micro-filtration since 1938, is the leading supplier of high-quality candle filters to the global brewing industry. In recent years, Filtrox AG experienced a growing demand for this type of conventional, but reliable, filters in countries characterised by a strong increase in beer consumption – for example China. China is one of the fastest growing beer markets in the world, with the beer output holding the first position for 4 years in a line. In 2006, the beer output of the country was 351.5 million hectolitres, increasing by 14.7 percent in the previous year. Large-scale breweries accomplished CNY 83.88 billion sales revenue in the year, up 16.37 percent, while the gross profit reached CNY 3.676 billion [1].

The Research Centre Weihenstephan for Brewing and Food Quality has developed a method, based on physical chemistry, for rapid and reliable assessment of colloidal stability by analysing the streaming current potential and surface charge density of particles in filtered beers [1]. In food analysis, this measuring technology is successfully used for fining of fruit juices [2], for gushing control in sparkling wine production [3] and to determine the influence of clarifying agents on particle charge in beer [4]. Only the surface charge density of particles has been hitherto determined with this method. The new charge titration method developed by Titze & Ilberg additionally makes it possible to reproducibly measure the streaming potential [1]. This first part presents the fundamentals in a simplified manner. In Part 2, possibilities of using this method in the brewing industry will be described.