Alfa Laval

Alfa Laval will emphasise the importance of kieselguhr-free beer filtration based on the cross-flow process. Apart from cross-flow filtration, the company will also present sterile and trap filtration systems as well as technologies for producing beer with a low alcoholic content and a system for beer recovery from excess yeast. Both systems use membrane technology.
The new Foodec series decanter centrifuges have been specifically developed for the brewing and beverage industry, particularly for recovery of wort and beer, as well as for dewatering spent beer grains and brandhefe. In wine production, they are used for must clarification and wine recovery from yeast sediments. Yield, quality and protection from external influences (oxidation) are important factors in these processes. ...

The grand mission

Does Big, Bigger, Biggest mean Good, Better, Best? Perhaps. And only if you are well-positioned for superior growth and profitability, says InBev. Globalization is a big word with a fittingly big reach and big implications for the global brewing industry. Prepare yourself for a flurry of activity and a deluge of Newspeak as brewers try to become "the bestest" - no less will do - in this round of market consolidation.

It is a well-worn cliché to observe that we live in an age of globalization. Globalization is the integration of capital, technology, and information across national borders, in a way that is creating a single global market and, to some degree, a global village. ...

Beer stabilisation using silica gel

The article tries to connect theoretical basics and new findings in producing and using of silica gel as beer stabilisation medium. Against the background of the still existing need for research possible ways of research and development are shown that can serve as platform for both interested manufacturers and users for further discussion. Silica gel is a synthetic product based on silica in powder form with different water content. With a D50-value of approx. 25 µm and a D90-value of approx. 100 µm regarding its particle size distribution silica gel is a fine to medium fine product (D50-value = mesh size of a sieve in µm for 50 % transit of the material; D90-value = mesh size of a sieve in µm for 90 % transit of the material). In both cases water glass is the determining main component. .

New filtration technology with regenerable filter aids

Disposal of the usual kieselguhr filter aid is turning out to be increasingly problematic against a background of new legal regulations for feedstuffs production and waste recovery. Altenberg Brewery has been using a new technology based on regeneration since 2004 the BeFiS (Best Filtration System). The partners who developed the process have drawn up implementation and validation documentation as well as an environmental balance and a commercial evaluation. Part 1 of the report focuses on process equipment.

Precoat filtration with kiesel- guhr represents the standard procedure in beer filtration. The aids are used just once and are discarded after use. About 90,000 tons of kieselguhr sludge arises in German breweries every year. ...

Europe’s cousin, twice removed

After the Rose Revolution in Georgia and the Orange Revolution in the Ukraine, the opposition in Moldova had hoped for a ‘Grape Revolution’ because of the abundance of vineyards in the country to topple the communist government in March. It was not to be. Meanwhile Moldova’s Vitanta brewery is enjoying the fruits of a Barley Revolution: beer consumption has risen threefold to 27 litres per capita since 1999. Thanks to a very shrewd investment and business strategy, implemented by mostly local experts, Vitanta has become a real success story for its owner Efes.

Chisinau’s classic folk restaurant La Taifas may be famous for its delicious ciulama (chicken in wine sauce) served with mamaliga (polenta). Others might end up crying into their wine. ‘Black eyes. My heart. My peace. ...

Official inauguration of kieselguhr-free filter line at Potts Brewery in Oelde/Westphalia (Germany)

The official inauguration of the kieselguhr-free filter line PROFi, in operation at Potts Brewery in Oelde since August 2003, took place on September 2nd, 2004. For the occasion, Potts Brewery organised a celebration in conjunction with a Filtration Symposium organised jointly with Westfalia Separator Food Tec and Pall Deutschland - Food & Beverage. 78 brewers accepted the invitation, coming from Germany and overseas, those present represented about 25% of world beer production.

In his opening address, Rainer Pott emphasised the importance of kieselguhr-free filtration for Potts Brewery in Oelde, continuing a tradition at Potts of a commitment to be at the leading edge of technology. PROFi. At the Filtration Symposium, Professors Hoeflinger (Tech. Univ. Univ.
Professor Dr. ...

Focus on new plants: Kulmbacher Brauerei AG, KulmbachCentral filtration in Kulmbacher Brauerei

The new central filtration plant filters the great variety of different beer types produced by Kulmbach breweries. The plant has been in operation for a year, running very satisfactorily. All specifications set for optimising the process and guaranteeing quality have been met.

Investigations on beer recovery from excess yeast

Conventional crossflow filtration processes lead to high energy input into excess yeast being filtered. This can damage yeast cells and thus result in an associated taste deterioration in the recovered beer. This paper describes tests on a further development of a filter system in which the energy put into the product is reduced to a minimum and where very gentle separation is guaranteed.

In April 1998, first comparative tests to recover beer from excess yeast took place at Bitburger Brauerei. A comparison was made between traditional crossflow filtration units and the new Pall-VMF technology. Beers recovered from yeasts were blended into sales beer ahead of fermentation in ratios of 1% and 3% and processed in the brewery’s own pilot plant test brewery as well as in production..

Focus on new plants: Namibia Breweries Ltd., Windhoek Installation of new generation Primus III kieselguhr filter in Africa

Six months had been planned from order placement to acceptance testing.
Filter manufacturer PallSeitzSchenk complied with this schedule. It did not take long during order negotiations to convince the customer about the concept and the technical merits of the new Primus III.

Beer from Germany has been imported to South West Africa since 1884. The dark strong beer had to tolerate long sea journeys, it was very expensive and only partially suited to the hot, dry climate. In 1904, this led to the establishment of four small local breweries (Kronen brewery, Omaruru brewery, Klein Windhoek brewery, Felsenkeller brewery) who amalgamated in 1920 to form South West Breweries Ltd.
In 1968, South West Breweries took a majority share in Hansa brewery in Swakopmund.....

Kieselguhr filtration A presentation of modern filtration theories

For over 100 years, brewery technologists have been addressing the subject of beer filtration. In laboratory scale experiments, numerous investigations have been carried out on representation of filter pressure drops. The process described here makes it possible to determine the filter aid resistance in commercial filtrations, also without directly measuring the cake thickness.

Filtration, introduced in breweries almost exactly 100 years ago with the beginning of mass filtration, is closely connected with clarification as well as most other steps in the brewing process. Yet in early times, there were also those who were not exactly in favour of filtration.
Indeed, beer filtration is not a magic solution for rectifying mistakes in the preceding operations in beer production...

Kieselguhr - free of cristobalite despite calcination New initiatives in production and usage

Due to the universality of kieselguhr as a filter aid, various attempts stretching back over about 12 years have failed to displace kieselguhr from filtration and replace it by other substances, such as e.g. cellulose. Thus, there is no substance in the filtration landscape which can seriously threaten the dominance of kieselguhr in beer filtration.

In every brewery, filtration of beer is a process operation having a significant determinant effect on quality and shelf life of the final beer product. State-of-the-art in breweries continues to use precoat filtration as the first treatment step, followed by various other filter systems as a second treatment step.....