Focus on quality and resource conservation

At the Kulmbacher Brauerei AG, the new KHS filling and packaging line fills the wide variety of beer that is the brewery’s brand spectrum in both 0.33 l and 0.5 l glass bottles.

New Cavitator Technology at Arco-Valley

Until recently, the Gräfliche Arco-Valley Brauerei located in the Lower Bavarian town of Eichendorf, was experiencing such severe problems with foaming while filling carbonated apple and cola-based beverages that it became necessary to find a solution. The problems with foaming were serious enough that it was necessary to reduce the nominal throughput of the filler from 36 000 bottles (0.5 l) per hour to less than 20 000 for beverages prone to foam formation. In order to at last be able to fill more effectively, the new “cavitator technology” from Cavitator Systems in Landshut, Germany was installed.

New bottle inspector pays for itself

As a mid-sized family business with an emphasis on tradition, the apple wine producer Possmann GmbH & Co. KG in Frankfurt expects to maintain its competitiveness through the utilization of modern state-of-the-art technology. Rapid amortization of its investments is essential. The different types of returnable bottles on the market today require a high degree of flexibility. Syscona Kontrollsysteme GmbH, located in Freudenberg, Germany was able to offer the best price to performance ratio with its newly developed empty bottle inspection equipment.

Level measurement with micro-waves at Privatbrauerei Veltins

What began as a small brewpub in 1824 in Grevenstein in the state of Saarland, Germany, has expanded to become the Brauerei C. & A. Veltins GmbH & Co. Veltins focuses investment on technology as a means to optimize production while preserving product quality. The brewery has selected a new microwave-based sensor as a process solution for monitoring product levels in bright beer tanks.

Complete PET line at the Švyturys Brewery

In May 2006, the Švyturys Brewery in Klaipeda, a brewery rich in tradition, commissioned a PET line for bottling beer in 1 and 2 litre containers. This was the first PET bottling line for beer to be planned and delivered in its entirety by Kosme. The brewery, with an annual output of 700 000 hl, has invested in new options for supplying the domestic and Eastern European beer markets with PET beer packages, thus complying with market demands. At a rating of 9000 containers an hour, the line is an economical way to start with PET.

How to guarantee a consistent barrier quality on PET bottles for beer

PET has a finite gas permeability that can limit the shelf life of some food and drink products. This contribution examines a coating by Sidel, which is supposed to extend the shelf-life of oxygen sensible carbonated beverages. The goal is a guaranteed shelf-life of beer of more than 6 months.

Pasteurisation of carbonated soft drinks in PET bottles

The purpose of packaging for foodstuffs is on the one hand to protect the products from external impact, on the other hand it is supposed to prevent quality determining changes in-between production and consumption as far as possible. These goals are to be prioritised regardless of further requirements for the product, be it from the point of view of economy and ecology, logistics, marketing or availability of raw materials. This part of the article series on pasteurisation examines material and PET bottles production and also barrier coatings and closures.

Pasteurisation of carbonated soft drinks in PET bottles

A research project carried out at the Research and Teaching Institute for Brewing in Berlin (VLB) [EV] on the subject of “pasteurisation of carbonated soft drinks filled in PET bottles” involved testing different bottle/closure systems to establish their suitability for pasteurisation. The results of initial investigations described and discussed in this article serve as a basis for a comprehensive assessment of suitability for pasteurisation.

Neuro-numeric system for real-time damage detection on beverage containers

For some time, returnable goods have been at the centre of discussion by society at large. The focus is on aspects of process ecology, i.e. protection of the environment and resources. Extensive consideration has also been given to the economics of the returnable loop. The condition of stacking crates has, in the first instance, a major influence on safety in beverage operations and in the logistics chain. And there is also the risk of injuries to consumers due to defective crates.

Oxygen is one factor which causes beverages to deteriorate after filling. In particular, the replacement of glass bottles by plastic bottles has implications for the shelf life. As a consequence, packaging manufacturers and food technologists must have precise knowledge about the composition of packaging materials, oxygen permeation and the interaction between oxygen, the packaging and the foodstuffs. This article discusses the theory of permeation and factors influencing permeation. Results of oxygen permeation through plastic bottles and closures are presented. The results show that the three main methods for barrier improvement are internal coating of PET bottles, the use of PEN bottles and the incorporation of oxygen scavengers into bottles and closures..