Multilayer Films for Bag-in-Container Systems Used in Disposable Kegs: Basic Principles of Possible Barrier Concepts

Since recent years plastic packaging material is used for draft beer in disposable kegs. Week points of disposable kegs are the barrier properties and the mechanical properties of the packaging material.

Beer and other beverages like wine or fruit juices are sensitive to mass transfer of small molecules from outside into the package and vice versa in particular to oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapour. Thus the packaging materials must fulfil specific barrier requirements with regard to these gases [1]. The trend to lightweight materials for example the substitution of glass bottles by plastic bottles is not new and the consequences on the barrier properties are well described in literature [2, 3, 4, 5].

Current systems of disposable kegs often use bag-in-container. However, the functional properties of the bag and the fitting are limiting factors for the shelf life of a draft beer filled in disposable kegs. Up to now, an overview on the barrier properties of the plastic material used for this kind of bags is still missing in literature. Therefore, this article summarizes the knowledge about available barrier materials with focus on the specific requirements of beer.

BrewingScience - Monatsschrift für Brauwissenschaft, 66 (March/April 2013), pp. 31-36