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PROCESS FILTRATION
Brewing Filtration
The production of beer is an ancient art which has been practiced and modified over thousands of years to yield the wonderful variety of beers and ales we have available today. At the heart of the brewing process lies a totally natural sequence of events – the anaerobic fermentation of malted barley by yeast.
The raw ingredients required for making beer are consistent across most beer production processes, they are; barley, yeast, hops and water. It is the careful modification of these key ingredients and the associated production recipes that gives rise to the huge variety of beers and ales available for us all to enjoy.
Across the beer and ale varieties, there are similarities common to the production stages necessary to control this natural process as consistently as possible to produce the perfect brew.
These can generally be classified as:
- Fermentation
- Clarification
- Stabilization
- Packaging
Each stage of the process typically requires dedicated technology and equipment and there is a huge range of choice and flexibility in approaches. However, there is no one single, universally accepted option to perform each operation as best practice, and the choice of approach is typically guided by the performance repeatability of the equipment versus the long term running costs involved, or in short, the operational efficiency.
Normal flow filtration techniques are becoming increasingly adopted by head brewers throughout the industry as the benefits of this technology are being realized by the micro-brewery and large consolidated global brewery alike.
Parker Bioscience filtration continually offer significant process benefits to brewers across the globe. By combining specialist brewing knowledge with a dedicated product range we deliver:
- World class manufacturing and quality systems
- Consistent filter performance developed for specific brewing applications
- Commitment to reduce waste and energy consumption throughout the brewing process
- Process efficiency improvements through dedicated technical support
This document will focus on beer stabilization operations after fermentation and is intended to guide the optimum choice of filter product for a given application within your brewery, so that the benefits of Parker’s capability can be maximized and the perfect beer is produced and enjoyed time after time.
Protecting the quality of your beer at the lowest cost…
Parker’s specialized brewing applications
- Cold stabilization
- Pre-stabilization
- Trap filtration
- Sterilization of gases
- Water utilities
- Gas utilities
- Automation
Cold stabilization
Understanding the application
Cold stabilization refers to the filtration of beer to remove any spoilage microorganisms before it is packaged.
There are a number of spoilage organisms which must be removed from the beer to prevent spoilage and they are typically yeast, acetic acid bacteria and lactic acid bacteria.
The level of filtration will depend upon the expected shelf-life of the beer and the susceptibility to spoilage. Typically, for most large breweries, 12 months shelf-life and zero yeast or bacteria are the accepted norms once packaged into bottles or cans.
Until recently, the more commonly accepted method of achieving microbial stabilization was through pasteurization, either tunnel (~60°C for ~10 minutes) or flash (~70°C for seconds). Both forms of pasteurization compromize the process.
Disadvantages of pasteurization:
- Does not remove heat resistant spores
- May oxidize the beer and heavily compromizes flavour
- Highly energy intensive
- Requires a big water demand
Benefits of cold stabilization:
- Removes all microorganisms
- Retention ability of filters can be verified by testing prior to use
- Minimal effect on beer flavour/ characteristics
- Much reduced water or energy requirements
- Delivers a longer shelf-life
More frequently, brewers are turning to cold stabilization as a way of ensuring long shelf-life of packaged product. This movement has primarily been driven by the high energy and water consumption demanded by pasteurization operations coupled with advances in membrane technology which has returned longer filter life.
Parker have produced the range of BEVPOR filters to provide validated microbial retention, whilst being capable of frequent cleaning in place (CIP) for repeated use.
Pre-stabilization
Understanding the application
C Pre-stabilization refers to the fine filtration of bright beer, beer which has already been clarified, to reduce the level of microorganisms and turbidity prior to further downstream processing / storage.
In large breweries, the ability to hold beer in a stable condition prior to packaging is of benefit to filling operations. Filtering the beer prior to storage to reduce the microbial loading will protect the quality of the brew during storage, allow flexibility in filling operations and improving the efficiency of the downstream systems.
Parker have produced the range of PREPOR filters to excel in pre-stabilization filtration applications. The cartridges will reduce the microbial loading of the beer whilst retaining colloids which can subsequently cause haziness in the finished package and protect membrane systems downstream.
Trap filtration
Understanding the application
After fermentation the brew, or “green beer”, will contain a high degree of solids and suspended material such as; wort (malted barley residue), yeast cells, fats and proteins. This typically forms sediment at the bottom of the fermentation vessel and is sometimes referred to as lees. In its present state the beer will appear hazy and will deteriorate if left untreated. In order to produce clear, visually appealing beer with a certain shelf-life once packaged, the brew will require clarification and stabilization.
The first stage of this process will be to separate the solid lees from the liquid brew. There are various techniques available to do this, including centrifugation, physical stabilization by adding agents such as PVPP and isinglass, cross-flow filtration or powder filtration using diatomaceous earth (DE) or keiselguhr. All of these processes are not absolute and some solid particles will still persist in the beer requiring filtration.
The trap filter system is designed to capture any solid particulate which has been left behind by the initial separation stage following fermentation. The objective of this filtration stage is to provide a consistent level of particulate filtration so that a certain quality of bright beer is delivered to intermediate.
storage. A consistent quality of beer provided at this stage in the process will help ensure maximum efficiency of the downstream operations used for microbial stabilization.
PEPLYN HA filters have been specifically designed to capture DE particles which will be periodically shed from powder filtration stages. The high area filter media will return high beer flow, whilst providing an absolute cut off to solid particulate. The construction of the HA filter has been optimized for repeated backwashing, so that filter regeneration and continual operation can be achieved.
PEPLYN HD is the product of choice where backwash is not required. The construction of the HD filter again returns absolute cut off to retain solid particulate and has been designed to resist blockage under variable particle loading conditions that are expected in this application.
Sterilization of gases
Understanding the application
Compressed gases which come into direct contact with ingredients, the finished product, packaging materials, storage vessels or the manufacturing machinery, are termed critical and require sterile filtration to safeguard against a potential contamination of the brew.
Sterile gas filters represent critical control points in aseptic filling applications and regular steam sterilization and integrity testing can provide ongoing assurance for the microbial retention performance of the filters and quality control in the filling process.
For aseptic filling operations, maintenance of machine sterility and the associated packaging such as bottles and caps becomes critically important. Where flash pasteurization or cold stabilization in used, the filling machine will typically require at least one sterile gas filter to remove microorganisms from the nitrogen or CO2.
ASEPT-X has been designed for aseptic filling applications where steam lines and steam treatment hardware are not optimized for bulk condensate removal. ASEPT-X withstands multiple steam sterilization cycles under bulk condensate condition whilst remaining integral and providing the sterile gas needed for critical aseptic packaging applications.
Water utilities
Understanding the application
Gas utilities
Understanding the application
Our solution for automated sterile filtration
Cold Stabilization Modules (CSM)
Brewers are looking to source a filtration system without having to worry about a fluent integration into their plant. Parker and Agidens Process Automation offer high performance filtration solutions tailored to brewers’ needs. Regardless of the plant specifics and software systems used in a brewery, we deliver integrated systems that are flexible and fully compliant with the highest standards.
The CSM range of fully automated sterile filtration systems provide either continuous or batch processing combined with automated CIP and integrated integrity testing, ensuring complete microbial control for breweries of all production capacities.
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