Brewhouse – Challenges and solutions for breweries
Equipment for brewhouse efficiency
High energy usage, ingredient loss, high water consumption and spoilage are just some of the most common issues in wort production. Cleaning and fouling can also impact process times and then there's the problem of what to do with the trub and spent grain.
Alfa Laval offers extraordinary solutions to ordinary problems, to ensure efficiency and excellent performance in craft and commercial brewing.
Wort preparation
Slow wort production, high energy usage, ingredient loss, high water consumption and spoilage are some of the issues in wort production and fermentation. Ordinary issues for which we have extraordinary solutions to raise brewhouse performance.
Challenge
- Oxidation during mashing and risk of staling
Solution
Outcome
- Increase in yield by pushing out all beer lines with deaerated water
- Improved beer flavour stability and shelf life
Challenge
- Too wet spent grains
Solution
- Spent grains dewatering by Alfa Laval Decanters
Outcome
- Dewatered spent grains up to 70% humidity
Challenge
- High energy consumption
Solution
- Energy recovery system incorporating Alfa Laval Plate heat exchangers
Outcome
- Energy reduction of up to 40% by reuse of energy from wort boiling to heat subsequent brews
Challenge
- Poor heat transfer due to fouling of brew kettle and poor cleaning
Solution
Outcome
- Replacing spray balls with rotary jet heads that handle in-flow particulates to clean all brew kettle internal surfaces helps improve brewhouse efficiency and hygiene
Whirlpool
Separation of trub, pelletized or whole hops from your wort, ensuring a cleaner final product and improving overall beer quality before fermentation.
Challenge
- Loss of wort and considerable beer waste
- High carry-over of solids to wort cooler may cause fouling
- Potential high disposal cost of waste trub
Outcome
- Recover 99% of wort otherwise lost as trub, yielding more beer
- Reduced whirlpool time and less energy and water consumption
- Higher hop utilization from counter-current flushing of solids
- Reduced disposal and reduced fouling/clogging in wort cooler
- Convert trub into valuable by-product
Challenge
- Wort quality
- Wort loss
- Inefficient trub separation sequence
- Trub too wet causing downstream and disposal issues
Outcome
- Improved wort clarity before cooling
- Recovery of wort lost as trub increases overall yield
- Shortened process times and improved trub separation
- Significantly drier trub (which can be sold on as animal feed additive)
- Less risk of wort cooler fouling
- Reduced flushing and energy consumption between brews
Wort cooling
Rapidly lower the temperature of the boiled wort before fermentation, preventing contamination and promoting healthy yeast activity.
Challenge
- High energy cost
Solution
Outcome
- Energy reduction of up to 40% by reuse of energy from wort boiling to heat subsequent brews
Not sure which solution is right for you?
Alfa Laval's brewing process expertise, solutions and individual components for each process block can help you avoid and overcome common issues in the brewing process. Contact us to speak to an Alfa Laval brewing expert today.
