Beer production

Separators are employed to separate the hot trub created during boiling. The developement of this application was done to allow continuous operation and to improve the economy in comparison with conventional techniques. The separator can be integrated in the process in different variants. The clarifier can be installed either direct downstream of the copper or the intermediate turn-out vessel. Which of these is the better solution depends on several factors and should be decided on an individual basis. For example, heat retention times (isomerisation of the hops, coloration etc.) must be maintained and not exceeded.

The whirlpool is employed especially to clarify the entire hot wort. Because it is always possible to achieve a good separation of the trub due to the fluctuating quality of raw materials and different types of beer, the separator is an appropriate supplement. The trub cone produced often collapses when the wort is drained. This phenomenon cause the residual turbidity of the clarified wort to be too high and / or the losses to be very high due to the inadequate thickening of the trub.

Whilst the wort is rotating in the whirlpool, the separating process can begin from the bottom. The recovered wort is then cooled.

In some cases, cold wort separation is also carried out in breweries. The hot trub is separated before cooling. The separator therefore separates only the remaining quantity of cold break. The cold break consists largely of small, colloidal protein particles. The viscosity of the cold wort is relatively high. Cold wort separation has differing significance in the individual breweries. A certain quantity of cold break is desired in the fermentation process, but no hot trub must be carried over under any circumstances.

The high cell count of 65 – 75 million yeast cells/ml in the main fermentation is not desired in subsequent storage. Traditionally, green beer is clarified by sedimentation of the yeast and other turbid substances. The beer is then transferred with as little yeast and sediment as possible. To obtain a controlled, rapid secondary fermentation and maturing of the beer in storage, it is appropriate to transfer with a defined number of living yeast cells. This can be achieved by using a separator. The yeast is fed into a collecting tank or the beer recovery process and the green beer is separated.

The optimum process for beer recovery is the addition of the surplus yeast and the tank bottoms in a separator during the clarification of the green beer. The advantages of the consistent product quality achieved with green beer clarification are added to the economy of simultaneous beer recovery.

Beers entering filtration often contain large quantities of yeast, making kieselguhr filtration difficult. Kieselguhr filtration itself is not problem-free. Means are available either to replace the kieselguhr filtration or at least to reduce the consumption of kieselguhr. By employing a separator to pre-clarify the beer, the required degree of filtering can be drastically reduced. The result is not only a reduction of a filter aid, but also an increased period of operation. Of course, the centrifuges are also suitable for pre-clarifying with other filter systems.

PROFI beer filtration plant from GEA Westfalia Separator combines a high performance centrifuge with a membrane filtration system, allowing perfect beer filtration without kieselguhr.

The unfiltered beer, containing fine and coarse solids, is fed into the rotating bowl and clarified in the disk set.

The coarse solids slide into the solids space of the bowl and are ejected automatically. The clarified liquid, still containing fine solids, discharges either by gravity or under pressure by means of a centripetal pump.

The preclarified beer is sent into the retentate-free operating membrane filtration system where it passes through hollow-fibre filtration modules. Then the clarified beer is sent to the filling station. There is no installation required for retentate-recycling into a tank.

As soon as a certain trans-membrane pressure is reached and the filtration efficiency decreases, the system is purged by means of CO₂. This is followed by a CIP cycle using alkaline solution and water. After “Cleaning-In- Place” the modules are disinfected at 80 °C.