Great contribution | Not many brewers have made such a great contribution to the science and practice of malting and brewing as Professor Ludwig Narziß. Now his fundamental reference book “Abriss der Bierbrauerei” has finally been published in English.

High demands | Fluctuations in raw materials properties frequently necessitate process adaptations both in the hot as well as in the cold section of breweries. Use of biological sauergut or acid malt in the brewhouse has meantime become a widely accepted option for optimisation of beer properties in many German breweries.

A reason to celebrate | 20 years is not an eternity but still ample time to stockpile a few good stories to tell. Rolec Prozess- und Brautechnik GmbH in Chieming, Germany, celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Wolfgang Roth and Karl Lechner founded the company on July 16, 2003. In this article, Managing Director Ralph Wittkopp discusses the brewing equipment manufacturer’s early days and their first forays into the USA, as well as their current success on a global scale as a supplier of process and brewing technology. He tells of how they have established themselves as a firm fixture in the brewing world and not just in the craft segment.

Sud Sixty Six | The novel brewhouse concept from banke GmbH combines many advantages in terms of technology, engineering and economy. With only two brew vessels and thus the smallest feasible footprint, a revolutionary 6 brews per day are achieved in 60 minutes of lautering time. Combined with the Exergon Brew energy management system, the lowest possible energy consumption can be achieved.

Energy monitoring 4.0 | As a state-owned brewery, the Staatliches Hofbräuhaus in Munich, Germany, feels it owes it to the environment and its customers especially to assume responsibility for better protection of our climate and act as a role model for other companies by adopting a clear position in this respect. In order to identify and realise potential savings in its consumption of steam, water and compressed air according to its environmental targets, an energy monitoring system has now been installed with the help of Endress+Hauser that makes consistent use of digitalisation.

Mash filtration | Productivity of a brewery may be considerably compromised by lautering performance. In order to counteract inefficiencies and accelerate the process, a new process strategy was investigated in the context of a research project at the Department of Process Systems Engineering. In this second part of the article series, we present the results of laboratory tests and their significance for day-to-day brewery operation.

Real-time quality assurance | Research initiative smartfoodtechnologyOWL at the OWL University of Applied Sciences and Arts is committed to the digitalisation of the food industry. One of its focuses is on the real-time quality assurance of food during production. Data-intensive and non-invasive sensors such as near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) detectors play an important role here, as measurement times can be achieved in the process that are also of interest for system control using specific quality parameters.

General information | From the multiplicity of pump types, pumps should always be selected so that they are optimally suited to the particular case. In this final part of the pump series, Dr. Hans-J. Manger presents the most important criteria to be considered when selecting pumps.

Young, creative and ambitious | It all began in Australia. While in Melbourne for business, the then 18-year-old Roel Buckens discovered he had a passion for brewing. Back in the Netherlands, he started his first brewing experiments, and in 2015 he then opened the Frontaal Brewing Company in Breda. His creative beers obviously hit a nerve. Thanks to several crowdfunding campaigns, the brewery has steadily grown ever since. Frontaal recently invested in a completely new brewing plant at its new location, “The Bay”. The project was realised together with Rolec GmbH, a German specialist for process and brewery technology from Chieming in Upper Bavaria.

Mash filtration | Productivity of a brewery may be considerably compromised by lautering performance. In order to counteract inefficiencies and accelerate the process, a new process strategy was investigated in the context of a research project at the Department of Process Systems Engineering. In a two-part article, we will present the theoretical approach, use of packing and its application in a practical test on a laboratory scale.

Data analysis | Increasing digitalisation makes it possible to collect and analyse copious amounts of data with multivariate cause-and-effect relationships. However, brewery operations face major challenges when attempting implementation on their own. This contribution presents findings and solution pattern from the research project “Data-driven Process Optimisation using Machine Learning in the Beverage Industry” (DaPro).