Beer Production

Transforming grains into refreshing beer involves a complex process. Beer, in its many forms during production, is created step-by-step in the brewery’s hot and cold processes. Flottweg’s highly efficient beer centrifuges meet the specific requirements of breweries while optimizing the entire process for maximum yields with the utmost level of quality.

More than just beer is produced in the brewing process: Brewers grains, surplus yeast, and spent hops are all by-products that no longer play a role in the production of beer. There are also wastewater flows, such as Kieselguhr, which is a form of diatomaceous earth used in manufacturing. When these waste materials are not handled directly by the breweries, they must also be sold or disposed, which leads to wastewater, disposal, and transport costs. Additionally, valuable wort and beer contained in the separated by-product are lost.

Efficient mechanical dewatering is made possible by the Flottweg belt press, which separates liquid components from the spent brewers grains. The separated solids are well suited for further processing due to their very high dry substance content. This turns what would be waste from breweries into valuable resources.

Separating wort, hop debris, and precipitated protein causes hot trub to form in the whirlpool. This hot trub still contains up to 75% wort. To prevent this wort from being lost, our customers rely on Flottweg decanters.

Our decanter first separates the trub from the wort, then returns it to the hot wort clarification process under pressure. This both reduces the production cost per hectoliter of beer and minimizes wort loss.

And we haven't even mentioned the extras offered by Flottweg, not the competition – unique features we have developed in-house. These include the Simp Drive® system, which has been in use for many years. This drive automatically regulates the differential speed according to the scroll torque. This enables operators to adapt to different load conditions and maximize their yield.

The best way to significantly reduce beer evaporation is to recover beer from surplus yeast after fermentation or storage.

Like the old German saying, we follow the motto "preventing the hops and malt from being lost" to generate two valuable products from yeast recovery. First there is the beer, which can be returned to the process, then there is the yeast. This yeast can be sold, for example, to be processed further within the food industry as a vitamin-rich nutritional supplement or animal feed.

Simple process, highest quality, lower costs – the Flottweg Sedicanter®

This system handles the beer being processed with utmost care. In addition, it can also easily process fluctuating concentrations of input yeast.

In recent years, dry hopping has gone from being a trend, especially popular with up-and-coming craft breweries, to an established technique within the entire brewing industry. If you ask 100 brewers when they add the hops, you will get 100 different responses. We are always happy to give you the information you need to brew how you want in spite of modernization and the use of newer technology.

For craft brewers in particular, the character of their beer is very important. A small change to the taste of the beer can result in a completely different aroma. Unlike industrial breweries, a craft brewery often has less space and production capacity, making it all the more important to get the most out of their existing resources.

After extraction, the dissolved hop pellets settle at the bottom of the storage tank, where they are traditionally siphoned off to protect downstream processes. This process allows hops solids, as well as a large proportion of fresh beer, to migrate into the channel.

Flottweg decanters separate hop residue from high-grade beer and return this beer to the storage and production process. This improves the yield while also decreasing the amount of wastewater.

Prolonged filter life

The separator removes most of the yeast from the beer before filtration. As a result, the service life of the filter can be extended. In addition, less kieselguhr is required, which reduces the procurement, handling, and disposal costs associated with the filter.

Adjusting the turbidity for wheat beer and naturally cloudy beer

Unequal sedimentation is a major challenge when storing wheat beer and naturally cloudy beer. However, Flottweg separators are an elegant solution for balancing these yeast fluctuations. The brewer only has to specify the turbidity value of the finished beer – the rest is done automatically.

When it comes to creating a valuable material from unwanted byproducts, both the ecological aspect of upcycling as well as economic efficiency play a role.

The brewers grain produced during beer production often still contains a high proportion of nutrients and protein. This product can be used, for example, as animal feed or as a nutritional supplement. However, it is necessary to dewater the brewers grain as much as possible.

This is where Flottweg technology comes into play: A decanter can be used to dewater the brewers grain up to a dry solids content of 40 percent.

Dewatering decreases the volume, lowering the costs of disposal and transport. Mechanical dewatering is the basis for further thermal drying processes that turn brewers grain into a valuable product that can be stored and used. The more efficient the decanter process is, the lower the resulting costs of the drying step are.

The Rhinegeist-Brauerei in Ohio brews more than 90 types of beer with great passion and creativity. There is something here for every taste. The beers run through the Flottweg separator during clarification.