Rotary Jet Mixer saves more than 190,000 bottles of premium beer
The Alfa Laval Rotary Jet Mixer effectively blended 320 hL of beer with sugar content too high for bottle conditioning with 320 hL of fresh beer, saving Westmalle Brewery more than 190,000 bottles of its premium Trappist Tripel ale.
DATE 2023-11-28
When the Trappist Brewery of Westmalle, world-renowned for its handcrafted brewing heritage experienced issues in its beer production lines, its brewery professionals turned to Alfa Laval for help.
The issue: How to save a 640-hL batch of Westmalle Tripel Trappist ale with sugar content too high for secondary in-bottle fermentation.
The solution? Divert the batch to an interim tank and use an Alfa Laval Rotary Jet Mixer to remix the batch with fresh beer to lower the sugar content to the right specification levels.
The result: more than 190,000 bottles of the abbey’s signature golden pale ale on the market for consumers to enjoy.
The brewery personnel were extremely happy with Alfa Laval’s fast response to the brewery’s emergency issue, and the effective performance of the Alfa Laval Rotary Jet Mixer system.
Impressed with the performance of the Alfa Laval Rotary Jet Mixer, Westmalle Brewery decided to purchase the system for use in either fermenter or bright beer tanks. At the brewery’s request, Alfa Laval also provided a centrifugal pump identical to one already in use in the cellar to give Westmalle more flexibility with spares.
Jan Adriaensens, Brewmaster of Westmalle
Westmalle recognizes Alfa Laval as our trusted partner as they quickly came up with the right solution. Thanks team Alfa Laval.”
Rudi Wuyts, Technical Director at Westmalle
In less than a week, we had the Alfa Laval Rotary Jet Mixer on site, assembled and ready to mix the beers in a new bright beer tank as a ‘trial’. Installation and operation were easy because Alfa Laval delivered the mixer with the right nozzle and up-pipe for our application.”
Like Alfa Laval’s quick service in delivering and installing the mixer, the mixing itself was very quick and accurate.”
