Scaling up craft beer production with uncompromising quality and sustainability

Challenges to overcome

Craft brewing in a large-scale production center, such as the Fredericia plant, brings a new set of challenges to the production process, compared to the more streamlined production of traditional products such as pilsner:

• The process and its equipment must be flexible enough to handle different recipes and ingredients without cross-contamination.
• Oxygen input must be minimized to meet high quality demands, ensuring the quality and flavor of the different beers.
• Separation before filtration must be very efficient to prevent filters from clogging due to high loads of hops and other ingredients.

Anders Kokholm, Carlsberg's brewmaster in Fredericia, comments:

“It's a challenge to handle several new products in a plant that is made for the production of large volumes of pilsner mainly. We are now brewing several craft beers in small batches, and the key is to change quickly. And, of course, we can't allow a hint of flavor to transfer from one beer to another.”

“To adapt our production process, we needed to find a centrifugation solution that could handle the high hop load of many craft beers, ensuring that subsequent filtration was carried out efficiently, without leftover ingredients clogging the filters.”

Sustainability in focus

An efficient separation process can have a significant impact on the sustainability of brewing. Centrifuges tend to consume considerable amounts of energy. Separation also affects the subsequent filtration process. In this case, efficient pre-clarification prevents filters from becoming clogged, which can interrupt the production process. Low maintenance requirements and efficient cleaning in place also help to reduce the consumption of materials, water and chemicals.

We quickly saw significant reductions in our energy consumption with the new Alfa Laval separators. After commissioning, we closely monitored their energy consumption to make sure they delivered on their promises, both with Hermetic Design™ and eMotion. I am pleased to report that the figures they gave us were correct. At our flow rates, the separation now consumes approximately half the energy it used to.

Many breweries rely on precoat filtration using kieselguhr. While this offers some advantages, it also has its drawbacks, especially when it comes to disposal. The team at the Carlsberg plant in Fredericia invested in a more sustainable membrane filtration solution, which contains 160 filter cartridges.

Another sustainability advantage of a high-efficiency separator is its effect on the filtration lines. Less clean beer would lead to more frequent cleaning and higher consumption of energy, water and chemicals. If we can extend the lifespan of our membrane filters by 25% and reduce maintenance, we will achieve significant cost savings, as well as a huge improvement in sustainability,” summarizes Anders Kokholm.

Evaluating the market leaders

Looking to upgrade their separation process to handle the new production demands, Carlsberg invited the leading separation solution suppliers and carefully evaluated their offerings.“We talked with both Alfa Laval and GEA, who had supplied our existing separation solution,” Anders Kokholm says.

"We could see that Alfa Laval, with features like UniDisc, precise haze control, and a recirculation loop, would provide a solution for handling heavy hop loads while maintaining high separation performance and minimizing product loss.”

At Carlsberg, quality is paramount. The Hermetic Design™ feature of Alfa Laval’s high-speed centrifuges would ensure zero oxygen pick-up, preserving the quality and taste of even the most demanding brews. Taking everything into account, we realized that we had a winner.”

A strong partnership

Alfa Laval and Carlsberg have cooperated closely for many years.

“This project with Alfa Laval went well from day one,” says Anders Kokholm. “They were very open to discussion and eager to understand the issues we were facing. We completed the entire installation in nine days, which to me was very, very fast. It’s not just about putting the centrifuge in place – you also need to prepare the surroundings and remove previous installations.”

"Alfa Laval has been there when we needed them – for example, in setting up programs for the different recipes that we run now. The 24-hour access to service that we had, starting with the commissioning, has also been excellent. They have brought people onsite when we needed assistance – and fast, too".

Anders Kokholm, Brewmaster at Carlsberg in Fredericia

More exciting possibilities ahead

Final words from Anders Kokholm:

“Today, we see that the two separators we installed are performing well, and the cycle time on our membranes is increasing. We see some opportunities in connecting the filters to the centrifuges control-wise, giving us even higher flow through the membranes. This would boost hourly production volumes, at least of our standard pilsner products, which are still our bread and butter.”

“Based on this, I think I can say that we still produce probably the best beer in the world here in Fredericia,” Anders Kokholm concludes.