WHY STERILE FILTRATION IS BETTER FOR ULTIMATE SUSTAINABILITY
In the brewing industry, brewers are working to achieve sustainability and produce a more stable, fresh beer. Brewing leaves a large water footprint, and many breweries are working to reduce their impact on the environment and modernize their brewing techniques to push for sustainability. With high competition and expectations set by consumers, brewers are under a lot of pressure to make their beer as fresh and flavorful as possible. In order to reach this goal, brewers should embrace the technology known as sterile filtration, which uses polyethersulphone membrane replaceable filter cartridges to remove organisms that may lead to spoilage without affecting the flavor of the beer.
In a recent blog post, Parker discusses the benefits of sterile filtration and why brewing companies should be adopting this method into their process. Some of the more outright benefits include full automation, integrated clean-in-place and one to two beer lines working for continuous processing.
As expected, the sterile filtration process has benefits that run deeper than just productivity and time efficiency. One major concern when using any form of pasteurization is ensuring there is the right proportion of heat to deactivate cells so that no live cells find their way into the beer. One study tested sterile filtration by putting 10 million viable cells through the filter. The results showed that not a single cell passed through the filter, which proves the effectiveness of the sterile filtration process.
When comparing sterile filtration to other pasteurization methods, Parker concludes that using sterile filtration leads to reduced beer losses, reduced water consumption, reduced electrical energy consumption and consumable costs for businesses. Sterile filtration should be the next step to ensure sustainability in the brewing industry.
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