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Commissioning and Optimization of the Wits Microbrewery Plant

MBAA TQ doi:10.1094/TQ-46-4-0930-01  |  VIEW ARTICLE

Sunny E. Iyuke and Ezekiel M. Madigoe. Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Abstract
The brewing industry is facing increasingly challenging times due to the competitive global business environment and the rising costs of raw materials. These factors consequently affect the economy of the industry. The effect is not only applicable to large commercial brewers; microbreweries also are affected, as observed at the 100-L batch Wits microbrewery. An effective solution for staying competitive is to enhance brewing process efficiency through optimization of the process units. The benefits of optimized process units cannot be fully achieved, however, without successful commissioning of the plant. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to optimize the Wits microbrewery and develop commissioning documents to break the complexity of commissioning into a simpler, manageable process. As a result, this study also provides additional insight into brewing process optimization and commissioning. The Wits microbrewery is now operating efficiently and with minimal errors. Optimum operating conditions for the Wits microbrewery, as determined by the study, are a malt/liquor ratio of 3:1 (liter of water/kilogram of malt), a fermentation temperature of 29�C (85�F), 5 g of kettle finings per 100 L, and a pitching rate of 1 � 10(^6) cells/mL.

Keywords: brewery commissioning, brewery optimization, fermentation, microbrewery 

S�ntesis
La industria cervecera se enfrenta a un fuerte reto debido al entorno competitivo de los negocios globales y el aumento en los costos de la materia prima. Estos factores obligatoriamente tienen que afectar la econom�a de la industria, y no s�lo a las cervecer�as comerciales grandes sino tambi�n a las cervecer�as artesanas, como la micro cervecer�a Wits de 100-L lote. Una soluci�n efectiva para mantenerse competitivo es la optimizaci�n de los procesos unitarios para realzar la eficiencia global del proceso. Los beneficios de la optimizaci�n de los procesos unitarios no pueden ser realizados sin un exitoso comisionado de la planta. El prop�sito de este estudio fue optimizar la cervecer�a Wits y desarrollar documentos de comisi�n para romper la complejidad del comisionado en un proceso manejable sencillo. Este estudio facilita la comprensi�n del proceso de optimizaci�n y de comisionado. La cervecer�a artesanal Wits ahora est� operando eficientemente y con un m�nimo de errores. Las condiciones �ptimas para la micro cervecer�a Wits, seg�n fue determinado en este estudio, es una relaci�n de 3:1 (litro de agua/kilogramo de malta), una temperatura de fermentaci�n de 29�C (85�F), 5 g de �finings�/hL y una inyecci�n de 1 � 10(^6) c�lulas/mL para iniciar la fermentaci�n.

Palabras claves: comisionado de una cervecer�a, fermentaci�n, microcervecer�a, optimizaci�n cervecera

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