The General Certificate in Packaging (GCP)

1 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Examination Syllabus (May 2011)

This document details the course of study necessary to prepare for the examination for the GCP (Can, Keg, NRB and RB options). The specifications to which the respective examination papers are prepared are also shown.

2 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Introduction.

The General Certificate in Packaging gives international recognition of a basic, underpinning knowledge and understanding in the principles of packaging operations.

The General Certificate examinations have been designed for candidates who may have little or no formal academic or technical qualification. Typically a candidate will be employed as a senior operator or team leader in a brewery or packaging plant, however the scope of these examinations will enable candidates from smaller brewing and packaging operations to obtain this recognised qualification. This examination is open to anybody with interest in brewing or beer packaging. They are a measure of basic knowledge (theoretical and practical) underpinning brewing, packaging and associated operations.

- The General Certificate in Packaging can be an end in itself, or the start of professional development, leading to the Diploma in Packaging (Dipl.Pack) and potentially, the Master Brewer (M.Brew) examinations.

- The General Certificate in Packaging has City & Guilds accreditation at Level 3 of the National Qualifications Framework in the UK (or equivalent internationally recognised standards),.

- The General Certificate in Packaging takes the form of one multiple choice paper of two hours.

Candidates can register to sit the exam on-line instead of using the traditional paper format. Candidates sitting within brewery or university centres will be encouraged to take the on-line version. The exam itself appears on the screen very much like the paper version and with the same number of questions, but there are various different ways of asking the questions which make the exam a more interesting experience. The marking is done electronically and candidates will received a detailed feedback on how each section of the syllabus has been answered.

The pass mark is set at 66% (40 correct answers from 60 questions for GC exams. Candidates attaining 90% or more achieve a Distinction pass and 80 - 89% achieves a Credit pass.

3 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

The full list of sections in the GCP syllabus is as follows:-

1. An overview of beer types and their packaging. 2. Bright beer production, storage and handling. 3. Beer pasteurization, sterile filtration and filling.

4. Specialist section – Either 4CAN Cans and associated packaging materials. or 4KEG Kegs and associated packaging materials. or 4NRB Non returnable glass bottles and associated packaging materials. or 4RB Returnable glass bottles and associated packaging materials.

5. Specialist section – Either 5CAN The canning line. or 5KEG The kegging line. or 5NRB The non returnable bottle line. or 5RB The returnable bottle line.

6. Specialist section – Either 6CAN Can inspection, plant and packaging materials preparation, and on-line checks. or 6KEG Keg inspection, plant and packaging materials preparation, and on-line checks. or 6NRB Bottle inspection, plant and packaging materials preparation, and on-line checks. or 6RB Bottle washing and inspection, plant and packaging materials preparation, and on-line checks.

7. Labelling and coding. 8. The measurement and reporting of packaging performance. 9. Warehousing. 10. Beer quality and process control for packaging. 11. Beer quality – Flavour. 12. Beer quality – Dissolved oxygen. 13. Beer quality – Contamination and microbiological infection. 14. Quality management. 15. Plant cleaning – Detergents and sterilizing agents. 16. Plant cleaning – Cleaning in-place (CIP) and general cleaning. 17. Engineering maintenance. 18. Utilities – Water and effluent in packaging. 19. Utilities – Process gases. 20. Packaging and the environment.

4 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus Section 1: An overview of beer types and their packaging.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 2) 1.1 Definition of beer 1. A generic, non-legalistic definition of beer in terms and types of beer of its typical ingredients and methods of production.

2. Characteristics which differentiate lagers, ales and stouts.

1.2 Definition of 1. The definition of packaging in terms of its aims to packaging meet the needs of customers, consumers, and typical regulatory requirements. Package types 2. The concept of due diligence to ensure consumer safety.

3. A general knowledge of different types of packaging containers and their suitability to meet differing market conditions.

5 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus section 2: Bright beer production, storage and handling.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 3) 2.1 Bright beer 1. The purposes of beer filtration. filtration 2. The basic principles of beer filtration.

2.2 Transfer of 1. A working knowledge of the key operational filtered beer and procedures. bright beer handling 2. Basic design features of plant and pipe work (not cleaning).

3. Significance of atmospheric oxygen and the use of inert gases. [Also refer to syllabus sections 13 and 19.]

4. The essential plant items from the outlet of a filter to a bright beer tank and from the bright beer tank to a filling machine. [A representation as a flow diagram.]

2.3 Storage 1. The purposes of storage (holding).

2. Equilibration and sampling.

3. Minimum and maximum residence times.

4. Beer blending procedures.

5. Calculations using beer blend parameters.

6 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus section 3: Beer pasteurization, sterile filtration and filling.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 3) 3.1 Pasteurization 1. The function of pasteurization.

2. A description of pasteurization and the concept of pasteurization units (PU).

3. The significance of the presence of dissolved oxygen before pasteurization. [Also refer to syllabus section 13.]

3.2 Types of 1. The principal features of plate (flash) and tunnel pasteurizers and pasteurizers.

their principal features 2. The differences between tunnel and flash pasteurizers in the achievement of typical values.

3. The diagrammatic representation of the beer/container flows through the sections/zones of plate and tunnel pasteurizers, and their typical operating parameters.

3.3 Sterile filtration 1. An awareness of different types of sterile filters and their operation.

2. The basic principles of sterile filtration.

7 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus section 4CAN: Specialist section - Cans and associated packaging materials.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 3) 4.1 Can design 1. A detailed description of the principal characteristics of a can and its end - shape, dimensions, suitability for beer, special features, wear and tear.

2. A simple labelled diagram of a can, including the seamed end.

4.2 Can and 1. Materials of construction for cans and ends. associated packaging 2. Typical sizes and the importance of dimensions. materials 3. Can decoration.

4. Types of associated packaging materials and their application.

8 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus section 4KEG: Specialist section - Kegs and associated packaging materials.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 3) 4.1 Keg design 1. A description of the principal characteristics of a keg and extractor (spear) – shape, dimensions, suitability for beer, special features and wear and tear.

2. A simple labelled diagram of a sealed keg including details of the extractor (spear) and closure.

4.2 Keg materials of 1. Materials of construction for kegs, extractor (spear) construction and and their main characteristics. associated packaging 2. The principal features of caps, labels, pallets, materials spacer boards/unitizers/locator boards.

9 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus section 4NRB: Specialist section - Non returnable glass bottles (NRB) and associated packaging materials.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to be familiarity with: answered = 3) 4.1 NRB design 1. A detailed description of the principal characteristics of a non-returnable bottle and its crown/closure - shape, dimensions, suitability for beer, special features, and wear and tear.

2. A simple labelled diagram of a NRB including the sealed crown/closure.

4.2 NRB and associated 1. Characteristics of bottles including colours. packaging materials 2. Materials of construction for crowns/closures.

3. The importance of dimensions.

4. NRB permanent decoration.

5. Types of associated packaging materials and their application.

10 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus section 4RB: Specialist section - Returnable glass bottles (RB) and associated packaging materials.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 3) 4.1 RB design 1. A detailed description of the principal characteristics of a returnable bottle and its crown/closure - shape, dimensions, suitability for beer, special features, and wear and tear.

2. A simple labelled diagram of a RB including the sealed crown/closure.

4.2 RB and 1. Characteristics of bottles including colours. associated packaging 2. Materials of construction for crowns/closures. materials 3. The importance of dimensions.

4. RB permanent decoration.

5. Types of associated packaging materials and their application.

11 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus section 5 CAN: Specialist section – The canning line.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 4) 5.1 Principal plant 1. The function of individual plant items. items 2. The key operational features of plant items.

3. The sequence of events for a canning line from empties handling to full products being discharged from the line. [A labelled flow diagram of a complete can line operation.]

4. Plant arrangement and compliance with health and safety requirements.

5.2 Can filling 1. The principal operating features of can filling systems systems.

2. A simple diagram of a filler.

3. Sequence of events and processes during filling.

4. Can transfer and systems to prevent oxygen pickup.

5.3 Control of filling 1. The control of filling levels and the causes of over / levels under filling.

2. The use of a filling control chart system.

3. The reason for other filling faults and their causes.

5.4 Can seaming 1. The principal operating features of a seamer.

2. A labelled diagram of a seamed can.

3. Methods to avoid oxygen pick up during seaming.

12 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus section 5 KEG: Specialist section – The kegging line.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 4) 5.1 Principal plant 1. The purposes of each plant item. items 2. The key operational features of each plant item.

3. The sequence of events for a kegging line from empties handling to finished products being discharged from the line. [A labelled flow diagram of a complete keg line operation.]

4. The main stages of keg cleaning/sterilizing/filling.

5. Plant arrangement and compliance with health and safety requirements.

5.2 Internal keg 1. The purposes of internal cleaning and sterilizing. cleaning / sterilizing 2. The principal operating features of internal keg cleaning/sterilizing systems.

3. A description of the normal sequence of events.

4. Times, temperatures, detergent strengths.

5. A diagrammatic representation of a keg being cleaned and sterilized.

6. Rejection of kegs and the reasons.

5.3 Keg filling 1. The principal operating features of keg filling systems systems and how filling levels in the keg are controlled.

2. Causes of over or under filling.

3. The use of a filling control chart system.

4. A diagram of a keg being filled.

5.4 Heat sterilization 1. Uses of steam and hot water as a sterilizing agent. [see 15.3]

13 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus section 5 NRB: Specialist section –The non-returnable glass bottling line.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 4) 5.1 Principal plant 1. The purposes of each plant item. items 2. The key operational features of each plant item.

3. The sequence of events for a bottling line from empties handling to finished products being discharged from the line. [A labelled flow diagram of a complete NRB line operation.]

4. Plant arrangement and compliance with health and safety requirements.

5.2 Bottle filling 1. The principal operating features of filling systems. systems 2. A simple diagram of filler.

3. Sequence of events and processes during filling.

4. The control of filling levels and the causes of over / under filling.

5. The use of a filling control chart system.

6. Full bottle transfer and systems to prevent oxygen pick up.

7. The reasons for other filling faults and their causes.

5.3 Bottle crowner 1. The principal operating features of a crowner and and other crimping tolerances. closure methods 2. A simple labelled diagram of a crown closure.

3. Other methods of closing a bottle.

4. Methods to avoid oxygen pick up.

5.4 Sterile filling 1. The special arrangements at the filler for sterile filling.

14 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus section 5 RB: Specialist section – The returnable glass bottling line.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 4) 5.1 Principal plant 1. The purposes of each plant item. items 2. The key operational features of each plant item.

3. The sequence of events for a bottling line from empties handling to finished products being discharged from the line. [A labelled flow diagram of a complete RB line operation.]

4. Plant arrangement and compliance with health and safety requirements.

5.2 Bottle filling 1. The principal operating features of a bottle washer systems with a quantitative knowledge of solution strengths and temperatures.

2. The principal operating features of filling systems.

3. A simple diagram of filler.

4. Sequence of events and processes during filling.

5. The control of filling levels, the causes of over / under filling.

6. The use of a filling control chart system.

7. Full bottle transfer, systems to prevent oxygen pick up.

8. The reasons for other filling faults and their causes.

5.3 Bottle crowner 1. The purposes of crowning a bottle.

2. The principal operating features of a crowner.

3. Crimping.

4. Methods to avoid oxygen pick up.

5. A simple labelled diagram of a crown closure.

5.4 Sterile filling 1. The special arrangements at the filler for sterile filling.

15 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus section 6 CAN: Specialist section – Can inspection, plant and packaging materials preparation, and on-line checks.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 4) 6.1 Preparation of 1. The concept of supplier quality assurance. plant and packaging 2. The procedures and checks carried out on a materials. canning line before production (including utilities).

3. Incoming quality control, on-line checks and processes carried out on a can prior to filling.

4. Incoming quality control, on-line checks and processes carried out on associated packaging materials.

5. The procedures for size, beer type and package changes.

6.2 Empty can 1. Empty can inspection. inspection and rinsing 2. The purposes and effectiveness of can rinsing.

6.3 Quality checks 1. The purpose of full can checks. and record keeping 2. Finished pack inspection and common faults.

3. The purposes and importance of on-line checks during filling, sampling and record keeping.

4. Dealing with complaints.

16 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus section 6 KEG: Specialist section – Keg inspection, plant and packaging materials preparation, and on-line checks.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 4) 6.1 Preparation of 1. The concept of supplier quality assurance. plant and packaging 2. The procedures and checks carried out on a keg materials. line before production (including utilities).

3. Incoming quality control, on-line checks and processes carried out on a keg prior to filling.

4. Incoming quality control, on-line checks and processes carried out on associated packaging materials.

5. The procedures for size and beer type changes.

6.2 Empty keg 1. Empty keg inspection. inspection and rinsing 2. The purposes and effectiveness of keg cleaning and sterilizing.

6.3 Quality checks 1. The purpose of full keg checks and record keeping 2. Finished keg inspection and common faults.

3. The purposes and importance of on-line checks during filling, sampling and record keeping.

4. Dealing with complaints.

17 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus section 6NRB: Specialist section – Bottle inspection, plant and packaging materials preparation, and on-line checks.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 3) 6.1 Preparation of 1. The concept of supplier quality assurance. plant and packaging 2. The procedures and checks carried out on a materials. returnable bottle line before production (including utilities).

3. Incoming quality control, on-line checks and processes carried out on a bottle prior to filling.

4. Incoming quality control, on-line checks and processes carried out on associated packaging materials.

5. The procedures for size, beer type and package changes.

6.2 Empty bottle 1. Empty bottle inspection. inspection and rinsing 2. The purposes and effectiveness of bottle rinsing.

6.3 Quality checks 1. The purpose of full bottle checks. and record keeping 2. Finished pack inspection and common faults.

3. The purposes and importance of on-line checks during filling, sampling and record keeping.

4. Dealing with complaints.

18 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus section 6RB: Specialist section – Bottle washing and inspection, plant and packaging materials preparation, and on-line checks.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 3) 6.1 Preparation of 1. The concept of supplier quality assurance. plant and packaging 2. The procedures and checks carried out on a non materials. returnable bottle line before production (including utilities).

3. Incoming quality control, on-line checks and processes carried out on a bottle prior to filling.

4. Incoming quality control, on-line checks and processes carried out on associated packaging materials.

5. The procedures for size, beer type and package changes.

6.2 Empty bottle 1. Empty bottle inspection. inspection and washing 2. The purposes and effectiveness of bottle washing.

6.3 Quality checks 1. The purpose of full bottle checks. and record keeping 2. Finished pack inspection and common faults.

3. The purposes and importance of on-line checks during filling, sampling and record keeping.

4. Dealing with complaints.

19 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus section 7: Labelling and coding.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 1) 7.1 Labelling and 1. The purposes of labelling and batch/date coding. coding 2. The reasons for bar coding.

3. Locations on containers and final packages for coding information.

4. The importance of record keeping.

20 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus section 8: The measurement and reporting of line capacity and packaging performance.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 3) 8.1 Efficiency 1. The purposes of efficiency reporting. reporting 2. Typical efficiency calculations and the analysis of data. [Candidates will be presented with data to carry out typical calculations of performance indicators.]

3. A description of a typical efficiency reporting system and its use for performance improvement.

4. Visual performance measurement (VPM).

8.2 The “V-curve” 1. Line capacity rating conventions.

2. The basic principles of a “V- curve” applied to typical packaging lines.

3. Rate limiting factors and critical processes.

4. Machine cycle times and the reasons for maintaining a packaging line in balance.

8.3 Beer and 1. The analysis of data and basic loss calculations. packaging [Candidates will be presented with data to carry out material losses typical loss calculations.]

2. The causes and control of beer and material losses.

21 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus section 9: Warehousing.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 2) 9.1 Warehouse 1. The purposes of a warehouse operation. operations and best practices 2. The handling of empty and full packages with forklift trucks or mechanical systems.

3. Reception and storage of packaging materials and pallets.

4. The reasons for stock rotation.

5. Working knowledge of a stock control system.

6. A quantitative knowledge of the environmental storage conditions for packaged beer and materials.

9.2 Health and 1. The hazards associated with warehousing and safety typical safety procedures to help avoid them.

2. Typical housekeeping tasks.

3. The importance of pest control.

4. The importance of regular inspection checks for full

and empty stock, pallets and packaging materials.

5. Operator duties for fork lift truck operation: - inspections at the beginning of a shift - basic FLT maintenance requirements

22 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus section 10: Beer quality and process control for packaging.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 3)

Key parameters examined in this section are:

Original gravity (OG), present gravity (PG), alcohol content (ABV %), pH, colour, haze, head retention or foam stability, dissolved gases (oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen)

10.1 Key packaged 1. The significance of these key parameters (including beer parameters their units of measure) for monitoring beer quality.

2. Factors which can affect the values of these key parameters during packaging.

10.2 Process 1. The purpose of process specifications. specifications 2. The influence of packaging processes on final package parameters.

10.3 Process control 1. The principles of monitoring and adjustment to achieve product consistency of in-package and final pack (secondary and tertiary) specification.

2. Pre-package tasting.

3. Statistical quality control charts.

4. Typical applications for in-line and on-line instruments for process control.

23 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus section 11: Beer quality – Flavour.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 2) 11.1 Terminology 1. The reasons for adopting industry standard descriptors for flavour.

2. The flavour wheel.

3. The more commonly used components.

4. Taste training procedures.

11.2 Evaluation and 1. The three-glass test – statistical significance rating. tasting during processing 2. Flavour profiling.

3. Trueness to type panel tasting.

4. Common faults / contamination by contact materials that may be detected by tasting during packaging operations.

24 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus section 12: Beer quality – Dissolved oxygen.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 4) 12.1 Flavour 1. Sensitivity of beer to small amounts of oxygen. deterioration by oxygen 2. Flavour stability and beer freshness.

12.2 Sources of 1. Oxygen as a constituent of air. oxygen 2. Potential points of exposure of beer to air.

12.3 Monitoring of 1. Key control points, significance of sampling time. oxygen levels 2. Total in-package oxygen (TIPO) measurement.

12.4 Control of 1. Best practice maximum levels. dissolved oxygen levels 2. Techniques to avoid oxygen pick-up.

25 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus section 13: Beer quality – Contamination and microbiological infection.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 4) 13.1 Non- 1. Sources of contamination from: microbiological - empty containers and closures contamination - conveying systems for small packages - plant cleaning - oil and grease - water and the atmosphere

13.2 Microbiological 1. The principal categories of spoilage organisms: contamination Pediococcus, Lactobacillus, Megasphaera, wild and spoilage yeasts: organisms - potential points of contamination in bright beer or container - their respective characteristic effects on beer in package

13.3 Other organisms 1. Water-borne coliform ( Escherichia, Enterobacter ): indicative of - the implications of their presence contamination 13.4 Detection, 1. Methods of sampling for microbiological testing. monitoring and control 2. Key sampling points.

3. Laboratory detection methods.

4. Routine practices to protect against infection.

5. Special measures to eliminate on-going sources of infection.

26 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus section 14: Quality management.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 3) 14.1 Features of a 1. The key features of a quality system : quality system - written specifications - written procedures - monitoring of performance - corrective actions - auditing - regular reviews for improvement

14.2 Roles 1. The impact of individual actions on product and responsibilities service quality. and benefits 2. The control of documentation.

3. The maintenance of conformity.

4. The business benefits of an effective quality management system.

14.3 Product safety 1. The control of product safety - Hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP).

2. The importance of traceability for product recall.

27 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus topic 15: Plant cleaning – Detergents and sterilizing agents.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 4) 15.1 Detergents 1. Types of detergent (alkali, acid and neutral).

2. The constituents of detergents.

3. The individual functions of the constituents.

4. Criteria for choice of detergent for an application.

5. Considerations for the use of hot detergent cleaning.

15.2 Sterilants 1. Types of sterilant as defined by the active agent.

2. Criteria for choice of sterilant for an application.

3. The effect of sterilant residues on beer quality.

15.3 Heat sterilization 1. Uses of steam and hot water as a sterilant.

2. Time and temperature.

15.4 Safety 1. The hazards associated with chemical cleaning and sterilizing agents.

2. Good practices for the storage of chemicals.

3. Use of personal protective equipment (PPE).

4. Procedures in case of accidental spillage or discharge of chemicals.

28 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus section 16: Plant cleaning - Cleaning in-place (CIP) and general cleaning.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 4) 16.1 Types of CIP 1. The general differences between single use and systems recovery systems – advantages and disadvantages.

2. The types of cleaning head used and reasons for their choice.

3. The operating principles and diagrammatic representation of CIP systems.

16.2 CIP cleaning 1. Typical cleaning programs and cycle times. cycles 2. The function of each of the cleaning cycle stages.

3. Quality assurance of cleaning operations.

16.3 CIP plant design 1. Design features that minimize soil accumulation in hygiene brewery vessels and pipelines. considerations 2. Design features that facilitate vessel and pipeline cleaning using a CIP system.

3. Design features which promote a hygienic working environment.

16.4 General plant 1. Cleaning plant surfaces, walls and floors. cleaning 2. The constituents of foam cleaning agents.

3. The use of foaming systems.

29 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus section 17: Engineering maintenance.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 3) 17.1 Objectives and 1. The key business reasons for an effective approaches maintenance system.

2. The features, advantages, disadvantages and applications of: - no maintenance - breakdown maintenance - preventive maintenance - predictive maintenance

3. The contribution of maintenance tasks to plant safety, reliability, quality, economics and environmental impact. 17.2 Maintenance 1. Familiarity with key maintenance tasks: tasks - mechanical - electrical - calibration - inspection - condition monitoring - cleaning of plant - health and safety

2. Maintenance planning and record keeping.

3. Autonomous maintenance.

17.3 Systems for 1. The key features of the following performance continuous improvement systems: improvement - Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM) - Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) - Workplace Organisation (5S)

30 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus section 18: Utilities – Water and effluent in packaging.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 3) 18.1 Water treatments 1. The basic principles and diagrammatic representation treatment plants for: - water filtration - water sterilization - water softening / deionization - water de-aeration

18.2 Water types and 1. Differentiation and typical uses of: uses - de-aerated water - process water - service water

2. Legionella in cooling water and service water and the health risks associated with the organism.

3. Points at which water is introduced into the process and the special water quality needed at these points.

18.3 Sources of 1. The nature and characteristics of effluent from effluent and its principal packaging and bright beer room sources. measurement 2. The components of effluent quality: - volume - suspended solids (SS) - chemical oxygen demand (COD) - biological oxygen demand (BOD) - pH - temperature

31 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus Section 19: Utilities – Process gases.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to familiarity with: be answered = 2) 19.1 Properties and 1. The essential properties and quality of compressed applications air for use as a process gas.

2. The essential properties of carbon dioxide and nitrogen for use as process gases.

3. The significance of inertness.

4. Typical uses for process gases.

5. The economic importance of leak prevention.

19.2 Health and 1. Safe entry into tanks, cold rooms and other Safety Issues confined spaces.

2. Safe handling and storage of compressed gas cylinders.

3. Safety hazards associated with storage of liquid gases and their distribution in high-pressure mains. .

32 GCP Syllabus (All Containers)

Syllabus section 20: Packaging and the environment.

Ref. Topics Candidates should understand and be able to explain and describe in simple terms, or demonstrate (No. of questions to be familiarity with: answered = 3) 20.1 Sustainability and 1. The concept of a sustainable industry. climate change 2. The role of carbon dioxide.

3. Sources of carbon dioxide emissions.

20.2 Conservation 1. The principal energy consuming activities on a packaging line.

2. Typical energy reduction strategies.

3. Principal water consuming activities.

4. Typical water conservation strategies.

20.3 Packaging waste 1. Waste generating activities and issues for disposal.

2. Strategies to minimize packaging material and encourage recycling.

3. The impact of packaging waste on household (consumer) recycling.

1 GCP (All Containers): Section 1: An overview of beer & beer packaging Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Beer Packaging Section 1 An Overview of Beer and Beer Packaging.

1.1. Definition of Beer and Beer Types

In its basic sense, beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the fermentation of sugars derived from malted barley and flavoured with hops. There are some minor differences where malt is supplemented with adjuncts or where the hops are replaced by other flavours, but this definition would be recognised by the majority of people round the world. The manufacture of all alcoholic beverages utilises the ability of yeast to ferment sugar into alcohol.

SUGAR YEAST ALCOHOL

Wine is made from grapes, cider from apples, whereas in the case of beer, the sugar is derived from malted barley and flavour and character comes from the addition of hops. The full process also involves preparing the immature or green beer for consumption.

MALTED HOPS BARLEY

BEER 'GREEN SUGAR YEAST FOR BEER' SALE

CARBON DIOXIDE

Different types of beer.

Different areas around the world have developed their own types of beer. The variations have come about through a combination of the materials available for its manufacture and the tastes of the consumers.

Lager is by far the biggest proportion of beer sold. Its delicate flavour comes from:-

• The use of a malt that is relatively undermodified and lightly kilned. • A relatively low bitterness. • The use of a bottom fermenting yeast. • Cold maturation.

Ales are produced mainly in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Their flavours come from:- • The use of a well modified and biscuity flavoured malt which is sometimes highly coloured. • Sometimes they are very bitter. • The use of a top fermenting yeast.

Ales come in various forms, bitters, pale ales and mild beers.

Wheat beers are lagers produced from the use of malted wheat instead of malted barley.

Stouts are very dark in colour and richly flavoured from the use of highly coloured malts or roasted barley.

Low alcohol / alcohol-free beers are produced by several different processes and their definition varies in different countries. Usually alcohol-free means less than 0.05% (vol/vol) alcohol and low alcohol means less than 0.5% (vol/vol) alcohol (less than 1.2% in UK). • Often produced by removing alcohol from standard strength beers (for example, by evaporation or reverse osmosis methods). • Can be produced by a very limited fermentation process, by making a very low fermentable wort. • Not to be confused with malt drinks, which are essentially unfermented wort.

Low-carbohydrate beers are brewed by producing wort that is more fermentable than in “standard beers” by several techniques, but usually by adding additional enzymes to convert more of the non-fermentable sugars into fermentable sugars. These enzymes may be produced from unboiled wort and added to conventional wort, or from commercial suppliers derived from fungal and/or bacterial sources and added during wort production or during fermentation. The overall objective by making the wort more fermentable than standard (or “super-attenuated) is to brew products that have lower carbohydrate content in the finished beer.

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 3 GCP (All Containers): Section 1: An overview of beer & beer packaging 1.2. The Definition of Beer Packaging and General Aims

The general aims of packaging beer are to:- • Provide the consumers with beer in a convenient package of their choice. • Ensure that the quality of the beer is protected during packaging operations. • Ensure that the quality of the beer is protected during its shelf life. • Assist in the marketing of the product by presenting the package in an attractive form. • Ensure that the requirements of the relevant authorities (for example, Excise) are met. • Control the costs of packaging to an economic minimum. • Protect the health and safety of the people who work in the packaging areas and the consumers.

Many of these aims are required so that “due diligence” with regard to safety of product, consumer and operator is ensured.

The procedures used to ensure that these aims are met are detailed in the tables below:-

How to provide the consumers with a convenient package of their choice.

Package type. Procedure. Returnable bottle. • Choice of different sizes. • Choice of different shapes. • Choice of different glass colour. Non-returnable bottle. • Choice of different sizes. • Choice of different shapes. • Choice of different glass colour. • Choice of different glass weight. • Choice of different pack/box etc. Can. • Choice of different sizes. • Choice of different ‘end’ opening. Keg. • Choice of different sizes.

How to ensure that the quality of the beer is protected during packaging.

Package type. Procedure. Returnable • Bottle at low temperature to keep dissolved gases in solution. bottle. • Reduce air pickup during bottling to a minimum. • Fill against a counter pressure to prevent fobbing and loss of dissolved gases. • Monitor beer quality from bright beer tank to final package. • Ensure that hygiene standards for bottle washing and bottling plant are maintained. • To protect beer from contamination by pasteurization or sterile filtration. Non-returnable • Bottle at low temperature to keep dissolved gases in solution. bottle. • Reduce air pickup during bottling to a minimum. • Fill against a counter pressure to prevent fobbing and loss of dissolved gases. • Monitor beer quality from bright beer tank to final package. • Ensure that hygiene standards for bottling plant are maintained. • To protect beer from contamination by pasteurization or sterile filtration. Can. • Can at low temperature to keep dissolved gases in solution. • Reduce air pickup during canning to a minimum. • Fill against a counter pressure to prevent fobbing and loss of dissolved gases. • Monitor beer quality from bright beer tank to final package. • Ensure that hygiene standards for canning plant are maintained. • To protect beer from contamination by pasteurization or sterile filtration. Keg. • Fill kegs at low temperature to keep dissolved gases in solution. • Reduce air pickup during kegging to a minimum. • Fill against a counter pressure to prevent fobbing and loss of dissolved gases. • Monitor beer quality from bright beer tank to final package. • Ensure that hygiene standards for keg washing and keg filling plant are maintained. • To protect beer from contamination by pasteurization or sterile filtration.

How to ensure that the quality of the beer is protected during its shelf life.

Package Procedure. type. Return- • Reduce air pickup during bottling to a minimum. able bottle. • Small pack beer is usually stabilised. • Pasteurisation or sterile filtration for microbiological stability. Over pasteurisation reduces shelf life. • Selection of the right type of glass. White or green bottles allow U.V. light to adversely affect beer flavour. Full bottles should be kept in the dark. • Ensure that hygiene standards for bottle washing and bottling plant are maintained. Non- • Reduce air pickup during bottling to a minimum. returnable • Small pack beer is usually stabilised. bottle. • Pasteurisation or sterile filtration for microbiological stability. Over pasteurisation reduces shelf life. • Selection of the right type of glass. White or green bottles allow U.V. light to adversely affect beer flavour. Full bottles should be kept in the dark. • Ensure that hygiene standards for bottling plant are maintained. Can. • Reduce air pickup during canning to a minimum. • Small pack beer is usually stabilised. • Pasteurisation or sterile filtration for microbiological stability. Over pasteurisation reduces shelf life. • Ensure that hygiene standards for canning plant are maintained. Keg. • Reduce air pickup during kegging to a minimum. • Pasteurisation or sterile filtration for microbiological stability. Over pasteurisation reduces shelf life. • Ensure that hygiene standards for keg washing and keg filling plant are maintained.

How to assist in the marketing of the product by presenting the package in an attractive form.

Package Procedure. type. Returnable • Maintain high standards of labelling. bottle. • Ensure that bottle washing (exterior) is effective. • Ensure that scuffed bottles are not re-used. • Ensure that case washing is effective. Non- ret. • Maintain high standards of labelling. bottle. • Ensure that the multipacking and shrink film operations are run effectively. • Ensure that secondary packaging operations are run effectively. Can. • Ensure that the multipacking and shrink film operations are run effectively. • Ensure that secondary packaging operations are run effectively. Keg • Ensure that the external keg washing operation is run effectively. • Ensure that containers are undamaged.

How to ensure that Statutory Taxation (Excise) requirements are met.

Package Procedure. type. Returnable • Ensure that bottles are not over filled. and non • Ensure that the label states the correct contents and alcohol level. returnable • Ensure that alcohol levels are analysed in package and that the relevant bottle. records are kept. • Ensure that full package level inspection is effective and that the relevant records are kept. Can. • Ensure that cans are not over filled. • Ensure that the can states the correct contents and alcohol level. • Ensure that alcohol levels are analysed in package and that the relevant records are kept. • Ensure that full package level inspection is effective and that the relevant records are kept. Keg. • Ensure that kegs are not over filled. • Ensure that alcohol levels are analysed in package and that the relevant records are kept. • Ensure that full package contents inspection is effective and that the relevant records are kept.

How to ensure that the requirements of “Trading Standards” are met.

Package Procedure. type. Returnable • Ensure that bottles are not under filled. and non • Ensure that the label gives the correct information. returnable • Ensure that full package inspection and analysis is effective and that the bottle. relevant records are kept. Can. • Ensure that cans are not under filled. • Ensure that the can label gives the correct information. • Ensure that full package inspection and analysis is effective and that the relevant records are kept. Keg. • Ensure that kegs are not under filled. • Ensure that the keg label gives the correct information. • Ensure that full package inspection and analysis is effective and that the relevant records are kept.

Please note that national law and local regulations will vary in different countries and that various authorities may differ in their interpretation of the law.

How to ensure that the Consumer Safety requirements are met.

Package Procedure. type. Returnable • Ensure that empty bottle inspection and the reject system is effective and that bottle. the relevant records are kept. Non- • Ensure that bottle washing/rinsing and plant hygiene procedures are effective. returnable • Ensure that full package inspection and analysis are effective and that the bottle. relevant records are kept. • Maintain a system of handling customer complaints. Can. • Ensure that empty can inspection and the reject system is effective and that the relevant records are kept. • Ensure that can rinsing and plant hygiene procedures are effective. • Ensure that full package inspection and analysis are effective and that the relevant records are kept. • Maintain a system of handling customer complaints. Keg. • Ensure that empty keg inspection and the reject system is effective and that the relevant records are kept. • Ensure that keg washing and plant hygiene procedures are effective. • Ensure that full package inspection and analysis are effective and that the relevant records are kept. • Maintain a system of handling customer complaints.

Please note that national law and local regulations will vary in different countries and that various authorities (such as Environmental Health Authority in U.K.) may differ in their interpretation of the law.

How to protect the Health and Safety of the people who work in the packaging areas.

Package Procedure. type. Returnable • Protect against broken glass. and non • Protect against noise. returnable • Protect against slips trips and falls. bottle. • Protect against machinery accidents. • Protect against detergent hazards. • Protect against high carbon dioxide levels and against dilution of oxygen in air by nitrogen. Can. • Protect against noise. • Protect against slips trips and falls. • Protect against machinery accidents. • Protect against high carbon dioxide levels and against dilution of oxygen in air by nitrogen. Keg • Protect against manual handling accidents. • Protect against noise. • Protect against slips trips and falls. • Protect against machinery accidents. • Protect against detergent hazards.

How to control the costs of packaging to an economic minimum.

Package Procedure. type. Returnable • Operate the plant effectively through effective maintenance, planning and staff bottle. training to achieve the specified throughput. • Reduce beer losses by controlling fill heights and filling machine operation. • Control bottle washing detergent use. • Control heat use during pasteurisation and optimise all heat recovery systems. • Minimise electricity consumption by switching off equipment when not in use. Non- • Operate the plant effectively through effective maintenance, planning and staff returnable training to achieve the specified throughput. bottle. • Reduce beer losses by controlling fill heights and filling machine operation. Can. • Control heat use during pasteurisation and optimise all heat recovery systems. • Minimise electricity consumption by switching off equipment when not in use. Keg. • Operate the plant effectively through effective maintenance, planning and staff training to achieve the specified throughput. • Reduce beer losses by controlling fill heights and filling machine operation. • Control keg washing detergent use. • Control heat use during pasteurisation and optimise all heat recovery systems. • Minimise electricity consumption by switching off equipment when not in use.

General.

The main aims of packaging beer are to provide the consumers with beer in a convenient package of their choice and to ensure that the quality of the beer is protected during and after packaging.

Consumer choice means that a range of beer packages are provided, for example kegs, casks, bottles and cans.

The quality of the beer will have been established by the procedures adopted in the production operations described above, packaging operations are organised so that the quality is protected.

The two main ways of protecting quality during packaging are:

• Avoidance of contamination especially by air or micro-organisms.

• Microbiological stabilisation by pasteurisation or sterile filtration.

• Non-biological stabilisation by polish filtration.

Packaging into Kegs.

Keg Empty Wash & Kegs Steam

Keg

CO 2 Pressure Flash Bright Pasteuriser beer tank Keg Full Fill Kegs

The packaging operation works as follows:-

• Empty kegs are transported, usually by conveyor to the fillers. • They are check weighed to ensure they are empty. • They are cleaned with detergent and rinsed via the single inlet/outlet ‘spear’. • They are sterilised with steam. • They are counter pressured with CO2 to exclude air and to control filling rate. • They are filled with pre-pasteurised beer. • The full kegs are check weighed and transported to the warehouse.

Packaging into Bottles.

Empty Full Bottles Bottles

Labeller Bottle Washer

Bright Bottler & beer Crowner tank

Pasteuriser

The packaging operation works as follows:-

• Empty bottles are transported by conveyor from the de-palletiser and decrater to the bottle washer. • In the washer, they are soaked in and jetted with detergent and then rinsed. • They are inspected to ensure that they are empty and clean. • They are transported to the filler where they are evacuated to remove any air and then counterpressured with CO2 to exclude air and to control filling rate. They are then filled to a controlled level. • They are immediately closed with a crown cork. • The full bottles are checked for contents level. • They are pasteurised. • They are labelled. • Finally they are transported to the crater, palletiser and warehouse.

Packaging into Cans.

Tray packer & Shrinkwrap

Empty Full Cans Cans

Bright Canner & beer Seamer tank

Pasteuriser

The packaging operation works as follows:-

• Empty cans are transported by conveyor from the de-palletiser to the can rinser. They are then inspected to ensure that they are empty and clean. • They are transported to the can filler where they are flushed and then counterpressured with CO2 to exclude air and to control filling rate. They are then filled to a controlled level. • They are then immediately closed with a can lid (end) in the seamer. • They are inspected for contents level. • They are pasteurised. • Finally they are transported to the tray packing machine, shrinkwrap machine, palletiser and warehouse.

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 1 GCP (All Containers): Section 2: Bright beer production, storage & handling Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Beer Packaging (GCP) Section 2 Bright Beer Production, Storage and Handling.

2.1.Bright Beer Filtration

Consumers have come to expect bright beer.

Cloudy beer is assumed to be of inferior quality and there is much historical evidence to prove that this is true.

Matured beer will still have particles in suspension, mainly yeast but also smaller particles, unless it has been fined. There are three types of filtration:-

• The purpose of ‘rough’ filtration is to remove all the particles that would make the beer cloudy. • The purpose of ‘polishing’ filtration is to remove all yeast and bacteria so that the beer is sterile. • The purpose of ‘stabilising’ filtration is to prevent non-biological haze formation in package, that is the haze formed by the protein/tannin particles.

Filtration uses three principles:-

Sieving where Depth filration Absorption where particles are where the particles particles adhere to held back are trapped in the pores of filter because they complex pathways. powder granules. are larger than the filter pores.

(a) Rough filtration.

Rough filtration uses the principles of absorption and depth, the technique is as follows:-

• Precoating. A supporting medium (filter cloth or mesh) is precoated with filter aid. The precoat forms a depth filter. • Body feed. The beer which is dosed with a filter aid ‘body feed’ is run onto the filter. The yeast particles are absorbed by the filter aid and are held back by the precoat The filter does not ‘blind’ because the body feed continually creates a new filter bed.

Body feed Precoat

Yeast

Rough beer Bright beer

Yeast absorbed by the filter aid Support medium (septum)

(b) Filter aids

There are three main types of filter aid:-

• Diatomaceous earth or kieselguhr is made from the skeletons of minute sea plants which have been kilned and milled to various grades of fineness. This is the most porous, rigid and effective filter aid. Kieselguhr is often used as body feed.

• Perlite is made from volcanic minerals which are heated in a furnace to form minute glass bubbles. It has a less complex structure than kieselguhr and is less effective. Perlite is often used as precoat.

• Silica hydrogel or lucilite is less rigid but it acts as a stabiliser as well as a filter aid.

The disposal of waste filter aid is becoming more of a problem for environmental reasons.

Filters are designed so that the rough beer is delivered onto the filter bed in as even a flow as possible. Both the particles being removed and the filter aid will eventually block up the filter by their sheer volume so filters are designed for easy emptying and cleaning.

Four types of filter are illustrated in the diagrams below:-

Plate and frame filter

Bright beer out

Rough beer in

Bright Beer out

Frames open to remove filter waste.

Rough Beer in

Horizontal tank, vertical leaf filter

Bright beer out

Tank opens and filter waste drops off the leaves. Rough beer in

Horizontal pressure leaf filter Rough beer

Filter aid and yeast etc. Plates spin Bright beer to remove filter waste.

Rough beer in

Bright beer out

Candle filter Bright beer out

Candles Filter back washed and filter waste drops into the cone.

Rough beer in

(d) Polishing filtration.

The polishing filter utilises the depth filter effect with a fine meshed filter sheet or a fine filter powder to trap very small particles including micro-organisms. A plate and frame filter is used to house and support the filter sheets.

(e) Trap filter (cartridge filter)

A cartridge filter comprises a chamber filled with elements made of a membrane of fixed pore size. • Uses surface filtration not depth. • Used for sterilising • Need dual systems to allow for back wash while second unit on forward flow

(f) Stabilising filtration.

Stabilising agents are dosed into the beer on its way to the filter, or filter sheets can be impregnated with a stabilising agent, for example, PVPP. PVPP is very expensive and recovery systems are used in some plants.

(g) Sterile Filtration.

Microbes are by definition very small, but they do have a finite size and they can be trapped or held back by a very fine filter. This is the principle of sterile filtration.

There are three types of filter that can be used to produce sterile beer:-

• A kieselguhr filter with a very fine powder grade, although it is usual and recommended to follow this with a final polish or membrane filtration.

• The sheet filter where the cellulose mesh of the sheet is very fine and tightly woven. This type of filter traps the micro-organisms because the passages between the fibres of the sheet are so narrow. There is also an electrostatic effect whereby the microbes adhere to the fibres. The sheets are usually held in a plate and frame filter.

Microbes trapped in the filter Beer flow

Microbes

• The membrane filter works on a slightly different principle, namely that of a very fine sieve where the particles are held back on the surface of the membrane which has extremely small pores in it (usually 0.45 µ). Membranes may be as sheets or as fine tubes.

Microbes trapped on the filter Beer flow

Microbes

The membrane filter may also use the principle of ‘Cross Flow Filtration’ to stop the membrane clogging and its mode of construction is that of a nest of membrane pipes through which the beer is pumped.

There are some benefits derived from the use of sterile filtration as opposed to pasteurisation. These are detailed below:-

• There is a significantly reduced risk of developing those pasteurisation flavours (‘papery’, ‘cardboard’) that result from pasteurising beer with high levels of dissolved oxygen or over pasteurisation. NB - Beers with high levels of dissolved oxygen at packaging will develop papery, cardboard and stale characteristics even if they are not pasteurised. • The very fine filter traps haze forming particles as well as microbes so that the beer is more stable.

(h) Filter plant layout.

Filtration Process

Trim Inlet Filter Filter Trap Outlet Chiller Buffer aid Filter Buffer Tank Dosing Tank Tank

• The trim chiller is used to maintain cold storage temperature and ensure that particles do not re-dissolve before they can be filtered out. • Buffer tanks are used to protect the filter from pressure shocks. • Filter aids are dosed into the beer via a dosing tank. • Trap filters are used to catch any small amounts of filter aid leaking through.

(i) Filtration Efficiency.

The throughput of a filter system is influenced by the amount of solids that the filter is required to remove from the beer and the nature of the beer and solids.

High levels of TSM (total suspended matter) will result in the space between the filter elements being filled up very quickly. The presence of gummy material from the malt ( β-glucan) increases the beer’s viscosity and slows down its flow rate through the filter.

The loading onto the filter (the amount of yeast and other particles in suspension) can be reduced by centrifuging the beer before it is filtered.

(j) Safety.

Filter aids are dust hazards, some of them being more hazardous (dangerous) than others.

Kieselguhr is the most hazardous especially when calcined and ground to the finest powder. Hydrated silica gel is the least hazardous. Filter aids are usually delivered in bags which have to be opened manually and the contents emptied into a hopper.

The types of safety equipment used when handling filter aids:- • Powder hoppers with negative pressure extraction systems where any dust created when bags are opened is carried away from the operator. • ‘Big bag’ systems with automated transport of the powder from the base of the bag. • Personal protection in the form of dust masks. • Plant protection devices (for example explosion risk reduction).

Notes. Describe a filtration operation that you are familiar with. Draw a flow diagram of the plant. Describe the ‘start up’ and ‘shut down’ procedures. What process control parameters are recorded? Where are beer quality control samples taken?

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 9 GCP (All Containers): Section 2: Bright beer production, storage & handling 2.2 Transfer of Filtered Beer and Bright Beer Handling

Beer storage capacity is required between the Filter and the Packaging Machine because beer flow rates through the Filter and beer flow rates into the Packaging Machine must be stable. Also the process requires an opportunity to check the quality of beer before it is finally packaged and a representative sample can be obtained from the holding tank. The tank in which the beer is held is called the Bright Beer Tank or the Packaging tank:-

BRIGHT BEER TANK

FILTER

Beer quality can be affected during this transfer process in a number of ways:-

• Temperature can change, usually upwards and high temperature will cause CO2 release and fobbing during packaging. Beer is packaged into keg or smallpack at close to 0 °C to maintain gas stability although care needs to be taken because it is possible to freeze beer.

• Dissolved gas (for example CO2) can be released and the beer will have a low CO2. • Oxygen can be picked up and the beer will ‘stale’ and become unstable. • The beer can ‘fob’ or ‘overfoam’ causing handling difficulties and subsequently the beer will have lower foam stability in the package. • Foam stability in beer depends on how long the bubbles in the beer head last before they burst. Small bubbles surrounded by protein material last longest. The protein material that surrounds the bubble is denatured once the bubble bursts so that when a beer has foamed one or more times it will not foam again. • Denatured protein material from burst bubbles causes haze in the beer. • There could be a pick up of infection.

A number of procedures are put in place to prevent these problems from occurring:-

TOP PRESSURE

INERT ATMOSPHERE BRIGHT BEER LAGGED/COOLED TANK TANK

LAGGED PIPEWORK

SMOOTH FILTER TRIM CHILLER PIPE BENDS

1. Prevention of temperature pickup. Pipework between the Filter and the Bright Beer Tank is lagged. A Trim Chiller could be installed in the line. The Bright Beer Tank is lagged or cooled by coolant in the tank’s jackets. 2. Prevention of gas release. The Bright Beer Tank is counter pressured before starting the filter run. Pipework is designed to prevent ‘turbulent’ flow.

3. Prevention of Oxygen pickup. The filter pipework is filled with water which is pushed through to drain by the beer at the start of the filter run. The Bright Beer Tank is filled with an inert gas (for example CO 2 or nitrogen) to exclude the air before filling. The system of pipework, filters, pumps and tanks are maintained to prevent leaks.

4. Prevention of ‘fobbing’. The Bright Beer Tank is counter pressured before starting the filter run. Pipework is designed to prevent ‘turbulent’ flow. The Bright Beer Tank is filled from the bottom. Beer flow is slowed down until the tank inlet is covered.

5. Prevention of infection. The pipework and tanks are effectively cleaned and sterilised.

Notes:- Illustrate below the pipework leading to the Bright Beer Tanks in your own brewery indicating how temperature, air pick up, and counter pressure are controlled. Where are dissolved oxygen, carbon dioxide and beer temperature measured?

2.3 Storage.

Storage time in bright beer tank.

The length of time that the beer stays in the Bright Beer Tank depends on a number of factors.

• The packaging programme may be critical to supplying customers and a plentiful supply of beer ready for packaging is therefore important. • After filling, the Bright Beer Tank’s contents need to stabilise before a sample is taken for a quality check. This relates especially to dissolved gases like CO2 . • Quality checks on the beer will take some time and the beer must be stored until it is confirmed that it meets the required specifications. • While the beer stands in the tank, the opportunity is there to make adjustments to its quality. For example, it may be blended with beer from another Bright Beer Tank, it may be gassed up if CO2 levels are low or purged if CO2 levels are high.

The quality of the beer, however, will not improve. It will only deteriorate whilst it is in the Bright Beer Tank. The most likely cause of this deterioration is microbiological growth and therefore there is often a specified time limit for the maximum length of time that a beer should be kept in the tank before it is packaged. A typical time limit would be two days.

Standardisation/blending procedures and calculations.

Blending beer to meet quality requirements is common, for example a high colour beer may be blended with a low coloured beer to achieve a beer of a desired colour.

The calculation below illustrates the effect of blending 100 hectolitres of beer at a colour of 10 units with 50 hectolitres of beer at a colour of 8 units:-

(100 x10) + (50 x 8) (100 + 50)

Therefore the colour of the mixture = 9.3 units.

The same blending principles can be applied to bitterness, alcohol content, dissolved gas content and specific gravity. It does not apply to pH.

The following points need to be considered when blending beers in Bright Beer Tank:-

• The system will have been designed to prevent turbulent flow, therefore mixing the beers will be difficult. • Every time beer is moved from one tank to another, there is the risk of the beer picking up air or other contamination, for example, micro-organisms. • The different components of a blended beer must be thoroughly mixed.

Dilution Calculation

500hl of high gravity brewed beer at 7.5% alcohol by volume (%ABV) can be diluted by:

- 250 hl of water to produce 750 hl of beer at 5.0%ABV, or

- 750 hl of water to produce 1250 hl of beer at 3.0%ABV.

Notes:- Calculate the alcohol content of a beer that results from mixing 120 hectolitres of beer at 4% alcohol with 90 hectolitres of beer with 5% alcohol.

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 1 GCP (All Containers): Section 3: Beer pasteurization and sterile filtration Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Beer Packaging (GCP) Section 3 Beer Pasteurization and Sterile Filtration.

Introduction

Microbiological contamination is one of the most likely causes of beer spoilage both in process and once the beer is in its final package. Bacteria, yeasts or moulds can make the beer go cloudy and seriously damage its flavour and aroma. Microbiological contamination can be reduced or eliminated in various ways, pasteurization or sterile filtration are control methods employed; pasteurization can be prior to packaging (flash) or immediately after packaging (tunnel).

3.1. Pasteurization.

Microbes are killed at high temperature. This is achieved more quickly in aqueous (water) solutions. The technique of pasteurization is to heat the beer up to a temperature that is just high enough and for just long enough to kill any microbes present.

The aim of pasteurization is to prolong the shelf life of the product by inactivation of: • all micro-organisms capable of growing • enzymes which may cause undesirable chemical changes

Pasteurization theory was developed around 1865 by Louis Pasteur, and involves the reduction of micro-organisms by heating to a limited temperature. Thus its objective is to ensure that the process has minimal effect on the physical stability of the beer combined with maximum biological stability. Beer spoilage organisms are not pathogenic, and therefore the key decision with respect to pasteurization is the level of treatment required to meet the desired specification, i.e. the degree of risk of product spoiled by beer spoilage organisms reaching the customer. Pasteurization should not be confused with sterilization, which is the inactivation of all micro-organisms and requires a much harsher heat treatment. Pasteurization is a statistical kill-rate of micro-organisms as defined by the formula below. Sterilization is an absolute heat treatment process and

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 2 GCP (All Containers): Section 3: Beer pasteurization and sterile filtration will produce a fully stable product with shelf life of several years but the taste and appearance of the product will be significantly impaired. For beer products, pasteurization is sufficient to achieve stability because micro-organisms such as spores, which survive heat treatment, are unable to grow in beer due to its alcoholic and chemical make-up.

Both the temperature and the time of pasteurization need to be limited because the process affects both beer stability and flavour. The ‘staling’ or flavour deterioration of beer is a chemical process that combines some of the natural ingredients of the beer with oxygen. This process is accelerated at high temperature, therefore the objective is to kill all microbes but at the lowest temperature and in the shortest time possible.

The level of pasteurization required depends on the resistance to heat of the micro-organisms concerned; this is called the “thermo-tolerance”.

The way that the degree of pasteurization is controlled is through the concept of ‘Pasteurization Units’ or PU’s. One Pasteurization Unit is 1 minute at 60 °°°C, derived from the current pasteurization unit formula as:

PU = t x 1.393 (T-60)

Where PU = number of pasteurization units t = holding time in minutes T = Holding temperature in °C

From this, there are some useful rules of thumb, which can be used on routine basis:

An increase in temperature of about 2°C doubles the number of PU for the same holding time.

An increase in temperature of about 7°C increases the number of PU by a factor of 10 for the same holding time.

A PU level of 20 means that there is a statistical chance of 1 in 10 billion micro-organisms surviving. A PU level of 30 means that there is a statistical chance of 1 in a million-billion micro-organisms surviving.

Also, the number of pasteurization units increases rapidly with increases in temperature and the graph below shows the relationship between PU and temperature:-

1 0 0

e t

s 1 0 a

P 1 60 67 74 Temperature for 1 minute

The Effect of Pasteurization on Different Organisms

Since the theoretical PU level required does vary for each micro-organism, established practice is to vary the number of PU depending on the product type and shelf life required. Typical PU values for micro-organism concentrations up-to visible turbidity levels are given in the table below; this also shows the effect of product type – alcohol level and chemical composition.

Micro-organism Typical Thermo-tolerance Brewers’ Yeast 1 PU Pediococcus sp. 1 PU Lactobacillus sp. 5 PU Wild yeasts 10 PU

In theory, one PU will kill brewing yeast and most bacteria but usually more are used to achieve an acceptable level of microbiological stability although non-biological stability and flavour are protected by using as few PUs as possible.

It is vitally important at the beginning of specifying a pasteurization process (especially if this involves the design and construction of a new tunnel pasteurizer) to identify the number of PUs of heat-treatment required.

Many plants pasteurize at 20 PU’s, for example, 20 minutes at 60 °C as in a tunnel pasteurizer for bottles or cans.

At higher beer temperatures, the time can be drastically reduced and 20 PU’s are delivered by holding the beer for 1 minute at 69 °C as in a flash or bulk beer pasteurizer for container beer.

Beers with a very delicate flavour are often subjected to 10 PUs or lower.

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 4 GCP (All Containers): Section 3: Beer pasteurization and sterile filtration 3.2. Types of Pasteurizer and their Principal Features.

There are two main types of pasteurizer:- • The ‘Tunnel’ pasteurizer where beer in package is subjected to a longer time at a lower temperature. • The ‘Flash’ pasteurizer where beer in a plate heat exchanger is subjected to a shorter time at a higher temperature.

Tunnel Pasteurizer

The operating principles of the Tunnel Pasteurizer are illustrated in the diagram below:-

Pre-heat zone Pasteurisation zone Cooling zone

Bottles Bottles in out

The Tunnel Pasteurizer consists of a large vessel through which the packages pass on either a chain belt or a moving beam. The packages pass through a series of zones where water at controlled temperature is sprayed over them. By this means the packages are heated to pasteurization temperature and then cooled down again.

All modern pasteurizers are regenerative. This means that the cold bottle entering the pasteurizer is used to cool the water that is used to cool the bottle at the discharge end. The bottle is typically heated up in three zones, is pasteurized, and then cooled down in three zones that are linked to the first three. It is important that linked tanks are in balance and that there is no over- spray from one tank to another. A typical regime maybe as follows:

Zones Sections Temperature oC Spray Time (mins) 1 Preheat 34 4.4 2 Preheat 46 4.4 3 Preheat 54 3.3 4 Superheat 67 13.0 5 Pasteurising or Holding 62 5.0 6 Precool 56 3.3 7 Precool 48 4.4 8 Precool 28 4.4 9 Cooling 20 2.5

In this instance zones 1&8, 2&7 and 3&6 are linked. Zone 4 is the superheat which brings the product up to pasteurising temperature – in this case 62 oC. All times are approximated and will depend on the number of PUs required for the products. The temperature pattern given above is for a BarryWehmiller pasteurizer which uses a superheat section to bring the product up to the pasteurising temperature. The Sander Hansen pasteurizer has one long pasteurising zone and no superheat with a constant temperature of 62 oC.

The speed that the packages pass through the Pasteurizer and the temperature of the various zones dictate the degree of pasteurization or the number of PU’s delivered.

The ability of the actual package to transfer heat and the volume of beer in the package need to taken into consideration when setting up the Pasteurizer. Beer in small cans will heat up much quicker than beer in large bottles.

Heating Methods

All of the older pasteurizers are heated using steam coils placed in the preheat, superheat and pasteurising tanks. The heating is inefficient and takes a long time, perhaps up to 90 minutes. Also when leaks develop the coil can be passing extra heat into the tank and cause temperatures to go out of control. As these steam coils are hidden inside the tanks, maintenance is often neglected.

Direct steam injection can be used. Although this is efficient the condensate is lost and the steam may not be well dispersed.

The best way is the use of heat exchangers, more commonly shell and tube. Heating is quickly achieved allowing a pasteurizer to be started 20 minutes after the steam has been opened.

The following refinements are featured in all modern pasteurizers:-

• Energy conservation by using the water heated by the hot packages in the cooling zones to heat the incoming packages and the water cooled by the cold packages in the pre-heating zone to cool the outgoing packages. Also the use of insulation. • Water conservation by the reduction of water ‘carry over’ as the packages leave the Pasteurizer. • Control systems that ensure that only the specified PU’s are delivered. For example, if the line stops and beer is held in the Pasteurizer, the packages are doused with cold water. • Regular checking of the PU’s delivered by the use of thermographs or ‘Red Posts’ put through the Pasteurizer. • Control of infection in the Pasteurizer water by the use of chemical additives.

• Control of corrosion in the Pasteurizer by the use of chemical inhibitors and cathodic protection. This is especially important in pasteurizers constructed of mild steel. • Control of rusting of the bottle crowns by the use of chemical inhibitors.

PU Control

PU control is now a normal requirement due to the much greater emphasis these days on product damage. It is also possible to retrofit a form of PU control to regenerative pasteurizers.

Some systems are extremely complex, but generally they consist of a form of cross flow, and then an addition of cold water after long stoppages.

It should be noted that the higher the specfication, the greater the range. It is also important to realise that only one parameter can be used to control the pasteurizer. For example, if PUs are only measured above 59.5 oC, then the pasteurizer will only be recording PUs for this figure and above. Therefore at 59.3 oC, there will be considerable heat damage to the product but the number of PUs recorded will be zero. It may be a good idea, therefore to record PUs accumulated above 53 oC or TIUs (Thermal Imact Units) alongside the normal records.

The PUs are controlled by a computer which introduces a degree of intelligence to the control system, and ensures that the product is not under or over pasteurized.

Measurement of PUs

If a pasteurizer is fitted with PU Control, the PUs accumulated in the product will be recorded. It has to be remembered, however, that this is a calculation which relates to a comparison between the water feed temperature to the sprays and not the sprays or product itself. In order for the calculation to take place, a programme is built up from data gathered from the actual product and container and this is put together by the supplier. The data relates to what the temperature is estimated to be at the ‘cold spot’.

Cold Spot

As the product is heated up in the container, the sprays will heat up the outer part of the container first. The speed of heat transfer will firstly be dependent on the material. As glass is a poor conductor of heat and metal is good, a can will reach the desired temperature first, so pasteurization will take less time. Once the product takes the heat, the product against the outer walls of the container will heat up first, and as a result will rise to the top of the container causing the colder product to move down the centre to the bottom. This is known as convection. As a result of this movement of product in the container the bottom of the container takes longer to heat up than the rest. This point is

known as the cold spot and is located 5-15mm from the bottom of the container.

Showing the Convection and the Cold Spot

Cold Spot 5 to 15mm from the bottom

Measurement by Travelling Thermograph (e.g. “Redpost”)

Having established that a cold spot exists, this is the point at which all PUs must be measured in order to establish whether the product has been pasteurized adequately or not. I t is important that the travelling thermograph is passed through at least once every eight hours for a PU Control pasteurizer and every two hours for a standard pasteurizer. The normal regime is to pass the thermograph through the pasteurizer left right and centre for each deck. For a pasteurizer fitted with spray bars, the point furthest from the pump is the most vulnerable. This is because any debris which escapes the filter will find its way to the end of the header tubes. The thermograph or data logger has a probe which fits into the container and measures the PUs at the cold spot. Probes need to be checked for accuracy at the recommended intervals.

Notes:-

Describe the features of a Tunnel Pasteurizer in your own brewery. Indicate the rate (bottles/cans per minute), the holding times and temperatures in each zone. Why are bottles or cans cooled prior to the application of secondary packaging?

Flash Pasteurizer

The operating features of a Flash (or Plate) Pasteurizer are illustrated in the diagram below:-

Heating Cooling Section Section

Regen. Section Beer out

Beer in Holding tube

The heart of the Plate Pasteurizer is the plate heat exchanger and the key to effective pasteurization is the control of the heat input and flow rate. It is vital to have a plate heat exchanger which has a hygienically designed heat transfer plate, is responsive to temperature control changes and is robust since pasteurization takes place at high temperatures and pressures. Accurate PU control is then achievable with the selection of appropriate software and instrumentation.

This Pasteurizer consists of four sections-

1. The Regeneration section where incoming beer is heated up by the pasteurized beer which is being cooled down. 2. A heating section where the beer is heated up to pasteurization temperature usually by steam. This temperature could be 75 °C. 3. A holding tube where the beer is held at pasteurization temperature for the specified time. This could be 15 seconds at 75 °C. The time that the beer stays in the holding tube depends on its length and the rate of beer flow. 4. A cooling section where the beer which has been cooled by the incoming beer in the regeneration section is cooled to the temperature required for packaging.

The degree of pasteurization is maintained through beer flow control and through pasteurization temperature control by modulating steam flow to the heating section. Flash or bulk (plate) pasteurizers can be used to pasteurize container (keg) beers and bottled or canned beers that are sterile filled.

Operating Parameters

The basic requirements of a pasteurizer are to maintain a constant pasteurization temperature to ensure all of the product is exposed to the correct temperature for the right length of time and hence achieve the right PU level.

When assessing requests for accurate PU control, the starting point has to be the accuracy and response of the temperature sensor and transmitter. When 1 PU represents 0.15 oC, the challenge is clear.

In reality, with intelligent application of software and selection of grade “A” instruments, a range of +/- 2 PU is now achievable over the process run.

The effect of time (derived from product flow rate) should not be overlooked even though the effect of variation is less dramatic; at steady temperature for say 25 PU, I PU variation results from 4% change in flow; flow meter accuracy and response is well within this range at +/- 0.3%.

The pasteurizer system will include PU monitoring in the form of temperature sensing at the end of the holding cell. Should the temperature drop below the set-point for a sufficient period then the product will not be pasteurized to the required level and the process will stop product being pumped forward for filling.

This can be in the form of diversion of product back to the inlet of the pasteurizer to be re-pasteurized or, more commonly nowadays, treated liquor pumped into the system until the correct pasteurization conditions have been re-established. When this is confirmed by the control system, then product will be reintroduced and forward production resumed. The un-pasteurized product and the interface between product and liquor will be recovered for re- processing.

A record of the pasteurization result will be kept within the control system for future reference should any product quality issues arise.

It is also essential to ensure that other physical parameters are considered, especially Dissolved Gas Content (CO 2, and/or N 2). At pasteurization temperature, with highly carbonated, nitrogenated or with mixed gas products, the saturation pressure required to keep the gases dissolved in the product becomes significant. This pressure is typically in the range of 10 to 14 bar gauge.

The need to keep all gases fully dissolved in the product during the pasteurization process is to ensure full pasteurization of the micro-organisms present. A gas bubble in the product can provide an insulating layer around a micro-organism, which could potentially survive the heat treatment in the holding tube.

Notes:- Describe the features of a Flash Pasteurizer in your own brewery. Indicate beer flow rate, holding time and pasteurization temperature. Where are samples for microbiological tests taken?

Tunnel Pasteurization vs Flash Pasteurization vs Sterile Filtration

The benefits of Tunnel Pasteurization or Flash Pasteurization are detailed in the table below:-

Benefits Problems Tunnel • The beer is pasteurized in the • Relatively high energy consumption, Pasteurizer package. There is no chance of therefore expensive. . further microbiological • Expensive equipment. contamination. • Occupies a very large area. • Low temperatures reduce the • Only suitable for small packages. likelihood of over pasteurization. • Warm bottles are easier to label. Flash • Very energy efficient. • High temperatures produce high Pasteurizer • Occupies a small space. pressures from dissolved gases. . • Cheaper equipment. • High temperatures increase the likelihood of over pasteurization if dissolved oxygen levels are high.. • Opportunity for re-infection after pasteurization.

Where pasteurization is used, it is usual for small packages (bottles and cans) to be tunnel pasteurized and for container beer to be flash pasteurized.

By way of comparison with pasteurization, there are some specific benefits derived from the use of sterile filtration . These include:-

• There is a significantly reduced risk of developing those pasteurization flavours (‘papery’, ‘cardboard’) that result from pasteurising beer with high levels of dissolved oxygen or over pasteurization. [ NB - Beers with high levels of dissolved oxygen at packaging will develop papery, cardboard and stale characteristics even if they are not pasteurized. ]

• The very fine filter traps haze forming particles as well as microbes so that the beer is more stable. This technique is called ‘polishing’ filtration.

Microbes are, by definition, very small, but they do have a finite size and they can be trapped or held back by a very fine filter. This is the principle of sterile filtration.

Sterile Filtration is an alternative method to pasteurization for achieving the desired microbiological stability in package. This process involves the removal of sufficient product spoilage organisms from the product to ensure that for at least during the stated life of the product, insufficient microbiological growth can take place for microbiological spoilage to occur. Sterile filtration has the advantage of avoiding heat treatment of the product and thus any possible flavour deterioration from heat treatment. Like flash pasteurization sterile filtration occurs before the product is put into the package and thus there are risks of microbiological contamination occurring downstream of the sterile filter.

The process requirements need to be defined for the product concerned, notably:

Feedstock maximum microbiological and non-microbiological load including concentrations and particle sizes.

Filtrate maximum concentration and details of product spoilage organisms allowed to be present in the filtrate without microbiological failure occurring during the stated product life.

Product viscosity and flow characteristics i.e. is the flow variable and/ or intermittent.

The reduction in “microbiological load” from feedstock to filtrate is often referred to as the Log Reduction Value (LRV) . Sterile filters should be capable of reducing micro load by >99.9999999999%.

The LRV is illustrated below:

There are three types of filter that can be used to produce sterile beer:-

• A kieselguhr filter with a very fine powder grade (see module 2.12), although it is usual and recommended to follow this with a final polish or membrane filtration.

Microbes trapped in the filter Beer flow

Microbes

The membrane can be in the form of a sheet or, more usually, as a cartridge.

M icrobes trapped on the filter B e e r flo w

M icrobes

The sheet is usually held in a standard plate and frame filter, whereas there is a wide range of cartridge types are available.

The cartridges can either have cylindrical or disc format, and are sometimes back washable.

Cartridge filters can be made up from either several layers of filter medium or a single thicker layer. These filters work as membrane filters with a very small, but uniform pore size. Membranes are produced by casting nylon based material, with the optimum membrane rating being 0.45 µ absolute. Some membrane filters consist of two layers of membrane materials of the same rating, and others of different ratings, e.g. the first 0.65 µ and the second 0.45 µ. Membranes are usually made from Nylon 66 , polyethersulfone (PES), polyvinylidene flouride (PVDF) or polyaramid.

Increasing the filtration area increases the housing size, the cost of a fresh charge of cartridges and the possible losses from the system. One solution is to pleat the media. This can lead to an increase in filter area of more than thirteen times compared with a straight cylinder.

The Filter Housing Stainless steel is the usual construction material and needs to be crevice-free along with the ability to be emptied with minimum beer loss. The housing needs to be capable of being quietly filled, thus a bottom inlet is preferable. A vent at the top allows complete elimination of gas from within the shell, and can also be used for blowing down the filter at the end of filtration. Inlet design needs to ensure that the flow does not impinge on the filter medium. Inlet and outlet connections need to be of a large diameter to minimise pressure drops with the inlet and outlet in the base to minimise risk of oxygen uptake.

Pressure gauges are required either side of the filter to monitor the pressure drop. With larger scale sterile filters then automation becomes feasible. Cartridges can be grouped in clusters, which enable the cluster to be “integrity tested” (see below) and automatically isolated should the cluster fail .

Cross Flow Filter

Integrity Testing A major feature of sterile filtration operation is the need to carry out an “integrity test” of the sterile operation (the most often used test being a “bubble test” procedure), before and after the sterile filtration run. This is a major feature of process control around this process stage in order to ensure product integrity and safety.

Pasteurization can be monitored with feedback during the process by measuring temperature and time at that temperature. A similar method is required with sterile filtration as retrospective feedback from micro results is not satisfactory. I n order to meet this requirement non destructive integrity tests have been developed which enable the cartridges to be tested prior to the start of a run post CIP and sterilization. These tests involve the use of an integrity tester dedicated to that particular filter housing or group of filter housings. A gas supply is normally connected to the tester and the tester then connected to the inlet side of the housing usually the top. The outlet side is then opened to atmosphere and gas then introduced with the housing pressure on the inlet side carefully monitored automatically by the integrity tester. System resolution is around 2mbar. The tests include bubble point, pressure decay and forward flow pressure decay. The bubble point test involves measuring the pressure, which overcomes the surface tension resistance of the liquid in the pores of the cartridge. The pressure is a function of the size of the largest pore. This test is qualitative rather than quantitative, but it gives an indication as to the size of the largest pores in the membrane.

Pressure decay with forward flow involves pressurising the inlet side of the housing to a set pressure, adjusting the gas flow to maintain that pressure and allowing the system to stabilise with constant flow and pressure followed by stopping the inlet gas flow and measuring the rate of pressure decay. For that particular housing and cartridge type, the acceptable rate of decay is known. A faster rate of decay indicates that the total area of the pores are larger than they should be and thus fail the test.

Cleaning Careful consideration is required as to how the filter is going to be cleaned. If backwashing is being considered then the liquid used should be free from particles, and thus is likely to need filtration itself. If the filter is to be steamed then this should also be filtered.

Filter CIP/sterilization is carried out not only to clear material from the filters, if possible, but also to ensure that the filter and downstream pipe work is sterile and will not cause microbiological contamination. More of the membrane filters available now are able to be backwashed, ideally at greater than the forward flow velocity. As mentioned earlier, it is absolutely essential that the liquid used for this is free from particles down the size rating of the filter being backwashed, and therefore a similar sized membrane filter is required on the liquid feed. It is also important not to introduce infection downstream of the sterilising filter.

Sterilization of the membrane filter can be effected using steam, hot liquor, or chemically. The steaming life of some membrane filters can be as low as 16 hours with each cycle lasting 20 minutes at 121 oC. It is important that if steam is used, that this is also filtered to remove any particulate matter. Steaming will therefore dictate the life of these expensive cartridges which may have to be replaced after 48 cycles.

If hot water is used, then this should be used at 80 oC +/- 5 oC, and chemical usage can include combinations of 0.1% to 0.2% sodium hydroxide plus 100 to 200 ppm chlorine, peracetic acid at 150-200 ppm, or sodium metabisulphite at 250 ppm. The advantage of using some chlorinated alkali as part of the cleaning and sterilising regime is that it will break down and remove proteinaceous deposits on the membrane.

Notes:- Explain the choice of either pasteurization or sterile filtration for packaged beer in your own brew ery.

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 1 GCP (CAN): Section 4 (CAN): Cans and packaging materials Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Beer Packaging (GCP) Section 4 CAN Specialist Section – Cans and Packaging Materials.

4.1 CAN: Design of Cans and Can Ends

• Cylindrical shape is strong. Dissolved gases improve strength • Steel is stronger than aluminium • Generally better graphics printing on aluminium • Aluminium has higher recycle value • Line set up needs to be tuned between different metals for maximum efficiency • Can interiors are lacquered • Must be able to withstand pressures of filling and pasteurization • Dimensions are important as cans are filled to a level • Can top flange must accept an end • Can end diameters are decreasing to save cost • Usually stay on tab, “ gulper ” apertures • Protect cans in wrap etc

Shape.

Affect on beer quality.

Durability.

Dimensions.

Special features.

The following summarises the important features of design of aluminium and steel cans:

Material Aluminium. Shape Beer cans are round. Circular shapes have the strength to withstand the internal pressures generated during filling and pasteurising. Affect on Some of the aluminium would dissolve in the beer and beer beer quality cans have an internal lacquer to protect the beer and the consumer. Resistance to Aluminium cans are easily damaged, therefore the packaging wear & tear process involves hicone, trays and shrink wrapping to protect the product. Aluminium is not strong enough to withstand the pressures created by the in can insert (widget) system. Dimensions The can’s volume is important because, with machines filling to a level, the beer volume depends on the precision of the can’s dimensions. The profile of the top of the can body is important because it is required to seal on the filler head and onto the can end. Special Aluminium cans are very light and easily fall over on the features packaging line’s conveyors. Aluminium is recyclable, but mixed metals are being discouraged.

Material Steel. Shape See aluminium cans. Affect on Some of the iron would dissolve in the beer producing a beer quality metallic flavour and beer cans have an internal lacquer to protect the beer and the consumer. Resistance to Steel cans can be damaged, therefore the packaging process wear & tear involves hicone, trays and shrink wrapping to protect the product. Steel is strong enough to withstand the pressures created by the in can insert (widget) system. Dimensions See aluminium cans. Special Empty steel cans are light and easily fall over on the features packaging line’s conveyors. Steel is recyclable, but has a lower value than aluminium.

The Completed Can and End Seam

Four essential seam measurements • Correct tightness • Body hook • Correct body and end hook overlap

• No other distortions

In 1935, flat topped cans were first used in the for drinks USA and were introduced to Britain in the 1950s. In the early days a lever type triangular opener was used to puncture two holes in the end in order open the can. In 1963 the aluminium lid with the easy open end (TOT or tear off tab) was invented. The two-piece aluminium can was developed in the States in 1964 and this technology, known as the ‘drawn and wall ironed’, extended to steel in the 1970s.

11 The diameter of the drinks can is “211”, which means 2 inches and /16 ths. The standard end is now “202” introduced in 2003 (previously was 206 or 209. The SOT or stay on tab was adopted in 1990. The large opening end (sometimes know as the ‘gulper’) was introduced in 1998. Steel ends have been tried, being on the market in 1993 but they were not successful.

The benefits of cans over other types of packaging are:

Transport – against long neck bottles the 330ml can is half the height. A glass bottle weighs c200g, a steel can is c35g and aluminium c15g (a PET bottle weighs c35g) Total UV (Ultra Violet) protection Hermetic Seal No oxygen ingress or carbon dioxide egress Faster pasteurization in package – less use of energy Faster and more efficient packaging lines Safer than glass Easy to open Tamper evident Steel and Aluminium recyclable Traceability All round decoration

The negatives :

One shape – marketing have always objected to this. Shaped cans are possible but they are expensive and difficult to run down the line It is not hygienic to drink from the top of the can They are not refillable Need to be pressurised to keep them rigid May burst when dropped

Design Criteria - Cans

Pressure Vessel – needs to hold 8 bar (120psi), including the ends. Standard ends are normally tested to 6 bar (90psi). Closing – good flange for seaming Stackable – shelves at supermarkets etc Optimum Metal Economy – light-weighting, but the can still strong

Food Contact – no contamination, inside lacquer is necessary Decoration – 4 to 6 inking stations give good quality finish Transport/Storage – stackable on pallets – can take the load

Design Criteria – Ends

Pressure Vessel – See above Closing – good curl and compound Easy Opening – Tab can be lifted and the score is correct depth allowing tear but not leakage – end thickness only 0.28mm or less! Also needs to vent properly when opened Food Contact – as above

4.2.1. CAN: Can Manufacture

Most cans used for beverages today are produced using two piece technology, either aluminium or steel. However, there are still some countries in the world using three piece cans, so called because they have a cylindrical body and two ends; the raw material is tin plate Aluminium and Steel Two Piece Cans are made by a similar process

Aluminium coils weighing up to 10 tonnes are supplied to the line. One tonne will produce approx 60,000 can bodies of 0.210-0.355mm thickness. The coil is pre-lubricated with mineral oil and is then re-lubricated with soluble oil and water before it enters the cupping press.

Cups are first produced by a process is known as the ‘blank and draw’ operation and produces shallow cups which are then fed into the can former.

Cup

Can formation is achieved by Body Maker - Four feeding the cup onto the body Operations maker with a horizontal punch which, in a single stroke, draw the can wall to the desired thickness (Mid-wall thickness is presently 114 microns for aluminium; 68 microns for steel – with light-weighting they are made thinner and thicknesses will tend to vary plant to plant and manufacturer to manufacturer). The base or dome of the can is formed on completion of the stroke. The ragged edge of the cylinder shaped can is then trimmed before it is washed to

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 6 GCP (CAN): Section 4 (CAN): Cans and packaging materials remove the lubricating oils and etching the surface in preparation for receiving the base coat. Washing comprises of a chemical wash, a water rinse, a chemical etch and surface treatment with zirconium and rinsing with de-ionised water. Steel only needs a water wash as the steel does not require lubrication before the ironing operation. It is then dried before the base coat colour is applied, before complete decoration.

The decorator is unique to the can making business and usually comprises of 6 inkers placed around a rotating drum on which there are 6 to 8 latex blankets which receive the ink from each ink station building up the complete image. The image is then transferred to the rotating can as it travels over the blanket in one full rotation. The can then passes through an oven to cure the ink before further processing takes place. After this, a coating of varnish is applied to the bottom radius of the can to aid mobility on the line and inhibit corrosion.

Each can also receives an internal coating of water based epoxy lacquer from twin spray guns as the can rotates. The can is then baked once more and the decoration UV tested to ensure complete lacquer coverage before passing to the necking and flanging machines.

Necking

This takes place immediately after the cans leave the oven and it is normal to neck in both the top and bottom of the can.

Flanging

Again both the bottom and the top of the can are flanged so that a rim is formed which is 90 o to the vertical axis of the cylinder.

The can is now ready for inspection before being dispatched. A vision system checks for damage and contamination, and statistical checks are carried out to ensure that the process is in control. There is also a light tester which checks for fractures and pin holes. The cans are then palletised, each layer being separated by board or plastic layer pads. The trend is now towards using plastic layer pads and plastic pallets.

A typical pallet would be made up as follows:

33cl 22 layers 351 cans per layer 44cl 17 layers 351 cans per layer 50cl 15 layers 351 cans per layer

A flow diagram of the process

IBO – Inside Bake Oven

Cupper

Cup Spray Process Bodymaker & IBO Decorated Can

Washer Necker/ Flanger

Trimmed Drying Oven Can Light Tester Coater & Oven Pressco Inspectors

Decorator Rogue Can Coated & Oven Finished Can Can Palletiser

4.2.2. CAN: Manufacture of Ends

Ends are all fabricated from aluminium. Steel were unsuccessful. The aluminium is supplied in 8 tonne rolls. Each coil will produce up to 2.5 million ends. The coil is pre-lacquered and is fed into a press known as the ‘Minster Shell Press’ which produces the basic shell at the rate of 8,000 shells per minute. The shells then pass on to the curling operation situated at the rear of the press. They then go into a balancing system which allows the operation to be continuous before entering the compound lining machines – each machine is capable of running at up to 2000 ends per minute.

The end shells enter a starwheel and the ends are then rotated in the machine as a very precise bead of compound sealant is applied around the inside of the curl. The ends are then discharged via a discharge starwheel and baked.

Lining compound

inside the curl

Countersink

Water based compounds, rather than solvent based, are more commonly used and have proved to be very effective. The ends are inspected for compound faults and for any oil or grease contamination. The ends now enter another balancing system before entering the ‘Conversion Press’ where the shell meets the tab.

The shell passes through seven stages as follows:

1. Bubble station 2. Button and panel coil station 3. First form and button base reform station 4. Score station 5. The 2 nd form station 6. Stake station 7. Fully converted end

The tabs are also converted through about twenty stages before meeting the shell at the stake station. The diagram below gives an indication of the complexity in just making the tab.

The die for making the tabs is known as the ‘Stolle Tab Die’

13th station -rivet hole reform

Stolle Tabs 12th station -tab reform

11th station -curl

10th station -idle

9th station -90° wipedown

8th station -panel form

7th station -precurl fingerhole

6th station -tongue pierce reform

5th station -lance & coin

4th station -idle

3rd station -cutting die

2nd station -cutting die

1st station -cutting die

After assembly the ends are bagged at the bagging stations. Quality is a crucial part of this operation and camera systems are extensively used for inspection. Equipment is used to measure finished shells for curl diameter, panel and countersink depth.

Quality Issues – Cans

Print May be aesthetically unacceptable In case of barcodes create retail problems Wrong varnish may affect line performance

Body damage Could result in can collapse in Filler/Seamer with consequent line jams or double seam defects.

Flange Damage Filling or seaming problems

Base rim coat Missing or sparse covering may give mobility issues leading to spillage at filler and / or line efficiency reduction.

Dome depth/formation Reduced strength resulting in dome reversal Excessive dome growth during pasteurization.

Flange width / Neck diameter Possible double seam integrity Can to End fit problem

Quality Issues – Ends

Clipped or Damaged Curls Double seam deficiencies and potential leakage / gas loss.

High Score Residual Difficulties in opening Tab failure / Fracture.

Split Rivets Leaker or gas loss

Packaging materials are one of the vital parts of packaging and the understanding of them is important. So often a high speed machine fails to run as designed because the material purchased has not been properly specified for that machine

The following defines Primary , Secondary and Tertiary packaging

Secondary This effectively is the material that collates the primary package in some form i.e. a second layer of packaging. This turns the primary package into a saleable or marketable unit Examples Board (Carton, Layer Board, Kraft & Corrugated, Sleeve Wrap & Multi- packs (Board & Film), FEC (Board & Film), Hi-Cone.

Tertiary This relates to the remainder of the packaging. It is really there to protect the finished product, and allow it to be transported safely, and without damage, to its final destination. Examples Pallets, Locator Boards, Stretch & Shrink Film.

Packaging Materials Functions There are two main functions of packaging, these are:

Technical Functions Marketing Functions a) Technical Functions

Containment • Holds contents without leakage Protection • Product does not hurt the consumer Preservation • Product will keep for the period described as the shelf life of the product which be up to the best before date and is not responsible for imparting flavours Measurement • Holds the legally declared quantity

Storage • Will travel and store successfully

b) Marketing Functions

Communication • Product name and anything else about the product Display • Looks good on the shelf. Neat, tidy and well packaged Information • Contents, ABV, Best Before, Batch Number and any other relevant information which will normally be a legal requirement Promotion • Packaging is often used to promote a product – a peelable label for example Selling • Final packaging will sell the product

Materials Specifications

The functions can be understood, but it is important that the materials that are purchased enable the final package to function as perceived. Poor specifications can be responsible for issues on the packaging line or in trade. These specifications also need to be controlled. One approach, to make control easier, is to divide the specification into three parts.

The first part is an overall policy statement. This would normally relate to a restriction in chemical treatment or the use of compounds which could affect the product. This would include the requirement for tests, should the supplier wish to use a different form of treatment; for example, the use of a different lacquer inside a beverage can. It may also include an environmentally based statement that requires a percentage of the supplied material to be recycled. This of course needs to be done with great sensitivity, as some materials will have a significantly reduced performance if there is a recycled content.

The second part will cover all components that come under a common heading, such as bottles, cans, trays, cartons, film etc. This will include the general description, technical requirements, quality and environment specific to the component.

Finally, the third part will be specific to the actual component, giving dimensions, type of material, barcodes, artwork and so on. This is agreed with the supplier and with other parties, such as marketing, sales and manufacturing. As and when components are added or changed there is a minimum quantity of documentation involved – whether it is computer based or in a file. Each component is given a code –either alphanumeric or numeric.

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 1 GCP (KEG): Section 4 (KEG): Kegs and packaging materials Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Beer Packaging (GCP) Section 4 KEG Specialist Section – Kegs and Packaging Materials.

4.1 KEG: Keg Design • Stainless steel or lacquered aluminium alloy • Designed for ease of handling • 10 litres to 36 gallons ( 163 litres ) • Steel is stronger but heavier • Recovery value of aluminium higher • Withstand pressure of filling • Must be fitted with tamper evident spear • Dimensions must allow over measure to ensure adherence to packers rules • Damaged kegs do not run well on conveyors or seat properly at filling - must inspect

Shape.

Affect on beer quality.

Durability.

Dimensions.

Special features.

The following summarises the important features of design of stainless steel and aluminium kegs:

Material Stainless steel. Shape Beer kegs are round. Circular shapes have the strength to withstand the internal pressures generated during filling and dispense. Round kegs can be rolled for transport. Affect on beer quality Stainless steel is an inert metal and is used to construct most brewing plant. Good quality stainless steel will not effect beer flavour. A polished internal surface is easy to clean and the steel will not be affected by caustic detergents. Resistance to wear The steel used in construction is very strong making the kegs are very & tear robust although they will be dented when dropped. Damaged kegs do not handle well on automatic filling plant. Steel kegs are more robust than aluminium kegs. Dimensions The keg’s volume is important because, although beer is metered in during filling, the keg must be large enough to take the specified volume while leaving a minimum amount of extra space. The profile of the top of spear is important because it is required to be located on the filler head during filling and onto the dispense unit for serving. Special features Kegs have an internal spear (downtube) for filling and emptying. The spear must be locked in place and tamper proof for safety reasons. Even a low pressure in the keg can drive a faulty spear out at dangerous velocities. Steel kegs are heavier than aluminium kegs but are cheaper.

Material Aluminium. Shape Beer kegs are round. Circular shapes have the strength to withstand the internal pressures generated during filling and dispense. Round kegs can be rolled for transport. Affect on beer quality Some of the aluminium would dissolve in the beer and beer kegs are ‘anodised’ (oxidised) to give an inert surface and some have an internal lacquer to protect the beer and the consumer. The internal surface is easy to clean although aluminium is seriously damaged by caustic detergents. Resistance to wear The aluminium used in construction is quite thick making the kegs are & tear very robust although they will be damaged when dropped. Damaged kegs do not handle well on automatic filling plant. Aluminium kegs are not as robust as steel kegs. Dimensions The keg’s volume is important because, although beer is metered in during filling, the keg must be large enough to take the specified volume while leaving a minimum amount of extra space. The profile of the top of spear is important because it is required to be located on the filler head during filling and onto the dispense unit for serving. Special features Kegs have an internal spear (downtube) for filling and emptying. The spear must be locked in place and tamper proof for safety reasons. Even a low pressure in the keg can drive a faulty spear out at dangerous velocities. Aluminium has a high scrap value causing high losses due to theft. Aluminium kegs can be lighter than steel kegs but are more expensive.

Metric countries use kegs of 25, 30 or 50 litre, available in two general dimension styles. One is the so called DIN-keg, defining a 50 litre keg with a maximum diameter of 400 mm and height 600 mm, these fit ideally on pallets of 1200 x 800 mm size. The other is the so called Euro-keg, a keg which has a maximum diameter of 410 mm and a height of 540 mm for 50 litre. Both styles of keg are used all over the world. Keg sizes vary, depending on local market conditions and for health and safety reasons. Japan, traditionally handles the smallest kegs, their production is in kegs of 5 to 25 litres. In the US the major sizes are the 56 litre (US half barrel or 15.5 US gallon), US quarter barrel & a smaller keg containing just less than 20 litres used for promoting additional brands. In some states keg sizes are prescribed. Continental Europe and Eastern Europe are working on 30 and 50 litre. The exception to this is Austria who use 25 and 50 litre and Switzerland with 20 litre containers. In the UK, keg sizes are standard up to 100 litres (22 gallons) plus a few brewers who still use 36 gallon kegs.

Manual handling considerations has led to a trend in keg size reduction. Even Ireland, with the highest percentage of keg beer (above 75% of the total output), is using 50 litre maximum. Continental Europe has changed from the majority of 50 litre kegs ten years ago to 30 litre kegs now, with a further trend to reduction. The move down from 50 litre has yet to happen in the UK. It is important to take trends in keg sizes into account when sizing keg racking facilities. Keg line capacities need to increase with a reduction of keg volumes because the cleaning task is completely independent from keg size.

Method of Manufacture of Kegs

Early aluminium kegs and casks were manufactured from low pressure die castings which gave problems with brittleness and porosity resulting in poor lacquer. This has been superceded by fabrication from ductile wrought aluminium with the body produced using deep drawing techniques to produce two halves which were welded together. The optimum material gauge for aluminium is 3.6 mm. Aluminium castings are used for the top and bottom chimes.

Stainless kegs are produced from advanced deep drawing techniques using AISI 304 stainless steel (18:8) with an optimum material gauge of 1.5mm to produce the two halves. These are welded together using tungsten inert gas welding (TIG). The dimple gives increased strength. The chimes are fabricated from a special hardened form of AISI 304 stainless steel (18:8), typically 1.7 mm or 2.0 mm gauge thickness. The chimes are welded using metal inert gas welding (MIG). The neck is also welded using TIG welding techniques.

The keg is pressure tested to 90 psi (6.3 bar) which gives it a safe working pressure of 60 psi (4.1 bar). Routine hydraulic tests to rupture are carried out and no keg should fail below 1000 psi. Stainless containers were considerably heavier than aluminium equivalents. This situation has considerably improved with current materials and construction methods used. Stainless kegs now have a price advantage over aluminium. Aluminium is more prone to theft as it can be easily smelted. Also an aluminum keg needs an internal lining. Stainless steel containers do have a disadvantage, however, in that they are more difficult to refurbish.

Choice of Material

Refillable kegs are made of either aluminium or stainless steel. The material made to manufacture kegs was initially aluminium. Stainless steel is the current material mainly used. Stainless kegs can be sheathed in polyurethane to reduce noise. There is a risk with stainless steel containers that capacity can increase with time and use leading to overfilling if kegs are not meter filled. Many aluminium kegs were produced with a target capacity of 50.4 +/- 0.3 litres whereas the mainland European trend has been for a minimum headspace for stainless steel kegs of 0.3 litres. Kegs can become dented during distribution and aluminium kegs tend to shrink whereas stainless steel kegs grow. Many kegs are designed with a predetermined bursting area in the base in the event of excessive pressure. The reasons for failure at high and low temperatures are different though both result in the build up of high pressures within the keg. At low temperatures there is the risk of the product freezing. At the other end of the scale, temperatures of 40 oC or even 60 oC have been recorded under tarpaulins. Stainless steel kegs are cheaper and have a higher resistance to puncture, but are heavier than aluminium. It is currently estimated that the industry loses between 10 and 15 million pounds' worth of containers per year through loss or theft.

The drawing below shows a section through a keg, showing the overall design, with the neck (“Barnes neck”) designed to accommodate the “spear” or extractor tube. Stainless kegs are produced from advanced deep drawing techniques using AISI 304 stainless steel (18:8) with an optimum material gauge of 1.5mm to produce the two halves. These are welded together using tungsten inert gas welding (TIG). The dimple gives increased strength. The chimes (or rolling rings) around the circumference are fabricated from a special hardened form of AISI 304 stainless steel , typically 1.7 mm or 2.0 mm gauge thickness. The chimes are welded using metal inert gas welding (MIG).

The neck is also welded using TIG welding techniques. The figures below show threaded and thread-less security and safety necks.

Spears

Each keg has a spear, which has four basic parts:

Head or body which screws into the neck of the container Stem Valve sealing ring Spring to keep the sealing ring seated.

Generally, four design types of spears exist:

Well type spears, flat top spears, combi spears as a combination of both (mainly used in the soft drink industry), and the UEC-type spear.

There are local variations of the designs.

Spears are manufactured nowadays exclusively in stainless steel. Their performance is improved by two measures:

1. The ring valve orifice is enlarged since this so-called CO 2 valve is used for filling purpose. 2. The pressure drop (flow resistance) of both the centre and the ring valve is reduced.

Both measures allow higher throughputs on washing and filling systems compared to previous solutions.

Spears are traditionally screwed into the Barnes neck of the keg body using either a 7 tpi (threads per inch (1 inch=2.54 cm)) or 14 tpi threads. There are unthreaded threadless security and safety spears, which are held in with special clipping arrangements. All spears, which are used these days, should be of a design, which requires the use of a tool to remove the spear from the keg neck. The design criteria for safety extractor tubes is that:

Removal of the extractor tube authorised or unauthorised is not possible while the keg is pressurised i.e. automatic degassing is a pre-requisite. No part of the extractor tube assembly can eject even when abused.

Considerable development has taken place with spears to try and make tampering more difficult, whilst simultaneously providing evidence of tampering. The latest tamper evident seals have a plastic collar, which is broken, if spear removal is attempted. It is vital that spears are not tampered with, as a considerable safety hazard is presented.

4.3 KEG: Packaging Materials

Key features of Keg packaging materials include:

• Cap • protect spear, brand, tamper evident or tamper proof

• Label • remove all old ones • brand, best before date, batch code and sequential number and time.

• Palletising

• Either wooden pallets or plastic locator boards.

• Stretch wrap film to reduce dirt pickup.

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 1 GCP (NRB): Section 4 (NRB): Non-returnable bottles and packaging materials Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Beer Packaging (GCP) Section 4 NRB Specialist Section – Non-returnable Bottles (NRB) and Packaging Materials.

4.1 NRB: Bottle Design • Shape gives strength • Many sizes 180ml to 680ml • Logoised • Clear and green glass allows UV light to spoil beer • Broken glass is hazardous especially neck slivers from poorly moulded bottles • Exact dimensions are vital as bottles are filled to a level • Bottles must accept a crown cork

• Other dimensions limited by size of washer pockets, star wheels etc

• Returnable bottles are heavier and more expensive

The following summarises the important features of design of Non-returnable glass bottles :

Material Glass Shape Beer bottles are round. Circular shapes have the strength to withstand the internal pressures generated during filling and pasteurising. Affect on Virtually nil; glass is very smooth and easy to clean, it is also beer quality insoluble and cannot taint the beer. Glass is translucent and clear or green bottles allow UV light to cause ‘lightstruck’ flavours in the beer. Amber (brown) glass protects beer almost totally against “light-striking” flavour effects. Resistance to Depends on the thickness of the bottle. Returnable bottles are wear & tear heavier than non-returnable. There is a tendency to move to a lighter weight of bottle to reduce costs.

Dimensions The bottle’s volume is important because, with machines filling to a level, the beer volume depends on the precision of the bottle’s dimensions. The profile of the top of the bottle is important because it is required to seal on the filler head and onto the crown. Special Particles of broken glass are very difficult to detect in a bottle features and procedures like rinsing, inspection and separation in case of burst bottles need to be in place to protect the consumer.

The Glass Bottle

It is useful to know the different parts of the bottle and these are given below:

Sealing

Surface Mouth or Bore

Locking Ring Finish

Neck

Reinforcing Ring Neck Label Shoulder Mould Seam

Body Label

Back Label

Foot Label Panel Label

Heel or Insweep Base (Push up) Stippling

Glass is an inorganic substance fused at high temperature and cooled so that it solidifies in a vitreous or non-crystalline condition.

All commercial glass is based on ‘silica’ which is the principal component of sand. Common beach sand is unsuitable for making commercial glass since it contains impurities and varies widely in composition. However, there are large deposits of high purity silica sands available in many parts of the world. Glass bottle manufacturing today is a very capital intensive process – a typical furnace costing £25M with an expected life of 10-15 yrs. It has a high energy usage – with a melting temperature of around 1500°C and a continuous operation for 365 days per year.

4.2 NRB: Glass Materials

Sand (Silica) is mixed with other materials in order to lower the temperature and allow glass to melt, mix well and release any trapped air. A typical mix or ‘batch’ is:

Silica 70% Soda Ash 15% Limestone 9% Refining Agents } Colourants } 6% De-colourisers }

Cullet (broken glass) is normally added at the rate 30-75% and this reduces the temperature required for the melt to below 1500oC, saving up to 10% of the energy consumed.

The raw materials are weighed in batches and mixed. The resultant mix is then added continuously in order to maintain a consistent level of 1.5 to 2 metres in the furnace. A furnace is dedicated to one colour, which is usually:

White flint (clear) Amber, for UV sensitive products or for decoration Green, for decoration

In order to achieve a colour, colorants are added to the batch. Also if there is colour present when a clear flint bottle is requires, decolourisers are added. Iron in sand, for instance, will give a greenish tint which is due to the iron content of the sand.

Amber - iron, sulphur, carbon Green - chromium oxides Blue - cobalt oxides

Selenium (red) and cobalt (blue) oxides are used as decolourisers

Glass Melting

Most furnaces today use natural gas, and the fire from one side of the furnace. The hot air is exhausted at the other side into a regenerator. The heat generated melts the batch as it travels through the furnace. A temperature of up to 1500 oC is generated, over the surface of the batch, which melts as it floats through the furnace on the surface of the molten glass.

The process is carefully controlled – the mix and temperatures must be consistent in order to ensure a good product. Any change will give rise to problems when the bottle is being produced.

The molten glass now exits the furnace and shears cut the stream to create what is called the ‘gob’. The amount of glass in the gob is dependent on the temperature and composition of the glass, the size of the orifice, the length of stroke of the plunger and the timing of the shears. The gob then passes down a trough into the forming machine, which houses the bottle moulds The consistency of the glass is similar to thick syrup.

Principles of Bottle Making

There are three main processes for the production of glass containers:

1. Blow and Blow 2. Press and Blow 3. NNPB (Narrow Neck Press and Blow)

Bottle Forming

Bottle forming is essentially a two stage process. The blank side receives the ‘gob’ and makes the ‘blank’ or ‘parison’. This partly formed bottle is then transferred to the mould side and the parison is blow into the final shape.

There are essentially three different processes.

Blow and Blow Process

Beverage bottles up till the late 1970s were all made by this process. The gob is dropped into the blank mould, then two puffs of compressed air are successively applied to each end of the blank. The parison is then transferred into the final mould and is blown to shape

It should be noted that while the parison is formed in the final stage, the air bubble may not form a perfect uniform internal shape, giving wall thickness variability.

Press and Blow Process

With this process the parison is not made by blowing but by being pressed into an exact shape by a plunger; this makes the process especially suitable for glass jars.

Narrow Neck Press and Blow Process (NNPB)

This modern process allows bottles which would normally been made using the blow and blow method, to be light-weighted by 10 to 20%, due to a consistent wall thickness. This process is usually restricted to light weight NRB and is not usually available for Returnable bottles. A high degree of precision is required with this technology and it is normal for manufacturers only to be interested in using this process when there is a large volume to be produced. Also the tooling cost is higher.

Surface treatment and annealing of bottles is necessary in order to give them inner and surface strength, and sufficient ‘slip’ so that they run well down a packaging line.

Annealing

When a bottle leaves the forming machine its outer surface is hard having cooled to 300 oC; however, the inner part is still hot and soft. If cooling was to continue naturally, the inner parts would contract more than the outer cooler surface and dangerous stresses would develop. If a bottle is left to cool without annealing, it is so weak that if you give a tap with something metallic, it will implode! Annealing is therefore necessary and involves heating the bottle to 550 oC and then slowly cooling it down in a tunnel called the Lehr.

Hot End Treatment This treatment is to protect the surface from abrasion. The layer consists of a metal oxide, usually tin. Titanium and zirconium can also be used. Tin is applied as a stannic chloride vapour and decomposes to the oxide during heating. If there is too much coating in the finish area of the bottle it can be blamed for promoting the rusting of crowns. This protective layer will gradually be dissolved over time making the bottle much more vulnerable to scuffing.

Cold End Treatment This is carried out as the bottles emerge from the annealing layer. Bottles are still at a temperature of approx. 100 oC. Cold end treatments are soluble coatings (including polyethylene glycols and their esters) and are applied by spray heads that traverse backward and forward between the rows of bottles. These coatings allow the bottles to “slip” against each other and conveyors and act as lubricants.

Bottle Faults and Testing

Glass manufacturers adhere to an international standard which is why bottles in all countries have the same size of neck finish. The most common being the 28mm.

All manufacturers carry out intensive automatic on-line and many off-line checks to ensure quality standards are maintained, so that packaging companies do not have to carry out quality checks on receipt.

Manufacture of Crowns

Types of Crown (Shell)

Stainless Steel (SS) Electrolytic Tin Plate Tin Free Steel (TFS) which is electro-chrome coated steel

TFS is the most common. However tin plate gives more corrosion protection and maybe favoured when packs are shrink wrapped. It has a much shinier appearance and is more susceptible to scratching. SS is best for corrosion protection but is very expensive.

If corrosion is to be avoided, bottles must be effectively dried under the crown skirt. This should be carried out with air jets before the labeller, at the correct angle, carrying high volume air at low pressure. Taking high pressure air off the ring main not an option; a stand alone air compressor is that the most satisfactory solution. crown from rusting. Also a corrosion inhibitor in the pasteurizer will assist in preventing the

Originally a crown cork had a cork insert as a seal. This was not leak proof so an aluminium spot was used to cover the cork and act as a liner and seal. This was known as the aluspot crown. With the development of plastics the aluspot crown was replaced by a liquid PVC plastisol. These crowns have foamed liners which is forgiving when applied to returnable bottles which could have a slightly damaged sealing area. However when bottles are stacked on pallets without crate protection, the weight on the crown will flatten the plastic and could result in bottles on the lower pallets leaking.

The most commonly used crown liners today are PVC and PVC-Free Dry- blends. They are suitable for good pressure retention before and after pasteurization, stacking, oxygen barrier and scavenging with soft and hard polymers. A double lip design is used.

The above crowns are used on bottles with a standard finish. However, a twist off crown needs to be profiled to fit the bottle finish. The same crowner can be used but the crown tolerances need to be better managed within the standard tolerance of 28.7mm+/-0.3mm.

The following defines Primary , Secondary and Tertiary packaging

Primary The product cannot be sold without these materials. They contain the product and meet legislation e.g. bottle, crown and label or can and can end with product and best before information Examples Bottles (Glass, Aluminium & PET), Crowns (Tin Free Steel, Tinned or Stainless Steel), Roll on Closures (ROC), Labels or Sleeves (Paper, OPP - Oriented Polypropylene, PVC - Polyvinyl Chloride).

Secondary This effectively is the material that collates the primary package in some form i.e. a second layer of packaging. This turns the primary package into a saleable or marketable unit Examples Board (Carton, Tray, Layer Board, Kraft & Corrugated, Sleeve Wrap & Multi-packs (Board & Film), FEC (Board & Film), Crates.

Packaging Materials Functions

There are two main functions of packaging, these are:

Technical Functions Marketing Functions a) Technical Functions

Measurement • Holds the legally declared quantity Storage • Will travel and store successfully

b) Marketing Functions

Materials Specifications

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 1 GCP (RB): Section 4 (RB): Returnable bottles and packaging materials Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Beer Packaging (GCP) Section 4 RB Specialist Section – Returnable Bottles (RB) and Packaging Materials.

4.1 RB: Bottle Design • Shape gives strength • Many sizes 180ml to 680ml • Logoised • Clear and green glass allows UV light to spoil beer • Broken glass is hazardous especially neck slivers from poorly moulded bottles • Exact dimensions are vital as bottles are filled to a level • Bottles must accept a crown cork

• Other dimensions limited by size of washer pockets, star wheels etc

• Returnable bottles are heavier and more expensive

The following summarises the important features of design of Non-returnable glass bottles :

The Glass Bottle

It is useful to know the different parts of the bottle and these are given below:

Sealing

Surface Mouth or Bore

Locking Ring Finish

Neck

Reinforcing Ring Neck Label Shoulder Mould Seam

Body Label

Back Label

Foot Label Panel Label

Heel or Insweep Base (Push up) Stippling

Glass is an inorganic substance fused at high temperature and cooled so that it solidifies in a vitreous or non-crystalline condition.

4.2 RB: Glass Materials

Sand (Silica) is mixed with other materials in order to lower the temperature and allow glass to melt, mix well and release any trapped air. A typical mix or ‘batch’ is:

Silica 70% Soda Ash 15% Limestone 9% Refining Agents } Colourants } 6% De-colourisers }

Cullet (broken glass) is normally added at the rate 30-75% and this reduces the temperature required for the melt to below 1500oC, saving up to 10% of the energy consumed.

White flint (clear) Amber, for UV sensitive products or for decoration Green, for decoration

Amber - iron, sulphur, carbon Green - chromium oxides Blue - cobalt oxides

Selenium (red) and cobalt (blue) oxides are used as decolourisers

Glass Melting

The process is carefully controlled – the mix and temperatures must be consistent in order to ensure a good product. Any change will give rise to problems when the bottle is being produced.

Principles of Bottle Making

There are three main processes for the production of glass containers:

1. Blow and Blow 2. Press and Blow 3. NNPB (Narrow Neck Press and Blow)

Bottle Forming

There are essentially three different processes.

Blow and Blow Process

It should be noted that while the parison is formed in the final stage, the air bubble may not form a perfect uniform internal shape, giving wall thickness variability.

Press and Blow Process

With this process the parison is not made by blowing but by being pressed into an exact shape by a plunger; this makes the process especially suitable for glass jars.

Narrow Neck Press and Blow Process (NNPB)

Surface treatment and annealing of bottles is necessary in order to give them inner and surface strength, and sufficient ‘slip’ so that they run well down a packaging line.

Annealing

Bottle Faults and Testing

Glass manufacturers adhere to an international standard which is why bottles in all countries have the same size of neck finish. The most common being the 28mm.

Manufacture of Crowns

Types of Crown (Shell)

Stainless Steel (SS) Electrolytic Tin Plate Tin Free Steel (TFS) which is electro-chrome coated steel

TFS is the most common. However tin plate gives more corrosion protection and maybe favoured when packs are shrinkwrapped. It has a much shinier appearance and is more susceptible to scratching. SS is best for corrosion protection but is very expensive.

The most commonly used crown liners today are PVC and PVC-Free Dry- blends. They are suitable for good pressure retention before and after pasteurisation, stacking, oxygen barrier and scavenging with soft and hard polymers. A double lip design is used.

The following defines Primary , Secondary and Tertiary packaging

Secondary This effectively is the material that collates the primary package in some form i.e. a second layer of packaging. This turns the primary package into a saleable or marketable unit Examples Returnable bottles are packed principally in plastic Crates or rigid cardboard Cartons, which carry the Company name of Logo and be branded

Packaging Materials Functions

There are two main functions of packaging, these are:

Technical Functions Marketing Functions a) Technical Functions

Measurement • Holds the legally declared quantity Storage • Will travel and store successfully

b) Marketing Functions

Materials Specifications

Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Beer Packaging (GCP) Section 5 CAN Specialist Section – The Canning Line.

5. CAN: A General Overview of Packaging Plant

The design of the line will depend on the type of package and how it is assembled, on the required rate or capacity of the line and on the type of beer to be packaged.

The packaging line described below refers to:-

A canning line where new cans are presented to the line on pallets and the output is packed in trays and assembled on pallets.

5.1CAN Principal Plant Items

A flow diagram of an idealised Canning line is presented below:

Principal Plant Items

De-palletiser.

Purpose Features Notes To remove new cans Mechanical operation using Empty cans are very fragile. from pallets and to pneumatic/hydraulic rams Numerous moving parts and heavy present them to a and electric motors. loading means that this machine needs conveyor for Sensing of positions by maintenance and attention. transport the line. microswitches and light Work on the machine is dangerous and To remove the layer beams safety interlocks/safe systems of work are pads. required.

Can Rinser.

Purpose Features Notes To remove and particles An ‘S’ shaped belt or a The incoming cans have been received and dust from inside the twist in the conveyor from the manufacturer but may have new cans. where the cans are been stored in a dusty warehouse, inverted and subjected to uncovered. a jet of clean air followed Rinse water from the jetter should be by a jet of clean water. checked for debris.

Empty Can Inspection.

Purpose Features Notes To check that the empty Inspection is either Empty can inspection is not in cans from the rinser “manually” by eye or widespread use. meet the requirements electronically. of:- Electronic can inspectors • Clean inside & out. scan into the can • Contain no foreign vertically and reject cans objects that give an “abnormal • Are undamaged picture”.

Can filler.

Purpose Features Notes To transfer beer into the can Filling machines consist of a A detailed achieving the following parameters:- rotating drum which houses a description of how • Filling to the specified volume of number of filling heads. The cans the can filler works beer. are filled as they travel around the is given below. • Protecting the quality of the beer by drum. avoiding air pickup and avoiding There are several stations on the fobbing. filler that are designed to ensure • Filling at the specified rate. that the cans are filled meeting the specified parameters.

Seamer.

Purpose Features Notes To seal the can so that:- The seamer consists of a The seamer is • Beer cannot leak out. magazine that presents the can positioned close to the • Air cannot get in. Inert gas (carbon ends to the head and a head filler so that air does dioxide or nitrogen) is used as that seams the end onto the not enter the space “under-cover” gas (injected under top of the can by folding the above the beer. the can end) to eliminate the risk of edge of the can end twice oxygen pickup during seaming. around the edge of the can • The can is tamper proof. body and closing it tight. • The can is opened easily when required for consumption.

Pasteurizer.

Purpose Features Notes To produce a microbiologically stable For details of pasteurization beer. techniques see Section 3.

Full can inspection.

Purpose Features Notes To check that the Inspection is The need for the canner to demonstrate due full cans from the electronically. diligence in meeting the requirements of both the filler/seamer meet Electronic can national Taxation (Excise)* authority or Trading the requirements inspectors throw a Standards* means that inspection is essential. of:- beam of radiation Often a coarse inspection will take place after filling • Filled with the through the can at the and a more accurate one after pasteurization. right volume of beer level. Inspection is backed up with accurate volume beer. Other methods are by measurement for individual packages. In the case of • Are bouncing sound off cans this means emptying the contents into a undamaged. the top of the can to measuring cylinder. sense its pressure or Records of inspection are kept for the relevant by measuring authorities. distortion in the can Details of correct filling procedures are given in the base. appropriate codes of practice. Incorrectly filled cans are rejected.

* Or other national legislative and regulatory bodies.

Hi-cone.

Purpose Features Notes To clip cans Mechanical operation where a Numerous moving parts means that this together (in fours roll of hi-cone plastic is fed machine needs maintenance and or sixes) for ease over the top of two rows of attention. of customer cans. Forks open up the holes Work on the machine is dangerous and handling and to and clip these over the cans. safety interlocks/safe systems of work are present them to a required. conveyor.

Multipacker.

Purpose Features Notes A ‘multipack’ is a single Mechanical operation Numerous moving parts means that this pack containing a group using pneumatic or machine needs maintenance and attention. of cans that the mechanical grips for The machine is set up for one size of can customer buys as a unit forming the multi- and muliti-pack at a time.. packs around the Work on the machine is dangerous and cans. safety interlocks/safe systems of work are required.

Carton/ Tray packer.

Purpose Features Notes To put full cans into Mechanical operation Numerous moving parts means that this cartons or trays (plus using pneumatic or machine needs maintenance and attention. shrink-wrap), either mechanical grips for The machine is set up for one size of can loose (Loose pack) or lifting the cans onto and tray. as hi-cone clusters, or to the trays or cartons or Work on the machine is dangerous and arrange multi-packs for forming the safety interlocks/safe systems of work are shrink-wrapping, and to trays/cartons around required. present all pack formats the cans. them to a conveyor. Mechanism for folding the trays/ cartons. Mechanism for shrink- wrapping.

Shrink film.

Purpose Features Notes To cover/surround packs in Mechanical operation Numerous moving parts means plastic film to give added where a film is draped over that this machine needs protection and to present the pack which is then maintenance and attention. them to a conveyor for passed through a heated Work on the machine is dangerous transport to the palletiser. tunnel where the film and safety interlocks/safe systems shrinks tight over the pack. of work are required.

Palletiser.

Purpose Features Notes To stack full packs Mechanical operation using Numerous moving parts and heavy onto pallets so that pneumatic/hydraulic rams loading means that this machine needs they are stable and and electric motors. maintenance and attention. to present them to a Sensing of positions by Work on the machine is dangerous and conveyor for microswitches and light safety interlocks/safe systems of work are transport the beams. required. warehouse. Pallets may be stretch wrapped for extra stability.

Conveyors.

Purpose Features Notes To transport cans along Conveyors consist of Metal conveyors need lubrication to reduce the line. a chain of slats driven friction although cardboard must be kept The simplest conveyors by an electric motor. dry. run along straight lines, The slats may be Conveyor speed can be automatically conveyors can be made of metal controlled to meet the requirements of the designed to run around (stainless steel) or of a line. For example during a stoppage, the shallow corners. plastic material. conveyor system can slow down or stop. Conveying systems are designed with automated speed control and line sensing to provide dynamic accumulation between all the principal line machines Conveyors are designed to prevent cans from falling over.

Pallet inspection.

Purpose Features Notes To check that the pallets from the de- Inspection is Pallets receive hard wear and palletiser meet the requirements of :- usually ‘manually’ are often damaged. • Fit for purpose. by eye. Stacking on damaged pallets is • Are undamaged. hazardous.

Safety.

There are some hazards associated with canning, these are itemised below along with the normal procedures used to reduce or eliminate them:-

Hazard Safety procedure Noise. • Plant designed to reduce noise. • Building design to adsorb noise. • Use of ear protectors. Hazardous gases. • Staff awareness of hazards. Slips trips and falls. • Use of non slip materials for floors and steps etc. • Regular cleaning of floors. • Limited use of hoses. Machinery accidents. • Permit to work procedures for maintenance. • Guarding of machinery.

In can nitrogen systems.

Beer foam is enhanced and its stability improved when nitrogen gas forms the bubbles instead of carbon dioxide (see module 6.3). Canned beer is a popular product in which to use nitrogen, an added benefit being that the can’s internal pressure, necessary for its strength, can be achieved with lower levels of carbon dioxide. The procedure is in two stages:- • An ‘insert’ (widget) is put into the can before filling that will encourage the nitrogen gas to come out of solution by disturbing the beer when the can is opened. • The beer is dosed with a small volume of nitrogen immediately before the can is seamed.

When the can is opened, nitrogen is released from the insert and the beer. This disturbance encourages more nitrogen to come out of solution and form a creamy head.

There are many types of insert most with a patent, some are designed to rupture when the can is opened releasing a stream of gas into the beer causing the necessary disturbance.

For ‘smooth’ beers, a drop of liquid nitrogen is injected into the can just before the seamer.

Problems associated with ‘in can’ systems can be summarised as:- • Removal of air from the can which contains an insert before filling. • Putting the insert into the empty can. This slows down the operation of the line. • High pressures are generated in the can, especially during pasteurization. • Insert performance may be variable. • The presence of nitrogen softens the flavour of the beer.

5.2 CAN: Can Filling Systems

Filling Principles for Beer into Cans

There are a number of types of filler on the market. However, one principle always applies, and that is beer (like other carbonated beverages) must be filled under pressure in order to keep the gas (carbon dioxide and sometimes nitrogen) in solution. Fillers employing this principle are called barometric or more commonly, counter-pressure fillers. For beer, filling is more difficult than for other carbonated beverages because of two unique qualities: 1. Head retention 2. The damaging effect of oxygen

For beer filling it is necessary to remove oxygen from the container before filling. This is done by pre-evacuating a glass bottle or CO 2 flushing a can (or PET bottle) before filling.

Flushing with CO 2, as is the case for cans, will generally give a result above 90% CO 2 purity, but it will be lower than that achieved with the pre-evacuation of glass bottles.

Fillers can be mechanical or electro-pneumatic . In the mechanical versions, the filling cycle is operated by trips and cams which are located at set points around the circumference of the filler. The trips turn the levers on the filling heads, and the cams operate the vacuum and snift valves. So, in order for the filling cycle to complete, the filler must continuously rotate. The fill level is controlled by the length of vent tube (short tube) which returns the gas to the filler bowl. When the beer covers the end of the tube it prevents the return of gas and therefore stops the filling operation.

With the electro-pneumatic version, the filling cycle is programmed for each filling head. The filling cycle does not, therefore, depend on the rotation of the filler for the cycle to operate. This is an advantage when the filler stops with containers on it, as the filling cycle will continue to beer shut off. On the mechanical filler, the beer valve can be open and one is dependent on a perfect seal between the valve and container to prevent over-fill. The fill level is sensed by a probe and this shuts off the supply of beer.

Fillers can also be volumetric . With these fillers the volume beer can be metered via a magnetic flow (magflo) meter or alternatively each head is fitted with a cylinder of a given volume. The volume released by the cylinder is programmed via a float or conductivity probe. A filler designed for volumetric filling does not need a ring bowl for beer, but may well be fed from a constant pressure tank as controlled conditions are required for an accurate and smooth operation.

Can Filler Features.

Purpose Features Notes To transfer beer into the can Filling machines consist of a A detailed achieving the following parameters:- rotating drum which houses a description of how • Filling to the specified volume of number of filling heads. The cans the can filler works beer. are filled as they travel around the is given below. • Protecting the quality of the beer drum. by avoiding air pickup and There are several stations on the avoiding fobbing. filler that are designed to ensure • Filling at the specified rate. that the cans are filled meeting the specified parameters.

The Filling Cycle for Counter-pressure Can Fillers

For cans, the filling cycle starts with air being flushed out with CO 2 ( vacuum would crush the cans). The container is then pressurised until the pressure is equal to the pressure in the filler bowl; on equalisation, the valve will open allowing the beer to flow down the inner side of the can. As soon as the beer reaches the tip of the vent valve the return gas passage will be blocked so allowing an immediate pressure build up in the can which will, in turn, stop the beer flowing.

Plan view of Can Filler

3. Filling

2. CO2 Charge 4. Full

5. Snift 1. CO2 Flush

Full cans to the Seamer Empty cans in

Cans are fed onto the filler by a crown wheel which picks them up from the conveyor, separates them and spaces them so that they fit onto the can lifts which raise them up to seal on the filling head. Beer is supplied from the Bright Beer Tank. The temperature of the beer for packaging must be low (less than 3 °C) to keep dissolved gasses in solution. It may be necessary to install a trim chiller in the line.

The canning machine or can filler has a circular beer tank whose level is automatically controlled by supplying beer at the same rate as filling cans and venting off to control top pressure. Beer Supply to the Canning Machine

Vent CO2

Bright Canning Machine beer Level tank Control

Beer Supply Pump

Canning machine operation:-

1. CO 2 Flush. The rinsed cans are full of air as they leave the rinser, the purpose of the CO 2 flush stage is to remove as much of that air as possible.

Gas CO 2

Beer

1. CO 2 Flush

Can lift

Inert gas (CO 2 ) is allowed to pass from the space above the beer in the filler reservoir into the can and out to atmosphere. This flushes the air out of the can.

2. CO 2 Charge.

The can is then counter pressured with CO 2 , possibly from the gas space above the beer in the filling machine’s beer reservoir as shown in the diagram or from a separate source.

The purposes of counter pressurising the bottle before filling are:- • To prevent the beer from fobbing during filling. A constant top pressure will keep dissolved gasses (CO 2) in solution.

• To provide an inert gas atmosphere in the can and avoid oxygen pickup.

Gas CO 2

Beer

2. CO 2 Charge

Can lift

When the pressure in the can equals the top pressure above the beer, the beer will fill the can gently by gravity alone.

3. Filling.

Can filling has to achieve the following objectives:- • The correct volume of beer in the can. This is achieved by either controlling the level that the can is filled to as shown in the diagram or by filling the can from a volume controlled filling chamber. • To protect the quality of the beer by preventing gas release through fobbing and preventing oxygen pickup. This is achieved by counter pressuring and by filling as gently as possible so as not to disturb the beer. A gentle fill is achieved by running the beer down the inside walls of the can as shown in the diagram.

Gas CO 2

Beer

3. Fill

Can lift

The beer valve opens to let the beer in while the gas in the can is released into the headspace above the beer in the filling bowl. In most fillers, the beer valve opens against a spring when the pressure in the can equals the pressure above the beer. If a can bursts during filling, the pressure in the beer chamber closes the beer valve immediately.

4. Full.

The can is full when the beer level reaches the tube.

With this design of filler, tubes need to be changed for different fill heights; with a volumetric filling system, a tube change is not required.

Gas CO 2

Beer

4. Full

Can lift

5. Snift.

A controlled snift is introduced to release top pressure gently.

Gas CO 2

Beer

5. Snift

Can lift

The gas space above the beer in the can is pressurised and if this pressure is released too quickly when the can comes off the machine, the beer will fob.

As mentioned above, some canning machines fill the can with a measured volume of beer. These are called a volumetric filling machines. The filling principles are the same but a metering chamber is incorporated in the system:-

CO2 supply Beer level probe

Metering chamber

Beer supply valve

The full can is now ready for sealing, but as it leaves the filling machine, any air present in the can mouth must be expelled. Unlike bottle fillers and crowners, it has not proved possible to close-couple a filler with a can seamer. For cans therefore the air is expelled in two stages. Firstly, there is a bubble-breaker which literally bursts the bubbles lying on the surface of the beer in order to release any air that may be trapped. Secondly, while seaming is taking place, gas – normally CO 2 - is blown under the lid as seaming takes place. This is known as under-cover gassing .

Also, the conveyor that transports the cans to the seamer may run through a tunnel filled with inert gas (CO 2 or N 2) to prevent air pickup. The area above the beer in an open can is relatively large.

5.3 CAN: Can Seaming

Seamer.

Purpose Features Notes To seal the can so that:- The seamer consists of a The seamer is • Beer cannot leak out. magazine that presents the can positioned close to the • Air cannot get in. Inert gas ends to the head and a head filler so that air does (carbon dioxide or nitrogen) is that seams the end onto the not enter the space used as “under-cover” gas top of the can by folding the above the beer. (injected under the can end) to edge of the can end twice eliminate the risk of oxygen around the edge of the can pickup during seaming. body and closing it tight. • The can is tamper proof. • The can is opened easily when required for consumption.

The Can Seam

Seam

Can end

Sealing compound

Can body

The can ends are expensive and the trend is towards fitting a smaller end by designing the can’s neck to have a narrower diameter

209 206 202

Can seaming takes place in two stages to achieve the double seam as shown below:

The Double Seam

Four essential seam measurements • Correct tightness • Body hook • Correct body and end hook overlap

• No other distortions

Cut seams and measure every seamer head every shift

Seam Faults

Both these seams are likely to rupture with high can pressure during pasteurization

5.4 Sterile Filling

Summary

Many packaging operations use sterile filling procedures for bottles and cans to avoid the need for tunnel pasteurization. Sterile filling is a term used for filling when it is important to ensure that there is no pick up of infection during filling. This would apply when beer is filled after being flash pasteurized or sterile filtered.

Several modifications to standard filling procedures will be necessary to achieve the higher level of sanitised conditions required, but generally a modern standard filler can be used for this type of filling, especially if they are easy to clean. Usually a much more rigourous and disciplined cleaning regime is necessary to ensure good product stability.

In addition, the filler may be placed in a guarded area which is kept clean, so that the filler is enclosed in a microbe free environment. This could mean a separate room or a “shroud” over the filler, either of which is fitted with a sterile air filter and the air is changed frequently and kept at a slight positive pressure to ensure no ingress of dirty air.

The immediate working area around the filler (either the sterile room or shroud) should be regarded as a “sterile envelope” and is likely to have sterilant sprays fitted in order to drench the whole filler with sterilant (such as chlorine dioxide) after operators or engineers have had to approach the filler for whatever reason, so that the sterile integrity is not compromised.

Only operators and engineers equipped with appropriate protective clothing should be permitted to enter the “sterile envelope”.

Sterile Filling – Operating Details

Sterile filling is more achievable today as standard machines are designed to be hygienic and are much easier to clean. The main differences in approach on a line without an in-package (or tunnel) pasteurizer are:

The beer to be packaged must be sterile i.e. completely clear of all beer spoilage organisms The filler installation and layout must be hygienic The environment around the filler must be free of any organisms which could infect the beer The bottles and closures need to be sterile Cleaning and CIP regimes need to be totally disciplined The training of personnel in hygiene and methods of operation need to be carried out to ensure total understanding and commitment Micro back up from the laboratory is essential

Beer sterilization

The beer can be sterilized in two ways: Sterile filtration Plate (or Flash) Pasteurization

Each type has its benefits. Sterile filtration will produce beer that has no heat damage, and can be installed in-line to the filler making the operation much simpler. However, the process needs to be closely monitored and filters need to be well maintained. The method chosen today is usually plate pasteurization as it is easier and cheaper to manage; also there does not appear to be any detectable heat damage for the discerning beer taster! For comparison purposes, the capital cost for the installation of a sterile filter would be about 50% higher and running costs approximately 3 times greater. With a plate pasteurizer, however, a sterile buffer tank needs to be installed in order to balance the system. This is because a plate pasteurizer cannot give an instantaneous change in supply as the filler slows down, speeds up and stops! Another advantage is that with a plate pasteurizer bottles and cans can be packaged at a higher temperature (which can go up to 15 oC), depending on the gas content. This can be important with regard to keeping finished packs free of condensation. Also, for bottle labelling, the bottle needs to be condensate free (dry surface). Beer from a sterile filter will be around 4 oC when bottled, so a bottle warmer may be required to warm up the bottles before the labels are applied.

Filler Installation and Layout

Good design practices must be followed from the exit of the pasteurizer or sterile filter right up to the filler. This will include:

No CIP dead legs. Points where the solution will not pass when being circulated Valves or caps on T’s less than 1.5 pipe diameters away from the junction CIP flow rates designed to give high levels of turbulence (velocities > 2m/s ideally 2.5 m/s) Use of hygienic fittings and valves Make pipe runs as short as possible Do not create traps – all pipe work should be able to self-drain All gas in contact with the beer is sterile – filtering with a 0.25 micron filter should be sufficient, and as close to the point of use as possible. Simple cleaning facility (steam) and easy filter replacement must be considered

In the case of the Sterile Buffer Tank all fittings, including temperature and level probes, need to be flushed along with the internal surface of the vessel. The sample cock needs to be a membrane type. Ensure that the programmes for CIP, flushing, beer intake, changeovers and finish have been precisely specified to ensure no contamination.

The bottle rinser must be blocked with filler to ensure a short, synchronised transfer from the rinser to the filler. With a can filler this is not possible so extra care must taken in the transfer of the cans from the rinser to the filler.

Filler Environment

The environment around the filling area must be hygienically clean. There are two lines of thought on this:

1. Make sure that the packaging hall, and especially the area around the filler, are easy to clean, and can be seen as visibly clean – light coloured tiled floors and walls are best. The hall should be fed with filtered air. 2. As an extra precaution the filler is enclosed with a gap at the bottom to allow proper cleaning of the floor. The enclosure is fed with filtered air and a positive pressure is maintained inside the area.

The important thing is to not allow the enclosure to give a false sense of security. The internal area must be kept clean and the air filters properly maintained. Any breakages and beer must be quickly washed away with sterile water and the same strict cleaning regime kept in place.

Sterility of Bottles, Cans and Closures

Bottles can either be returnable or non-returnable. Returnable bottles will have been treated at a high temperature, and so long as they are shiny clean, they should be infection-free. However, all this good work can be spoilt if the final rinse water is contaminated. It is normal therefore to treat the water with a low level of chlorine 2 to 3ppm, to ensure sterility. Many brewers will not allow chlorine to be used due the danger of chlorophenol (like TCP) being formed in the beer should it come in contact with the residual chlorine. As a result chlorine dioxide at 0.25 to 0.5 ppm or PAA (Peracetic Acid) at 150 to 250 ppm is more commonly used. For new bottles the same applies – the water, as an extra precaution, could be passed through a 0.45 micron filter (or less), or be UV (Ultra Violet) treated. It is also possible to use steam rinsers or rinse bottles with sterile air. Steam would not be suitable for PET bottles. Chemical treatment with Chlorine Dioxide or PAA is advised as this treatment is residual. (Remains in contact with the surface). It is now a common approach to deliver a sterile bottle to the filler. It is also possible to purchase a sterile filler which actually steam sterilizes the bottle before filling, as part of the filling cycle. The downside is that the bottle breakage increases as the bottle is still hot when the cold beer meets the glass

Crowns or caps can be sprayed with 300ppm PAA (Peracetic Acid ) or be treated with UV. However, general advice is to keep them dry in a clean storage area. Dry crowns will not carry infection.

For Cans , the same principles apply for rinsing. However, cans are not breakable so can be steam sterilized. A filler can be purchased which sterilizes the can with steam as part of the filling cycle. Ends can be UV sterilized before seaming, however if they are kept dry UV treatment may not be necessary. Sprays, as used with crowns, are not easy to apply during end transfer.

Cleaning and CIP

There is no correct way – the important thing is that it is effective in preventing infection and this will be discovered through trials. For sterile filling, there will be a need for more cleaning time and this will affect the utilization of the line. With sterile filling, it is good practice to run the containers out of the filler every two hours, and then hose down the filler externally with water which has been treated with PAA or chlorine dioxide. This could take 5-10 minutes which is equivalent to a 4 to 8% loss of utilization. A full CIP, or internal cleaning; needs to happen at least twice a week when continuous running. It should also take place after stops, or at beer changes. The CIP will consist of a rinse, caustic wash, another rinse, and then finally a rinse with PAA or chlorine dioxide treated water. External foam cleaning needs to take place after CIP.

Training of Personnel

No person should be allowed near the filler without the proper training in hygiene and operation. It is important that an assessment of each individual is carried out after training, and that only certified people are allowed to operate or maintain the plant. A certain amount of classroom training in hygiene and operation must be given to the operators and engineers first. It is also important that proper, simple and straight forward work instructions with diagrams are prepared for the operation, so as there is no misunderstanding about what needs to be done. The implications of not carrying out instructions must be clearly understood.

Microbiological Back Up

So as to ensure that a sterile product is not going to be contaminated, it is important that all points of contact such as mains, valves, pumps and vessels are absolutely clean and infection free. A good discipline must be in place for sampling especially as there is a delay of 4 to 7 days before it is known whether a product sample is free of infection. Sampling regimes must also be traceable.

A summary of some good practices are:

An adequate sampling room which allows at least two samples from each batch to be kept for the given shelf life for the product. An extra one to two samples to be passed through a membrane filter and incubated anaerobically for 4-7 days and aerobically for 2-4 days.

Two samples to be taken for forcing tests and kept in warm storage (25- 30 oC) for a period of 4-6 weeks. Continuous samples are collected from the line feed to the filler every 2 hours from a continuous membrane sampler. Swabs are taken from plant after cleaning for bioluminescence testing to ensure cleanliness. Tests carried out on the water supply, water from the rinser, water from the tanks and filler after cleaning. Also checks on gas supplies used CO 2 (perhaps N 2) and crowns. Indeed anything that will come into contact with the beer.

Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Beer Packaging (GCP) Section 5 KEG Specialist Section – Kegging.

5. KEG: A general overview of Packaging Plant

A Packaging Line is designed to fill packages with beer and to present those packages to the warehouse or customer suitably assembled in the most efficient way while preserving the quality of the beer. The design of the line will depend on the type of package and how it is assembled, on the required rate or capacity of the line and on the type of beer to be packaged. The packaging line described below refers to:-

A keg filling line where empty kegs from the trade are presented to the line on pallets and the output is assembled on pallets.

5.1 KEG: Principal Plant Items

Keg Filling Line

De- Empty External Washer Full keg palletiser pack pack Washer Filler Inspectn. Inspectn.

PalletiserPalletiser

Principal plant items.

De-palletiser.

Purpose Features Notes To remove Mechanical operation Numerous moving parts and heavy loading means that empty kegs using this machine needs maintenance and attention. from pallets pneumatic/hydraulic Work on the machine is dangerous and safety and to rams and electric interlocks/safe systems of work are required. present them motors. Automatic de-palletisers are not always used, in some, to a conveyor Sensing of positions by manual handling is used; however manual handling for transport microswitches and regulations and the incidence of handling accidents to to the line. light beams staff mean that automation is becoming more usual.

Although depalletising can be done manually, it is more common to use a depalletiser.

Three types of multiple container handling aid are used: flat bed pallets, belly pallets and locator boards.

• If locator boards are used then a clamp truck is required to enable handling of the containers. • Conventional depalletisers either need to be able to clamp and lift the containers off the pallet from known locations or in the case of flat bed pallets a sweep arm can be used. • Robotics are being used for handling empty kegs, pallets and full kegs

Keg Turner

If a depalletiser is used then the kegs' orientation needs to be checked and possibly adjusted. This can be done by passing the keg under a flap with a horizontal axis, which detects the presence of the Barnes neck. The keg needs to be orientated with the spear and Barnes neck facing downwards. This is carried out by gripping the middle of the keg, lifting it off the conveyor and rotating it. Camera systems are also used and, apart from orientation, can check for cap still present, foreign keg, foreign spear, missing spear, bent chime, bent neck and excessive debris (as below).

Empty Keg Inspection.

Purpose Features Notes To check that the empty kegs Inspection is either ‘manually’ by The need for the meet the following eye or electronically. container racker to requirements:- Electronic keg inspectors scan the demonstrate due • Are clean on the outside. top of the keg and compare the diligence in protecting • Are empty. image to a reference pattern. the customer means • Are undamaged. Spear tightening, de-ullaging and that inspection is • The spear is intact. pressure checking can be essential. incorporated into the inspection system.

Camera Inspection

Camera systems are used to check for cap still present, foreign keg, foreign spear, missing spear, bent chime, bent neck, leakers and excessive debris. There is normally a reject station downstream of the camera unit

Spear Torque Check

Some keg lines are fitted with a checker for ensuring that the spears are torqued to the correct value. Unfortunately there is a tendency in the trade for attempts to be made to tamper with kegs, and therefore this is quite a useful way of checking that quality problems will not be experienced due to loose spears. The torque device should be set around 47.5 Nm (35 foot pounds). If the whole keg population consists of safety spears, then this type of device is not needed, although some method of detecting broken plastic collars would be useful.

Hydrocarbon and Pressure Tester

Unfortunately not only do people try to mechanically tamper with kegs in the trade but also occasionally kegs get filled with substances other than those put in by the brewery. On some occasions even residues of petroleum based products have been found in kegs. Obviously normal keg washing might not remove traces of these products, and therefore there is a real product contamination risk.

One way of trying to control this risk is to put a station in with a sensor for detecting the presence of these organics. This detector is based on optical resonance, and care is required in setting up, as traces of alcohol in residual beer will also risk detection. This station also tests the pressure in the keg returning to the brewery, and will only allow kegs on if there is more than 1/3 bar (5 psi) in the keg. If there is less than 1/3 bar (5 psi) then it is assumed that there is something wrong with this particular container and it is rejected. The advent of safety spears has dramatically reduced the number of rejects from this station. The hydrocarbon and pressure tester can therefore be used as an alternative to the automatic spear tightening. It is possibly preferential, because it gives the opportunity for the container to be inspected off-line.

External Keg Washer.

Purpose Features Notes To clean the The kegs are subjected The incoming kegs will have been returned from outside of the to jets of detergents at the trade and some will have been out for keg and to varying pressures then extended periods of time. These need special remove all label rinsed clean. treatment residues. Detergent choice is important, aluminium is corroded by caustic detergent.

External Keg Washing is carried out by passing the keg through a tunnel containing a series of high pressure sprays of up to 200 bar. • Pre-wetting can take place, and can include the use of ultrasonics. • The use of warm water at around 55 °C helps external washing, as does the use of detergents, though care must be taken not to corrode aluminium kegs. • There is a risk of Legionella, especially with warm external keg washers. It is therefore important that this risk is assessed and a regime installed to minimise the risk.

It is important, in order to avoid later confusion, that the label is cleanly removed at this stage. Label design is therefore important, and strip gummed labels sometimes manufactured from hot water sensitive paper can facilitate easy removal. If a label is not applied to the keg then low pressure cleaning can be used

Keg Washer / Filler.

Purpose Features Notes 1. To clean and sterilize the inside of the Washer/Filling machines consist of A detailed keg. a single or number of stations on description of 2. To ensure that the keg is empty. which the keg is positioned via a how the keg 3. To transfer beer into the keg to achieve chain conveyor. washer/filler the following parameters:- The station consists of a head works is • Filling to the specified volume of beer. through which cleaning fluids, given below • Protecting the quality of the beer by sterilization (usually by steam) and in 5.2 . avoiding air pickup and avoiding beer deliveries are made. It is fobbing. important to ensure that the kegs • Filling at the specified rate. are cleaned and filled to meet the specified parameters.

Early keg racking lines had separate washer and filler units. The very early lines washed the spears separate from the keg bodies. Current designs either have the washer and filler in one unit or closely coupled. Keg washing and filling machines are in either a linear or rotary configuration. Economic construction costs indicate that linear lane configurations should be used for outputs less than around 500 containers per hour with both configurations considered for outputs above this figure. These machines will be discussed in more detail in 5.2 .

Full Keg Inspection.

Purpose Features Notes To check that the Inspection is by The need for the keg racker to demonstrate due full kegs from the weighing the kegs diligence in meeting the requirements of both the filler are filled with as they travel national taxation (Excise)* authority or Trading the correct along the outlet Standards* means that inspection is essential. volume of beer. conveyor. Inspection is backed up with accurate volume To check that the measurement for individual packages. In the case of keg is not leaking kegs this means weighing in specially tared containers. Records of inspection are kept for the relevant authorities. Details of correct filling procedures are given in the appropriate codes of practice. * Or other national legislative and regulatory bodies.

Rotary Keg Turner

This is used to turn the kegs the right way up.

Check Weigher

Each keg is weighed in order to ensure that the Large Container Code of Practice on container filling is observed. • Generally speaking, a 50 litre keg would be rejected if it contained less than 49 litres. In order to monitor the actual keg filling it is advisable to take 5 kegs off each filling head/ lane and measure the average contents. • By doing this, the magnetic or turbine meters can then be adjusted to ensure correct filling on each filling head/ lane.

Labeller and Capper

Labelling and capping can either be done by hand or by machine.

• The label is applied to the top of the keg. Information on the label includes, identifying the beer brand, best before date, batch number, time labelled, bright beer tank plus possibly sequential numbering of containers from the start of that rack, and the volume of beer and, perhaps, the alcohol percentage.

• The keg cap is there to protect the top of the spear and keep it clean, and also to identify the beer and provide ideally some form of tamper evidence. Keg caps are either pressed on or shrunk sleeved using hot air.

• A cap presence detector can be fitted to reject uncapped kegs. These detectors are electrical resistance devices, which work by trying to complete an electrical circuit using the metal part of the keg head, the circuit not being made when a cap is present.

• One solution to the problems with label removal is not to apply a label. The packaging information can be printed onto the keg. This approach does mean that the packaging details can become separated from the keg when the cap is removed. • One backup is to have each keg fitted with a RFID (radio frequency identification) tag, which is read at the time of packaging and stores the packaging information digitally on the packaging line.

Palletiser.

Purpose Features Notes To stack full kegs Mechanical operation using Numerous moving parts and heavy onto pallets and to pneumatic/hydraulic rams loading means that this machine needs present them to a and electric motors. maintenance and attention. conveyor for Sensing of positions by Work on the machine is dangerous and transport the microswitches and light safety interlocks/safe systems of work are warehouse. beams required.

Kegs are palletised on to the appropriate pallet configuration. This is normally done automatically to avoid manual handling, since full kegs are heavy!

• The palletiser thus needs to be able to handle the range of pallets and keg sizes and configurations required. • Many operations have a unitiser installed after the palletiser to stack pallets usually two or three high.

Conveyors.

Purpose Features Notes To transport kegs along the Conveyors Metal conveyors may need significant line. consist of plastic lubrication to reduce friction. The simplest conveyors run or metal chain Conveyor speed can be automatically along straight lines, links driven by an controlled to meet the requirements of the conveyors can be designed electric motor. line. For example during a stoppage, the to run around shallow conveyor system can slow down or stop. corners. Conveyors are designed to prevent kegs from falling over.

Keg conveyors tend to use link chain, often made of plastic rather than steel. Conveyor design has moved towards use of curves rather than 90 degree bends and transition points. Lubrication is required for the chains usually through dip troughs

Safety.

There are numerous hazards associated with kegging, these are itemised below along with the normal procedures used to reduce or eliminate them:-

Hazard Safety procedure Manual handling • Plant designed for minimum manual handling. accidents • Full kegs are heavy . • Staff training in safe working procedures. Noise. • Plant design to reduce kegs colliding etc. • Building design to adsorb noise. • Use of ear protectors. Slips trips and falls. • Use of non slip materials for floors and steps etc. • Regular cleaning of floors. • Limited use of hoses. Detergent chemicals • Use of bulk material and automated systems. Machinery accidents. • Permit to work procedures for maintenance. • Guarding of machinery.

5.2 KEG: Internal Keg Cleaning/ Sterilising and 5.3 KEG: Keg Filling Systems

Keg Washer/ Filler.

Purpose Features Notes 1. To clean and sterilize the inside of the Washer/Filling machines consist of A detailed keg. a single or number of stations on description of 2. To ensure that the keg is empty. which the keg is positioned via a how the keg 3. To transfer beer into the keg to achieve chain conveyor. washer/filler the following parameters:- The station consists of a head works is • Filling to the specified volume of beer. through which cleaning fluids, given below. • Protecting the quality of the beer by sterilization (usually by steam) and avoiding air pickup and avoiding beer deliveries are made. It is fobbing. important to ensure that the kegs • Filling at the specified rate. are cleaned and filled to meet the specified parameters.

Keg Washing/ Filling machines are of two basic designs:

Linear machines consisting of multiple lanes, each composed of several “stations” for washing, sterilising, pressurising and beer filling.

Rotary machines (basically similar to large canning machines) consisting of one rotary machine for washing and sterilising at different phases of the rotation and a second machine for pressurising and beer filling

Linear rackers tend to be used for outputs up to 500 kegs per hour and both linear and rotary for greater outputs. Linear installations generally have a maximum output of 65 by 50 litre kegs per hour. Linear racker output is increased by adding lanes. Room for this expansion needs to be allowed for in the initial line layout.

Rotary machines occupy less floor space, but are more complicated in design, due to the complex rotary seals required in the central shaft. Output increase in rotary machines can be achieved by installing carousels with spaces for additional wash and fill stations.

If a head breaks down on a linear machine then the lane in question can be shut down for repair whilst the other lanes continue to function. Line design needs to enable the lane to be safely isolated for this work to take place and this usually requires interlocked safety screens.

A failed head on a rotary machine can only be repaired by shutting the whole machine down. Faulty heads tend to be turned off until a break in production occurs. When sizing a rotary racker, allowance should be made for head reliability i.e. an allowance is made for some heads not to be working all the time. Reasonable central bearing and seal life is essential.

The operation of the 2 designs is essentially similar and is described below.

1. The Linear Racker

The basic layout of a linear machine is represented in the diagram below:

Plan of keg washer/filler machine Cleaning station

Filling statio n

Empty Full ke gs in kegs out

The Linear Racker consists of the following components:

Mainframe - generally made of stainless steel, and consists of a robust structure holding all the components plus in feed and out feed conveyorage. • The in feed can either be in the form of an oval carousel or, more generally now, a single conveyor with stops to position a keg in front of each lane, plus ideally additional stops between lanes so that up to twice as many kegs as there are lanes are positioned ready for feeding on to the lanes as close to the lanes as possible. • If the lane furthest from the in feed conveyor draws off its empty keg then all the stops drop and the kegs advance one down the conveyor.

Racking Head Assembly - consists of valves, pipe work and probes with up to two racking heads, the first for counter-pressuring the keg and possibly cooling it and the second for filling with beer by both meter and conductivity.

Wash-head assembly - consists of valves, pipe work and probes with between three and six wash-heads stations.

Top Clamp Assembly - pneumatically sprung plate to hold the base of the kegs firmly, so that the keg head is held on to the head assembly during processing.

Connection Head Assembly - connection point between machine and kegs, and provides a firm seal.

Puller assembly - for moving kegs on to the racker and accurately locating them so that they can then be moved from head to head. This is a vertical pneumatic bolt on the in feed end of the walking beam which comes up inside the keg rim and movement of the beam draws the keg into the lane locating the Barnes neck against a locator plate.

Drive and lift assembly - generally walking beams which move the kegs from head to head. The walking beams are also used to push the filled keg onto the discharge conveyor. A photoelectric cell is used to ensure a keg is not discharged onto a keg moving along the conveyor. On large installations the discharge conveyor is split in two to speed up discharges

Pneumatics and Electrical Panel - end panels with the pneumatics and electrics for the lane, and also a central control station for all the lanes

2. The Rotary Racker

The Rotary Racker consists of the following components:

Carousels - One or two rotary wash carousels plus a filling carousel. • The desired cleaning regime & line output decide whether one or two wash carousels are required. • The construction of the carousels is very similar to that used for a bottle or can filler. The structure needs to be designed to support the weight of the kegs being processed with the pitch dictated by the maximum diameter of the kegs to be handled. • If there are two wash carousels then frequently at the end of the first carousel the keg is filled with 5 litres of caustic to cover the bottom of the keg and the spear area so that it can soak for approximately 2 minutes during the transfer from the first wash carousel to the second.

In-feed and Discharge Indexing System - an in-feed indexing system is required, similar to a bottle and can filler, to time containers entering the carousel and coincide with the availability of processing stations. • The infeed mechanism consists of a gate with infeed and outfeed starwheels, indexed to the carousel rotation.

Central bearing and service manifold - the services and product pass through a rotary ‘O’ ring seal arrangement. • These seals are fitted with tell tales to indicate ‘O’ ring failure and also to avoid cross contamination.

Keg Clamping and Head Location - A pneumatic top clamp is used with the platform lowering the inverted keg onto the processing head.

Washing and Filling Heads - unlike the linear machine all of a carousel's processing operations are carried out by each individual head on that carousel.

Drive - This is normally a geared drive.

Pneumatics and Electrics - each station on the carousel requires pneumatic valves to supply services; these tend to be gathered round the central spindle under the carousel platform. This area needs to be kept clean with good access for maintenance. Electrics for each head are in a panel above the platform.

Keg Cleaning/ Sterilising and Filling Operating Details

Rotary Washing/ Sterilising/ Filling machines operate essentially to the same sequences as Linear machines.

Beer is supplied from the Bright Beer Tank. The temperature of the beer for packaging must be low (less than 4 °C) to keep dissolved gasses in solution. In the illustration below, a flash pasteurizer is used to ensure microbiological stability. Beer flow from the sterile buffer tank is controlled on demand from the filling heads.

Beer Supply to the Container Racking Machine

Sterile buffer tank Bright beer Flow tank control

Container Pasteuriser racking line

Beer Supply Pump

There are four main stages to the process:-

• Cleaning. • Sterilizing. • Counter-pressuring. • Filling.

1. Cleaning.

This takes place with the keg inverted. The spear is used to deliver the detergents and rinses, whilst the CO 2 port is used to drain the keg.

Keg cleaning

Detergents & rinses in. Drainings out.

A normal cleaning sequence would involve primary rinses, detergent washes and final rinses.

In modern plants, the beer drainings are sensed and an alarm will indicate if the keg is not empty before the sequence starts.

There are four key factors which influence Keg washing:

Time Chemical Temperature Mechanical action on surface.

Time and mechanical action are incorporated into the design of the line but need to take account of the cleaning chemical composition, concentration and temperature required to effectively clean the kegs to be cleaned on that line. Surface mechanical action requires a velocity above 2 m/s, ideally 2.5 m/s.

It is important that the detergent used does not corrode the keg material. Special care needs to be taken in the choice of detergent used for cleaning aluminium kegs. Thus it is likely to be a non-caustic product, possibly EDTA-based or acid based. Phosphoric acid is commonly used. The ideal detergent would contain a wetting agent and surfactant to break down surface tension and facilitate soil removal and a sequestering system to facilitate scale removal/formation. Along with detergent dilution elsewhere in the brewery, soft liquor is often used to enable the detergent to be formulated to achieve cleaning requirements without the need to have additional chemicals to deal with calcium salts in the water.

Detergents are typically used around 65 to 80 °C and the hot water around 80 °C. There is a tendency sometimes to have an acid-wash to neutralise the keg and ensure no scale builds up. A good way to ensure scale build-up does not occur is to use soft liquor for all keg washing operations.

Kegs return from trade filled with carbon dioxide and this will react with a caustic based detergent converting hydroxide to carbonate. The effectiveness of the detergent is therefore reduced. To improve cleaning efficiency a second caustic rinse is often necessary. Separation of keg cleaning onto multiple cleaning heads has reduced the risk of contamination in the kegs. Separating cleaning fluids into different heads reduces contamination risk and allows the final rinse water in these systems to be reduced to 5 litres of water.

Some linear washing machines reverse flow the detergent during the cycle to improve cleaning of the spear valve assembly.

The throughput of a keg line is usually determined by the capacity of the filling head and is calculated to the average volume of all kegs used. The total washing cycle time determines the number of washing heads to fulfil an agreed treatment cycle depending on the individual brewery’s requirements.

Washing cycles are not reduced by speeding up keg lines once smaller kegs are filled. The cleaning regime with respect to contact time for a unit area of keg surface is the same irrespective of the size of the container. The steam cycle does need to allow enough steam to enter the container for the desired heat transfer to take place.

Steam was used to blow out all liquids during the treatment process because it allowed probes to analyse the discharge temperature of media to achieve a reliable signal when a keg is empty. The disadvantage was that during the treatment time any remaining residue due to incomplete washing was burned to the surfaces, adding to the risk of “beer stone layers” inside the kegs.

Sterile air is used to blow out media from the kegs.

Only after the keg is thoroughly clean is steam introduced into the keg for sterilization.

2. Sterilization.

Keg beer has a long shelf life and the absence of microbiological contamination is essential. The beer will have been sterile filtered or pasteurized before packaging into keg and a sterile keg is required. Sterilization takes place with the keg inverted with the spear used to deliver steam and the CO 2 port used to drain the keg of condense. Keg sterilisation

Steam in. Condense out.

The outlet temperature is sensed and the keg is given a specified sterilization time, for example 1 minute at 130°C. At the end of the washing cycle the keg is full of air which needs to be removed before filling. The use of steam makes oxygen removal more efficient. Steam also provides peace of mind provided the correct regime is used. The components of a keg provide challenging routes for cleaning fluids thus steaming is sensible. These surfaces include:

Inside walls of the keg. Inside of the spear tube. Outside of the spear tube. Spring loaded housing of the spear

The steam used must be saturated so that it condenses easily giving up the latent heat of vaporisation. It is this energy release which carries out the sterilisation. The ideal temperature is 130 °C. Care must be taken not to overheat the kegs as the rubbers in the spear assembly start to breakdown above 135 °C. After steaming the keg is counter-pressured before filling. At the start of this counter-pressure sequence the outside surface of the spear is also steamed. Good monitoring of the temperature and the cycle time is therefore vital ensure that effective cleaning and sanitization.

3. Counter pressure with CO 2.

The purposes for applying counter pressure to the keg before filling are:- • To prevent the beer from fobbing during filling. A constant top pressure will keep dissolved gases (CO 2) in solution.

• To provide an inert gas atmosphere in the keg and to avoid oxygen pickup.

In the system shown below, the keg is counter pressured in the inverted position and any condense is drained off before the outlet valve is closed to create the back-pressure.

Keg counter pressure

CO2 in.

The Merits of Using Gases other than CO 2, as the Counter Pressure Gas in Kegging Operations

Traditionally, CO 2 was the main gas used. Some older keg lines counter-pressured with sterile air although there were major concerns about dissolved oxygen!! The other gas, which was used with stout and is now used more extensively, is nitrogen (N 2). Nitrogen was used with stout because of its ability to produce a head of small tight bubbles along with a softer palate.

However, nitrogen has also been used, in addition to its head properties, to allow the increase of top pressures in the keg in dispense systems. The extra pressure allows the beer to be lifted higher from the cellar without increasing the CO 2 content of the beer through equilibrium. There are also the ales where a tight bubbled head and tumble (bubble pattern in glass during settling) are characteristics of the product.

Mixed gas (CO 2/N 2) mixtures with up to 70% nitrogen are used. Mixed gas filling on non-nitrogenated products also enables higher counter-pressures (circa 3.5 bar rather than circa 2 bar on CO 2 alone) and higher filling speeds avoiding fobbing.

4. Filling.

The filling cycle is a three stage process with beer being introduced via the gas ports, so that the keg fills in the inverted position from the top up towards the base. The first phase is slow until the gas ports are covered. This is followed by a standard fast fill and then completed with a final slow fill which enables quiet cut-off and reduces carry-over into the tube on to the spear, thus reducing fob losses. The beer is metered through magnetic or turbine flowmeters with a repeatability of about ± 0.5%.

At the end of the filling cycle any remaining product in the gas vent main from the filling head is purged through to the beer and fob recovery system. Fob needs to be handled so as to ensure that there is no microbiological risk. If fob returns are processed on the keg plant, then they can be filtered through a cartridge filter to collapse the foam prior to proportional injection on the feed to the pasteuriser. The amount of fob coming back to the fob tank is about 0.5% of the total filled.

In the system shown below, the keg is filled in the inverted position although there are systems which fill the keg in the upright position through the spear.

The beer is metered into the keg and the flow is switched off when the specified volume has been delivered.

Keg filling

Beer in.

CO 2 out

The flow of beer is controlled and the initial rate will be slow to avoid fobbing. The final flow may also be slowed to ensure an accurate volume.

Inverted versus Upright Filling

Early keg racking systems used to fill kegs in the upright position the connection to the filling machine being via a keg head coupling with flexible hoses. Beer was introduced down through the spear with gas displaced via the gas ports. Disadvantages of this method include:

Washing cycle needs to be carried out with the keg inverted for satisfactory drainage Longer fill times or higher beer velocities entering the keg which can cause fobbing, higher losses & more variable fills Possible CO 2 loss due to fobbing

For these reasons modern rackers operate with an inverted keg, and fill via the gas ports with the displaced gas going out of the keg via the spear.

Methods of Controlling Keg Fill Levels

There are two key factors to be considered when controlling keg fill levels:

1. The first one is controlling how much beer enters the keg, the second is keeping the beer in the keg once it is filled. Early keg filling machines used to brim fill the kegs. This meant that due to the over-measure in size kegs were overfilled and valuable beer given away.

The solution to this was to meter fill the kegs. The first meters to be used were turbine meters. Problems were discovered included calibration variation from meter to meter due to the variable slip past the turbine. This slip also varies at different flow rates. Each meter needed to be individually calibrated for the line in question. Also meters were in contact with the beer.

Magnetic flowmeters have considerably improved filling accuracy and sterility.

2. The second aspect of fill level control is to ensure that the beer that enters the keg stays there. In order to achieve this, the correct counter-pressure is required along with good counter-pressure control and fill speed control. The correct counter-pressure varies according to the dissolved gas specification. The counter-pressure needs to be slightly in excess of the equilibrium pressure of the gas mixture in question. Release of gas from the keg is controlled by the counter-pressure control system. When the keg fill starts this system needs to move from a static position to one of dynamic control. If this control system is not working properly the control can hunt causing an excessive loss of counter-pressure and fobbing in the keg. To facilitate this, the beer in-feed flow rate is directly controlled via the flowmeter to provide a slow quiet start to the fill followed by a fast fill for the majority of the keg and a slow fill at the end to prevent overfill and beer loss down the spear. Fill performance should be monitored not only via the check weigher records but also by check weighing five kegs from each head and adjusting the flowmeter set point and fill control accordingly.

5.4KEG: Use of Steam

Candidates should be familiar with Section 16.3 on the use of steam for sterilization.

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 1 GCP (NRB): Section 5 (NRB): Non-returnable bottling line Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Beer Packaging (GCP) Section 5 NRB Specialist Section – Non-returnable Bottling Line.

5.NRB: A General Overview of Packaging Plant

The design of the line will depend on the type of package and how it is assembled, on the required rate or capacity of the line and on the type of beer to be packaged.

The packaging line described below refers to:-

A non-returnable bottling line where new bottles are presented to the line on pallets and the output is packed in cartons and assembled on pallets.

5.1 NRB Non-Returnable Bottling Line.

A flow diagram of an idealised Non-Returnable Bottling line is presented below:

NON RETURNABLE BOTTLING LINE FLOW DIAGRAM Showing principal stages in the operation

Depalletiser

Rinser

Filler/Crowner

Sterile Tunnel Beer Pasteuriser

Labeller

Loose Multi-packer Packaging

Carton Packer/ Tray Shrinkwrap

Palletiser

Warehouse

Principal plant items.

De-palletiser.

Purpose Features Notes To remove new Mechanical operation using Numerous moving parts and heavy bottles from pallets pneumatic/hydraulic rams loading means that this machine needs and to present them and electric motors. maintenance and attention. to a conveyor for Sensing of positions by Work on the machine is potentially transport the line. microswitches and light dangerous and safety interlocks/safe beams systems of work are required.

Bottle Rinser.

Purpose Features Notes To remove and A carousel, a conveyor The incoming bottles have been received particles and dust from twist or an ‘S’ shaped from the manufacturer but may have been inside the new bottles. belt where the bottles stored in a dusty warehouse, uncovered. are inverted, jetted Rinse water from the jetter can be checked with air then with clean for debris. water.

Empty package inspection.

Purpose Features Notes To check that the Inspection is either ‘manually’ The need for the bottler to empty bottles from by eye or electronically. demonstrate due diligence in the washer meet the Electronic bottle inspectors protecting the customer means that requirements of:- throw a beam of light through inspection is essential. • Internal the bottle vertically or Modern systems incorporate side wall cleanliness. horizontally and reject bottles inspection, base inspection, neck • Contain no foreign that display shadows or give inspection and residual liquid objects. an abnormal light pattern. inspection. • Are undamaged.

The diagrams below indicate accept/ reject criteria:

Accept Reject

Bottle filler.

Purpose Features Notes To transfer beer into the bottle Filling machines consist of a A detailed achieving the following parameters:- rotating circular tank which houses description of how • Filling to the specified volume of a number of filling heads. The the bottle filler beer. bottles are filled as they travel works is given • Protecting the quality of the beer around the system. below. by avoiding air pickup and There are several stations on the avoiding fobbing. filler that are designed to ensure • Filling at the specified rate. that the bottles are filled meeting the specified parameters.

Crowner.

Purpose Features Notes To seal the bottle so that:- The crowner consists of a hopper that The crowner is • Beer cannot leak out. presents the crowns to the head positioned close to • Air cannot get in. correctly aligned and a head that the filler so that the • The bottle is tamper proof. crimps the crown onto the top of the opportunity for air to • The bottle can be opened bottle. enter the space easily when required for The degree of crimp is adjusted to above the beer is consumption. give a tight seal without damaging the minimised. bottle.

Pasteurizer.

Purpose Features Notes To produce a microbiologically For details of pasteurization stable beer. techniques see Section 3.

Full Bottle inspection.

Purpose Features Notes To check that Inspection is either The need for the bottler to demonstrate due diligence the full bottles ‘manually’ by eye in meeting the requirements of both the national from the or electronically. taxation (Excise)* authority or Trading Standards* filler/crowner Electronic bottle means that inspection is essential. meet the inspectors throw a Often a coarse inspection will take place after filling requirements beam of light or and a more accurate one after pasteurization. of:- radiation through Inspection is backed up with accurate volume • Filled with the the bottle at the measurement for individual packages. In the case of right volume beer level. bottles this means emptying the contents into a of beer. Incorrectly filled measuring cylinder. • Are bottles are Records of inspection are kept for the relevant undamaged. rejected. authorities. Details of correct filling procedures are given in the appropriate codes of practice.

* Or other national legislative and regulatory bodies.

Labeller.

Purpose Features Notes To put a label or labels onto Labelling machines comprise A labelling machine has many the bottle that:- the following parts:- moving parts and needs to be • Informs the customer • A magazine to hold stacks of carefully set up. about the product giving labels. Points to take into consideration details about name, • A glue system that transfers are bottle temperature and alcohol content, volume, glue from a reservoir onto a dryness, label paper quality, best before date etc. revolving drum which then glue consistency and • Advertises the product by glues profiled palettes. temperature. presenting an attractive • The revolving palettes to The glue migrates all over the appearance when which the labels are machine and a cleaning regime displayed. transferred face up. is required. • Provides information for • A gripper cylinder which A diagram of a labelling the manufacturer giving collects the glued labels and machine is shown in the details about the code, transfers them to bottles. previous section on returnable date, bottling line, bright • A revolving carousel that bottling beer tank etc. holds the bottles so that the glued labels can be attached.

Non-returnable bottles may also labelled with self-adhesive paper or plastic labels or be screen printed (in which case paper labels would not be used).

Diagram of a wet glue applied, paper labeller :-

Labelling Machine

Glue pallettes Gripper Labelling cylinder carousel

Label Magazine Glue roller

Labelled bottles Bottle feed to labeller

Multipack Case packer.

Purpose Features Notes To put full bottles into cardboard Mechanical operation Numerous moving parts means boxes and to present them to a using pneumatic or that this machine needs conveyor for transport to the mechanical grips for maintenance and attention. palletiser. lifting the bottles into The machine is set up for one size A ‘multipack’ is a single pack the boxes or forming of bottle and box. containing a group of bottles the boxes around the Work on the machine is that the customer buys as a unit bottles. dangerous and safety Multipacks may be packed into Mechanism for closing interlocks/safe systems of work ‘Stock Holding Units’. the boxes. are required.

Carton erector/ packer.

Purpose Features Notes To put full bottles into cardboard Mechanical operation Numerous moving parts means boxes and to present them to a using pneumatic or that this machine needs conveyor for transport to the mechanical grips for maintenance and attention. palletiser. lifting the bottles into The machine is set up for one size the boxes or forming of bottle and box. the boxes around the Work on the machine is bottles. dangerous and safety Mechanism for closing interlocks/safe systems of work the boxes. are required.

Shrink film.

Palletiser.

Conveyors.

Purpose Features Notes To transport bootles Conveyors consist of Metal conveyors need lubrication to reduce along the line. a chain of slats driven friction although cardboard must be kept The simplest conveyors by an electric motor. dry. run along straight lines, The slats may be Conveyor speed can be automatically conveyors can be made of metal controlled to meet the requirements of the designed to run around (stainless steel) or of a line. For example during a stoppage, the shallow corners. plastic material. conveyor system can slow down or stop. Conveying systems are designed with automated speed control and line sensing to provide dynamic accumulation between all the principal line machines Conveyors are designed to prevent bottles from falling over.

Pallet inspection.

Safety.

There are numerous hazards associated with bottling, these are itemised below along with the normal procedures used to reduce or eliminate them:- Hazard Safety procedure Broken glass • Use of safety glasses. • Guarding of plant. Noise. • Plant design to reduce bottles colliding etc. • Building design to adsorb noise. • Use of ear protectors. Hazardous gases. • Staff awareness of hazards. Slips trips and falls. • Use of non slip materials for floors and steps etc. • Regular cleaning of floors. • Limited use of hoses. Machinery accidents. • Permit to work procedures for maintenance. • Guarding of machinery.

Filling Principles for Beer into Bottles

There are a number of types of filler on the market. However, one principle always applies, and that is carbonated beverages must be filled under pressure in order to keep the gas (carbon dioxide and sometimes nitrogen) in solution. Fillers employing this principal are called barometric or more commonly counter-pressure fillers. Previously, gravity fillers were used, but these do not give such a clean fill.

For beer, filling is more difficult than for other carbonated beverages because of two unique qualities:

1. Head retention 2. The damaging effect of oxygen

For beer filling it is necessary to remove oxygen from the container before filling. This is done by pre-evacuating a glass bottle or CO 2 flushing a PET bottle or can before filling. Pre-evacuation is carried out by applying a 90% vacuum twice which will give a 99% pure CO 2 gas in the bottle before filling.

Flushing with CO 2, as is the case for PET and cans, will generally give a result above 90% CO 2 purity, but it will be lower than that achieved with the pre- evacuation of glass bottles.

When filling beer into glass bottles, therefore, a pre-evacuation or flushing facility will be required. It is also possible to limit oxygen uptake by using a long tube rather than short tube filler. With a long tube filler , the beer is filled from the bottom of the bottle and then rises gently with only the top surface in contact with the gas space in the bottle. With a short tube filler , the beer flows down the outside of the tube, and it is then deflected by a spreader rubber fitted to the tube. This directs the flow of beer down the inside side-wall of the bottle. The whole of the surface area of the beer flowing down the side of the bottle is therefore in contact with the gas space during filling.

The following two diagrams illustrate the differences, and demonstrate how the beer is exposed to the gas that it is displacing. It can be seen that with the long tube filler only the top surface of the beer is exposed so, as a result, the oxygen uptake is less than it is with a short tube filler.

Short Tube Long Tube

Short tube versus long tube

The long tube filler shown in this illustration shows the filling of a PET bottle. This assists in reducing the uptake of oxygen because pre-evacuation is not possible with PET.

The popular choice for bottle beer filling is a short tube filler with pre- evacuation, and with double pre-evacuation good oxygen levels can be achieved. Short tube fillers are easier to maintain and tubes and change parts are cheaper. Waste will also be slightly lower as the tube will carry less beer when it is withdrawn from the bottle.

Bottle Filler Features

The Filling Cycle for Counter-pressure Bottle Fillers

Different types of fillers have already been discussed. It is now understood, therefore, that fillers used for beer are counter-pressure fillers and are generally short tube. For glass bottle fillers the air is displaced by CO 2 using pre-evacuation. Vacuum (90%) is normally applied twice leaving 1% air in the bottle. The container is then pressurised until the pressure is equal to the pressure in the filler bowl; on equalisation, the valve will open allowing the beer to flow down the inner side of the container. As soon as the beer reaches the tip of the vent valve the return gas passage will be blocked so allowing an immediate pressure build up in the bottle which will, in turn, stop the beer flowing.

Plan view of Bottle Filler

3. Filling

2. Counter pressure 4. Full

5. Snift 1. Evacuation

Full bottles to the Crowner Empty bottles in

Bottles are fed onto the filler by a crown wheel which picks them up from the conveyor, separates them and spaces them so that they fit onto the bottle lifts which raise them up to seal on the filling head.

Beer is supplied from the Bright Beer Tank. The temperature of the beer for packaging must be low (less than 3 °C) to keep dissolved gasses in solution. It may be necessary to install a trim chiller in the line.

The bottling machine has a circular beer tank whose level is automatically controlled by supplying beer at the same rate as filling and venting off to control top pressure. This venting also releases the air which accumulates in the filler bowl when bottles are filled.

Beer Supply to the Bottling Machine

Vent CO2

Bright Bottling Machine beer Level tank Control

Beer Supply Pump

Level control can be by float switch, electronic probe or by pressure control.

Bottling machine operation:-

1. Evacuation

The bottles are full of air as they leave the washer, the purpose of the evacuation stage is to remove as much of that air as possible.

Gas CO 2

Beer

Stage 1. Evacuation

Bottle lift

The filling machine is fitted with a vacuum ring connected to a vacuum pump which evacuates the bottle as shown in the diagram.

2. Counter pressure.

The bottle is then counter pressured with CO 2 , possibly from the gas space above the beer in the filling machine’s beer reservoir as shown in the diagram or from a separate source. The purposes of counter pressurising the bottle before filling are:- • To prevent the beer from fobbing during filling. A constant top pressure will keep dissolved gasses (CO 2) in solution. • To provide an inert gas atmosphere in the bottle and avoid oxygen pickup.

Gas CO 2

Beer

Stage 2. Counter pressure

Bottle lift

When the pressure in the bottle equals the top pressure above the beer, the beer can fill the bottle gently by gravity alone.

In some filling machines, the bottle is evacuated, flushed with CO 2 , re-evacuated and then countered pressured. This procedure is used when there is a requirement for air removal to be even more effective.

3. Filling.

Bottle filling has to achieve the following objectives:-

• The correct volume of beer must be put into the bottle. This is achieved either by controlling the level to which the bottle is filled as shown in the diagram or by filling the bottle from a volume controlled filling chamber.

• To protect the quality of the beer by preventing gas release through fobbing and by the prevention of oxygen pickup. This is achieved by counter pressuring and by filling as gently as possible so as not to disturb the beer. A gentle fill is achieved by filling from the base of the bottle through a long tube or by running the beer down the inside walls of the bottle as shown in the diagram.

Gas CO 2 out

Beer

Fill height Stage 3. Beer in Filling

Bottle lift

The beer valve opens to let the beer in while the gas in the bottle is released into the head space above the beer in the filling bowl. In most fillers, the beer valve opens against a spring when the pressure in the bottle equals the pressure above the beer. If the bottle bursts during filling, the pressure in the beer chamber closes the beer valve immediately. Procedures must be in place to ensure that broken glass from a burst bottle does not migrate into other packages.

4. Full.

The bottle is full when the beer level reaches and rises up the filling tube. With this design of filler, tubes need to be changed for different sizes of bottle; a tube change is not required with a volumetric filling system.

G a s C O 2

B eer

Stage 4. Full

Bottle lift

5. Snift.

A controlled ‘snift’ is introduced to release the top pressure gently.

G as C O 2

B eer

Stage 5. Snift

Bottle lift

The gas space above the beer in the bottle is pressurised and the beer will fob if this pressure is released quickly when the bottle comes off the filling machine. Some machines give a double snift.

As mentioned above, some filling machines fill the container with a measured volume of beer. These are called a volumetric filling machines. The filling principles are the same but a metering chamber is incorporated in the system:-

CO2 supply Beer level probe

Metering chamber

Beer supply valve

The full bottle is now ready for crowning, though as it leaves the filling machine, it is deliberately fobbed up to expel any air that may be present in the head space. This fobbing is initiated by tapping, vibrating or, more usually, by jetting a small volume of water (normally hot water) into the bottle. The jetter is set so that the overflow is just taking place as the crown, or any other closure, is placed on top of the bottle.

5.3 NRB: Bottle Crowner

As it leaves the filling machine, the full bottle is ready for crowning and it is deliberately fobbed up to expel any air that may be present in the head space. This fobbing is initiated by tapping, vibrating or, most commonly, by jetting a small volume of water into the bottle.

Crowner.

Crowning

The crown is still the most popular form of closure for beer. It is both capable of holding the pressure in the container as well as venting gas safely when it is removed prior to consumption. The crowning machine (often called the ‘crowner’) is blocked with the filler and runs in synchronisation with it. The high level crowner hopper dispenses a crown down a chute, through a tube which ensures the correct orientation of the crown, and onto the bottle. The crowning head then applies a vertical load to the crown to ensure that the sealing pad (insert) is compressed between the metal and the glass of the bottle. While this load is maintained, a specially profiled hardened die is forced down over the skirt of the crown creating the seal. The finished diameter of the crown is critical with a tolerance of only 0.6mm (28.7+/- 0.3mm). Crowners should always be kept clean. Dust build up from the crowns can congeal and effect performance as well as creating a contamination risk. Some fillers have crowners with cleaning in place (CIP) installed. This makes the cleaning operation much more complete. Crown tolerance is measured using a ‘Go No Go’ gauge. This could be a 3 hole gauge with hole sizes of 28.4mm, 28.7mm and 29.0mm.

Go No Go A gauge 28.4mm 28.7mm 29.0mm

It should be difficult to pass the 28.4mm gauge over the crown. If it slips over the crown, it is too tight and this could lead to bottle breakage when the crown is removed. If the 29.0mm gauge does not go over the crown, it is too loose and this will give leakages. A full set of bottles off the crowner should be checked each shift and after a changeover.

seal

Bottle Crowns

The most commonly used crown liners today are PVC and PVC-Free Dry- blends.

They are suitable for good pressure retention before and after pasteurization, stacking, oxygen barrier and scavenging with soft and hard polymers. A double lip design is used.

Pry off crowns are used on bottles with a standard finish. However, a twist off crown needs to be profiled to fit the bottle threaded neck finish. The same crowning machine can be used but the crown tolerances need to be better managed within the standard tolerance of 28.7mm+/-0.3mm.

5.4 Sterile Filling

Summary

Only operators and engineers equipped with appropriate protective clothing should be permitted to enter the “sterile envelope”.

Sterile Filling – Operating Details

Beer sterilization

The beer can be sterilized in two ways: Sterile filtration Plate (or Flash) Pasteurization

Filler Installation and Layout

Good design practices must be followed from the exit of the pasteurizer or sterile filter right up to the filler. This will include:

Filler Environment

The environment around the filling area must be hygienically clean. There are two lines of thought on this:

Sterility of Bottles, Cans and Closures

Crowns or caps can be sprayed with 300ppm PAA (Peracetic Acid ) or be treated with UV. However, general advice is to keep them dry in a clean storage area. Dry crowns will not carry infection.

Cleaning and CIP

Training of Personnel

Microbiological Back Up

A summary of some good practices are:

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 1 GCP (RB): Section 5 (RB): Returnable bottling line Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Beer Packaging (GCP) Section 5 RB Specialist Section – Returnable Bottling Line.

5 RB: A General Overview of Packaging Plant

The design of the line will depend on the type of package and how it is assembled, on the required rate or capacity of the line and on the type of beer to be packaged.

The packaging line described below refers to:-

A returnable bottling line where the bottles are presented to the line in crates which are assembled on pallets and the output is packed into crates and then assembled on pallets.

5.1RB Principal Plant Items.

A flow diagram of an idealised Returnable Bottling line is presented below:

RETURNABLE BOTTLING LINE FLOW DIAGRAM Showing principal stages in the operation

Depalletiser

Decrater

Washer

Filler/Crowner

Steri le Tunnel Beer Pasteuriser

Labeller

Crater

Palletiser

Warehouse

Principal plant items.

De-palletiser. Purpose Features Notes To remove full Mechanical operation using Numerous moving parts and heavy crates from pallets pneumatic/hydraulic rams loading means that this machine needs and to present them and electric motors. maintenance and attention. to a conveyor for Sensing of ‘positions’ by Work on the machine is potentially transport the line. microswitches and light dangerous and safety interlocks/safe beams systems of work are required.

De-crater.

Purpose Features Notes To remove empty Mechanical operation Numerous moving parts means that this bottles from the crates using pneumatic or machine needs maintenance and attention. and to present them to mechanical grips for Work on the machine is potentially a conveyor for lifting the bottles from dangerous and safety interlocks/safe transport to the line. the crates. systems of work are required.

Bottle Washer.

Purpose Features Notes To clean both the The bottles are The incoming bottles are difficult to clean, inside and outside of conveyed through the they will have glued-on labels, they will have the bottle and to washer in pockets. old beer deposits inside and they may present a They are rinsed with contain foreign objects. ‘commercially’ sterile water, soaked in The detergent used is hot caustic with empty package to the detergent, sprayed additives to increase its effectiveness. filler. inside and out with Bottle washing is energy intensive and new Label removal will detergent and then machines are designed for efficiency. dissolve the glue while rinsed with water to When foil labels are dissolved by caustic, leaving the label intact remove all detergent hydrogen gas is released so an extraction otherwise paper fibres traces. A final fresh system is needed. will contaminate the water rinse is used. Caustic detergents are hazardous and cleaning liquids. Filter mechanisms safety procedures are required for their remove the waste handling. labels from the Regular cleaning of detergent tanks is detergent tanks. required.

Pre-jet Caustic jet Caustic Fresh water rinse rinse

Infeed Label Out removal Drain Caustic soak

Empty package inspection.

The diagrams below indicate accept/ reject criteria:

Accept Reject

Bottle filler.

Crowner.

Pasteuriser.

Purpose Features Notes To produce a microbiologically For details of pasteurisation stable beer. techniques, see Section 3.

Full Bottle inspection.

Purpose Features Notes To check that Inspection is The need for the bottler to demonstrate due diligence in the bottles either ‘manually’ meeting the requirements of both the national taxation leaving the by eye or (Excise)* authority or Trading Standards* means that filler/crowner electronically. inspection is essential. meet the Full bottle Often a coarse inspection will take place after filling and a requirements inspectors throw more accurate one after pasteurisation. of:- a beam of light or Inspection is backed up with accurate volume • Filled with radiation through measurement for individual packages. In the case of the right the bottle at the bottles this means emptying the contents into a volume of ‘target’ beer level. measuring cylinder. beer. Incorrectly filled Records of inspection are kept for the relevant authorities. • Are bottles are Details of correct filling procedures are given in the undamaged. rejected. appropriate codes of practice.

* Or other national legislative and regulatory bodies.

Labeller.

Purpose Features Notes To put a label or labels onto the Labelling machines comprise the A labelling machine bottle that:- following parts:- has many moving • Informs the customer about the • A magazine to hold stacks of parts and needs to product giving details about labels. be carefully set up. name, alcohol content, volume, • A glue system that transfers glue Points to take into best before date etc. from a reservoir onto a revolving consideration are • Advertises the product by drum which then glues profiled bottle temperature presenting an attractive palettes. and dryness, label appearance when displayed. • The revolving palettes to which paper quality, glue • Provides information for the the labels are transferred face consistency and manufacturer giving details about up. temperature. the code, date, bottling line, bright • A gripper cylinder which collects The minimum beer tank etc. the glued labels and transfers amount of glue is • Can be removed when the bottle them to bottles. used. is returned for washing but is • A revolving carousel that holds The glue migrates all difficult to remove before then. the bottles so that the glued over the machine labels can be attached. and a cleaning regime is required.

Diagram of a wet glue applied, paper labeller :-

Labelling Machine

Glue pallettes Gripper Labelling cylinder carousel

Label Magazine Glue roller

Labelled bottles Bottle feed to labeller

Crater. Purpose Features Notes To replace full bottles Mechanical operation Numerous moving parts means that this into the crates and to using pneumatic or machine needs maintenance and attention. present the crates to a mechanical grips for The machine is set up for one size of bottle conveyor for transport lifting the bottles into and odd sizes will cause problems. to the palletiser. the crates. Work on the machine is dangerous and safety interlocks/safe systems of work are required.

Palletiser. Purpose Features Notes To stack full crates Mechanical operation using Numerous moving parts and heavy onto pallets and to pneumatic/hydraulic rams loading means that this machine needs present them to a and electric motors. maintenance and attention. conveyor for Sensing of positions by Work on the machine is dangerous and transport the microswitches and light safety interlocks/safe systems of work are warehouse. beams required.

Pallet inspection. Purpose Features Notes To check that the pallets from the de- Inspection is Pallets receive hard wear and palletiser meet the requirements of :- usually ‘manually’ are often damaged. • Fit for purpose. by eye. Stacking on damaged pallets is • Are undamaged. hazardous.

Crate washer. Purpose Features Notes To clean both the The crates are tipped upside down to Crates return from the trade in a inside and outside allow debris to drop out and are very dirty condition. of the crate. sprayed with water or detergent.

Conveyors. Purpose Features Notes To transport bottles Conveyors consist of Metal conveyors need lubrication to reduce along the line. a chain of slats driven friction although cardboard must be kept The simplest conveyors by an electric motor. dry. run along straight lines, The slats may be Conveyor speed can be automatically conveyors can be made of metal controlled to meet the requirements of the designed to run around (stainless steel) or of a line. For example during a stoppage, the shallow corners. plastic material. conveyor system can slow down or stop. Conveying systems are designed with automated speed control and line sensing to provide dynamic accumulation between all the principal line machines Conveyors are designed to prevent bottles from falling over.

Safety.

There are numerous hazards associated with bottling, these are itemised below along with the normal procedures used to reduce or eliminate them:-

Hazard Safety procedure Broken glass • Use of safety glasses. • Guarding of plant. Noise. • Plant design to reduce bottles colliding etc. • Building design to adsorb noise. • Use of ear protectors. Slips trips and falls. • Use of non slip materials for floors and steps etc. • Regular cleaning of floors. • Limited use of hoses. Hazardous gases. • Staff awareness of hazards. Machinery accidents. • Permit to work procedures for maintenance. • Guarding of machinery. Detergent chemicals • Use of bulk material and automated systems.

Filling Principles for Beer into Bottles

For beer, filling is more difficult than for other carbonated beverages because of two unique qualities:

1. Head retention 2. The damaging effect of oxygen

Flushing with CO 2, as is the case for PET and cans, will generally give a result above 90% CO 2 purity, but it will be lower than that achieved with the pre- evacuation of glass bottles.

Short Tube Long Tube

Short tube versus long tube

The long tube filler shown in this illustration shows the filling of a PET bottle. This assists in reducing the uptake of oxygen because pre-evacuation is not possible with PET.

Bottle Filler Features

The Filling Cycle for Counter-pressure Bottle Fillers

Plan view of Bottle Filler

3. Filling

2. Counter pressure 4. Full

5. Snift 1. Evacuation

Full bottles to the Crowner Empty bottles in

Beer Supply to the Bottling Machine

Vent CO2

Bright Bottling Machine beer Level tank Control

Beer Supply Pump

Level control can be by float switch, electronic probe or by pressure control.

Bottling machine operation:-

1. Evacuation

The bottles are full of air as they leave the washer, the purpose of the evacuation stage is to remove as much of that air as possible.

Gas CO 2

Beer

Stage 1. Evacuation

Bottle lift

The filling machine is fitted with a vacuum ring connected to a vacuum pump which evacuates the bottle as shown in the diagram.

2. Counter pressure.

Gas CO 2

Beer

Stage 2. Counter pressure

Bottle lift

When the pressure in the bottle equals the top pressure above the beer, the beer can fill the bottle gently by gravity alone.

3. Filling.

Bottle filling has to achieve the following objectives:-

Gas CO 2 out

Beer

Fill height Stage 3. Beer in Filling

Bottle lift

4. Full.

G a s C O 2

B eer

Stage 4. Full

Bottle lift

5. Snift.

A controlled ‘snift’ is introduced to release the top pressure gently.

G as C O 2

B eer

Stage 5. Snift

Bottle lift

The gas space above the beer in the bottle is pressurised and the beer will fob if this pressure is released quickly when the bottle comes off the filling machine. Some machines give a double snift.

CO2 supply Beer level probe

Metering chamber

Beer supply valve

5.3 RB: Bottle Crowner

Crowner.

Crowning

Go No Go A gauge 28.4mm 28.7mm 29.0mm

seal

Bottle Crowns

The most commonly used crown liners today are PVC and PVC-Free Dry- blends.

They are suitable for good pressure retention before and after pasteurization, stacking, oxygen barrier and scavenging with soft and hard polymers. A double lip design is used.

5.4 Sterile Filling

Summary

Only operators and engineers equipped with appropriate protective clothing should be permitted to enter the “sterile envelope”.

Sterile Filling – Operating Details

Beer sterilization

The beer can be sterilized in two ways: Sterile filtration Plate (or Flash) Pasteurization

Filler Installation and Layout

Good design practices must be followed from the exit of the pasteurizer or sterile filter right up to the filler. This will include:

Filler Environment

The environment around the filling area must be hygienically clean. There are two lines of thought on this:

Sterility of Bottles, Cans and Closures

Crowns or caps can be sprayed with 300ppm PAA (Peracetic Acid ) or be treated with UV. However, general advice is to keep them dry in a clean storage area. Dry crowns will not carry infection.

Cleaning and CIP

Training of Personnel

Microbiological Back Up

A summary of some good practices are:

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 1 GCP (All Containers):Sect 6: Empty/full container inspection & Labelling/coding Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Beer Packaging (GCP) Section 6 Empty / Full Container Inspection and Labelling / Coding.

6.1. Empty Inspection

Empty Returnable Bottle and Non-returnable Bottle Inspection.

Purpose Features Notes To check that the Inspection is either ‘manually’ The need for the bottler to empty bottles from by eye or electronically. demonstrate due diligence in the washer or rinser Electronic bottle inspectors protecting the customer means that meet the throw a beam of light through inspection is essential. requirements of:- the bottle vertically or Modern systems incorporate side wall • Clean inside & out. horizontally and reject bottles inspection, base inspection, neck • Contain no foreign that display shadows or give inspection and residual liquid objects. an abnormal light pattern. inspection. • Are undamaged.

Empty Can Inspection.

Purpose Features Notes To check that the Inspection is either Empty can inspection is not in empty cans from the “manually” by eye or widespread use. rinser meet the electronically. requirements of:- Electronic can inspectors • Clean inside & out. scan into the can • Contain no foreign vertically and reject cans objects that give an “abnormal • Are undamaged picture”.

Empty Keg Inspection.

Empty container inspection and recording of data is required to ensure that Consumer Safety requirements (such as “U.K. Environmental Health Authority”) are met.

Package Procedure. type. Returnable • Ensure that empty bottle inspection and the reject system is effective and that bottle & the relevant records are kept. Non- • Ensure that bottle washing/rinsing and plant hygiene procedures are effective. returnable • Maintain a system of handling customer complaints. bottle. Can. • Ensure that empty can inspection and the reject system is effective and that the relevant records are kept. • Ensure that can rinsing and plant hygiene procedures are effective. • Maintain a system of handling customer complaints. Keg. • Ensure that empty keg inspection and the reject system is effective and that the relevant records are kept. • Ensure that keg washing and plant hygiene procedures are effective. • Maintain a system of handling customer complaints.

Please note that national law and local regulations will vary in different countries and that various authorities may differ in their interpretation of the law.

6.2.Full Container Inspection

Full Bottle (RB and NRB) inspection.

Purpose Features Notes To check that Inspection is either The need for the bottler to demonstrate due diligence the full bottles ‘manually’ by eye in meeting the requirements of both the national from the or electronically. taxation (Excise)* and Trading Standards* means that filler/crowner Electronic bottle inspection is essential. meet the inspectors throw a Often a coarse inspection will take place after filling requirements beam of light or and a more accurate one after pasteurisation. of:- radiation through Inspection is backed up with accurate volume • Filled with the the bottle at the measurement for individual packages. In the case of right volume beer level. bottles this means emptying the contents into a of beer. Incorrectly filled measuring cylinder. • Are bottles are Records of inspection are kept for the relevant undamaged. rejected. authorities. Details of correct filling procedures are given in the appropriate codes of practice.

Full can inspection.

Purpose Features Notes To check that Inspection is The need for the canner to demonstrate due the full cans electronically. diligence in meeting the requirements of both the from the Electronic can national taxation (Excise)* and Trading Standards* filler/seamer inspectors throw a means that inspection is essential. meet the beam of radiation Often a coarse inspection will take place after filling requirements through the can at the and a more accurate one after pasteurisation. of:- beer level. Inspection is backed up with accurate volume • Filled with the Other methods are by measurement for individual packages. In the case of right volume bouncing sound off cans this means emptying the contents into a of beer. the top of the can to measuring cylinder. • Are sense its pressure or Records of inspection are kept for the relevant undamaged. by measuring authorities. distortion in the can Details of correct filling procedures are given in the base. appropriate codes of practice. Incorrectly filled cans are rejected.

Full keg inspection

Purpose Features Notes To check that the Inspection is by The need for the keg racker to demonstrate due full kegs from the weighing the kegs diligence in meeting the requirements of both the filler are filled with as they travel national taxation (Excise)* and Trading Standards* the correct along the outlet means that inspection is essential. volume of beer. conveyor. Inspection is backed up with accurate volume To check that the measurement for individual packages. In the case of keg is not leaking kegs this means weighing in specially tared containers. Records of inspection are kept for the relevant authorities. Details of correct filling procedures are given in the appropriate codes of practice.

* Or other national Excise and regulatory bodies.

Full container inspection and recording of data is required to ensure that taxation (Excise) requirements are met.

Full container inspection and recording of data is required to ensure that the appropriate “Trading Standards” requirements are met.

Please note that national law and local regulations will vary in different countries and that various authorities may differ in their interpretation of the law.

(a) Package Labelling.

The information required on a package label is:- • Product name for customer identification. • Volume of beer in the package for customer information (and for duty calculation in some countries such as the United Kingdom. • Alcohol content (by volume) for customer information (and for duty calculation in some countries such as the United Kingdom. • ‘Best before’ date for customer information. This is calculated from the date of packaging and the product’s shelf life.

• Barcoding is used for: - retailing by automatic reading machines at checkout counters, using Article Numbering system (e.g EAN); each selling unit (individual bottle/ can or multipack) has a unique code. - warehouse identification (e.g ITF system); applied to outer packs and pallets.

• Packaging code so that the batch can be identified by the producer. The information to be derived from the code normally includes the date of packaging, the source of the beer and the packaging line used. This information is necessary in case there needs to be of an investigation into a problem.

Audit trails enable the history of a packaged beer to be unravelled and require detailed accurate records in a standard format, of each of the production and packaging processes.

(b) Labeller.

Non-returnable bottles may be screen printed, in which case paper labels would not be used.

Labelling of packaged product needs to achieve several objectives these are:

Communicate legal information to the purchaser Enable good stock rotation and control throughout the supply chain Provide information to enable the producer to troubleshoot and identify the causes of any product quality issues as easily and efficiently as possible.

Legal information which needs to be communicated varies from country to country according to legislation and codes of practise in force at the time. This information can include product name, producer company name and address in case of complaint, container target average contents, alcohol by volume and best before date.

Stock rotation and control information can include a batch code to be used in conjunction with the best before date.

Information to facilitate investigation of any quality issues can include the time of labelling (plus a sequential number for large containers from the start of the filling batch).

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 1 GCP (All Containers): Section 7: Preparation for packaging & On-line checks Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Beer Packaging (GCP) Section 7 Preparation for Packaging and On-line Checks.

7.1.Empty Container, Packaging Materials & Plant Preparation

(a) Empty Container and Packaging Materials

Many packaging operations utilise Supplier Quality Assurance principles for purchase and supply of packaging materials, but there is always a need for spot checks to ensure correct standard of material has been supplied (in terms of grade of material, decoration standards and colour matching, any indication of poor storage prior to delivery or delivery damage).

It is also an important feature of start up procedures to ensure correct sizes of containers, labels, crowns etc are available and in sufficient quantity for the appropriate volume of beer to be packaged.

With regard to preparation of containers for filling, the following examples illustrate the appropriate procedures to be applied:

Preparing kegs for filling.

• De-palletiser • • Empty keg inspection • Check for no fulls, no caps and all the correct orientation

Preparing bottles/ cans for filling. • Depalletiser • delayer, crate turner, pallets checked and transferred to magazine for reuse

• Decrater • heads contain inflatable cups which grip the bottle necks • Crates are rinsed, inspected and are refilled • Empty bottle inspection operation monitored routinely and recorded

• Sorting • Height, colour, • Presence of a crown • Off line if high levels of ‘ foreigners’

Appropriate records of all packaging materials should be kept against a time log or check sheet (e.g. pallet tickets for incoming new NRBs and cans and the time of application to the filling line); batch codes of crowns, ends, labels, and secondary packaging materials.

(b) Plant Preparation

In general terms, the following pre-filling checks should be carried out:

• Beer supply in specification • Beer temperature correct • Filling level under control • For bottling, Filling tubes set correctly • For kegging, fill meters correctly calibrated • On-line fill checks calibrated and operating • Heads filling evenly • Steady supply of containers to fill • Continuous operation

• Quiet fill with no foaming • Consistent filling performance • Clean filler

Transfer of Beer to the Filler

After the beer has been carefully prepared, it now needs to be handled gently so as not to spoil it at the last hurdle. So often things go wrong, because operators take short cuts, and then end up with a disaster which leads to poor quality and waste. Some filler installations are extremely sophisticated but the same basic rules apply.

Ensure that the filler is properly cleaned. In general a full CIP is required once each week as an absolute minimum. This may also be required if changing over, for example, from a stout to a lager. Otherwise the filler needs to have been properly rinsed using hot and cold water. The crowner must also be cleaned with special attention paid to the chute to prevent crowner dust congealing Purge all pipework and filler (all channels) with cold de-aerated liquor from the tank which is providing the beer Isolate the filler Change to beer (first make sure that it is the right beer and that it has been checked!), and displace all water with beer up to the valve isolating the filler. This should be done using tank pressure only i.e. not using the beer pump Blow out all water from the filler with the gas being used for filling (usually CO 2 but could be N 2 for nitrogenated beers). Allow pressure to build up three to four times to ensure filler is emptied of water Having set up the filler for filling, bring beer gently into the filler against the filling pressure – pump now required Having set the filler up in preparation for filling, it is then normal to remove at least the first two rounds off the filler to ensure that there will no diluted beer going to market.

Other On-line Checks at Start up and Change-overs

In addition to ensuring correct start up of the filling operation, other checks must be made to ensure that the correct containers are in place (correct size, correct brand, etc), plus checks on correct labels and date coding and correct secondary packing.

Similarly procedures should be in place for changeovers of product and/ or pack size. At a product change-over, the first beer must be completely run out an d flushed through. If the next beer to be filled is significantly different in characteristics, a full CIP procedure may be required.

Dissolved Oxygen Control

Since a key feature of any container filling programme is to eliminate pickup of dissolved oxygen , it is worth summarising here the by procedures required prior to starting beer transfers to filling machine, both at initial start up and at product change -overs

• Ensure bright beer tanks have low dissolved oxygen levels

• Use de-aerated water for dilution and chasing beer (less than 0.02ppm)

• Maintain pipework and pump seals - NO leaks

• Check gas mains for loose unions; it is possible to pull in air by venturi effect.

• Use cold de-aerated water to purge (completely replace air/rinsing water) pipework and filling machine before start up

• Purge from all bleed points (which must be from top of rising main) at top of pipe at main valve and at all filler points

• Blow out all water from filler with pure CO 2

• Bring in beer slowly to ensure absence of fob Again purge line up to main valve ensuring that only pure beer remains in the line

• Gently bring beer back into the filler against back pressure

• If appropriate, ensure pre-evacuation and vacuum are working, plus all gas mains open

• Check dissolved oxygen levels in filled containers routinely through packaging run.

Packaging operations often construct a Quality Control sampling plan from a HACCP study, which helps identify the correct sampling schedule with regard to product safety and due diligence.

In addition to analytical requirements, there are effectively legal aspects to be added, such as alcohol content, fill levels and date coding.

Further, “appearance” factors are important such as beer properties, like flavour and clarity and also package quality factors (correct labels, crowns, can ends, package integrity.

Examples of possible QC schedules are given below:

Basic QC Schedule - Bottle/Can

Process Stage Analysis Frequency Comment Unpasteurised Alcohol /Haze Start/end BBT pH Start BBT TIPO * Start up +hourly CO 2 Start up +hourly Pasteurised Taste 1 pack/BBT Contents 5 bottles/cans per Statutory hour requirement Crown Crimp Hourly Bottles Seam Analysis Each shift Cans Pack integrity Hourly Sec. Packaging by teardown Correct: can, end, First and last to bottle, crown, trade date code

* Total In-Package Oxygen content

Basic QC Schedule - Kegging

Process Stage Analysis Frequency Comment In keg Alcohol 1st + last /BBT pH + DO Start BBT Visual haze Start +end/ BBT CO 2 Start +end/ BBT Dissolved N2 Start +end/ BBT Brand specific Taste 1 keg /BBT Correct: label, First and last keg date code, cap, to trade label adhesion Contents 1 keg/head/ Statutory line/day/ size requirement

Basic Microbiological Sampling

Process Stage Analysis Frequency Comment Flash pasteuriser Total counts Continuous Plus process membranes control data Racking main Total counts Continuous membranes Full keg Aerobic + 5 per week anaerobic + forcing test Unpasteurised Total counts 1 / line/ shift Checks loading bottle/can on pasteuriser Pasteurised Temperature Continuous Redpost monitors bottle/can profile: PUs + process control data

Following QC schedules does not guarantee no failures and results should be continually investigated in order to achieve improvement. Key areas to monitor continually include:

• Pasteurisation

• TIPO results

• Teardown checks; to monitor appearance and integrity of secondary packaging and overall pack presentation: - Brand, volume, %ABV - Best before date - Product code for traceability - Labels in alignment and unscuffed, crowns and cans not rusty or scratched

• Organisational design (increase quantity of on-line checks by correctly trained operators)

Quality management is dynamic, being a continuous cycle of:

• Monitor • Evaluate trends and non-conformances • Implement corrective and improvement actions, to achieve Continuous improvement .

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 1 GCP (All Containers): Section 8: Assessment of packaging performance Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Beer Packaging (GCP) Section 8 Assessment of Packaging Performance.

8.1 Efficiency Reporting

Packaging performance.

Packaging lines always have a capacity rating, for example in units of bottles per hour, cans per minute or 50 litre kegs per hour. The rating of the line is set by the nominal capacity of the main elements or element in the line. For example a bottling line’s capacity rating may be that of the bottle filler itself.

Performance, then, is measured by comparing the actual output to the theoretical capacity for a given period of time.

Example:- Bottling capacity = 1000 bottles per minute. Actual performance = 90,000 bottles in 2 hours. Efficiency (performance) = 90,000 1000 x 60 x 2 = 75% .

There are more sophisticated measuring systems that take into account outside influences and more clearly identify where elements are affecting plant performance and these are detailed below. An example of this type of system is O.E.E. or overall equipment effectiveness.

There are often numerous items of equipment in a modern packaging line, any of which could cause problems and reduce the line’s performance because they are all running in a sequence of operations.

It is important therefore, that detailed records of breakdowns and problems are kept so that maintenance can be directed to the right areas. Continuous improvement can be achieved by attacking problems in a methodical manner and identifying and tackling the priority items first.

Line Efficiency

Line efficiency is one of the most emotional topics in a packaging plant. As a result it is important that figures are on time, calculated correctly and that they portray the correct message. Standard efficiency was measured over the time that was available for production. Take as an example a 2 x 8 hour shift operation running for16 hours per day. If it takes one hour to start up the operation and two hours to close down, with half an hour per shift allowed for breaks, the efficiency would be measured over 12 hours. This can result in the manipulation of the efficiency figures and makes it impossible to really assess line performance.

Today, there is a much greater emphasis on yield , which is measured over the full period of paid hours. Therefore, using the above example, it would be calculated over the full 16 hours.

The working day often starts with the question ‘What efficiency did we get yesterday?’ The yield figure is fine as a reply, but alongside this should be two other figures; operation efficiency and utilisation. If the yield figure is the only one that is given, it is open to too much interpretation and innuendo.

Investment in a real time measurement system would improve this, but it must be set up with clear objectives. The advantage is that problems can be picked up as they occur, but the data must be easily and quickly interpreted in order that improvement initiatives can be carried out by technicians without reference to management.

Yield

This is the good quality production in the warehouse divided by the rated output of the line to give standard hours. This is then divided by the number of paid hours. So for a three shift x 8-hour operation, this would be 24 hours.

Standard Hours = Good Production in the Warehouse (Units) Rated Output (Units) per hour of the line

Yield = Standard Hours Paid Hours

So, for example, a line has a rated output of 1000 cans per minute for 44cl cans, or 60,000 cans per hour. In the warehouse after 24 hours 45,000 trays (44cl cans) x 24 = 1,080,0000 cans have been produced. So Standard Hours = 1,080,000/60,000 = 18 hours.

Yield therefore = 18*100/24 = 75%.

Operating Efficiency

Depending on the activity, the yield figure could be really depressing. It is important, therefore, to also show the Operation Efficiency. For this figure, the Operating Hours are used. The paid hours are adjusted for the number of planned hours that the line is down for.

Planned Hours = Time allowed for changeovers (from measurement!), maintenance, meetings etc

Operating Hours = Paid Time – Planned Time

So if planned time is 2 hours, the Operation Efficiency is 18*100/(24-2) = 82%

Utilisation

In order to keep a check on planned hours taken, it is advised to record line utilisation during paid hours.

Utilisation = Operating Hours Paid Hours

So for this example

Utilisation = 22*100/24 = 92%

The yield, operation and utilisation figures will provide useful data. For example, changeovers, an extra long meeting and maintenance time can be easily identified alongside other reasons such as machinery breakdowns, component and services problems/shortages, shortage of labour, skill shortages and so on.

Systems

Real time systems - Management Information (MIS) and/or Line Information (LIS) - for measurement are available. This can be interfaced with a management package such as SAP that is already in place.

The accuracy of information is important for many reasons. Preventative Planned Maintenance (PPM) relies on it. This information will also support Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) activities. For TPM to be successful the correct machines need to be targeted for improvement, so that full analysis can be carried out. Furthermore, this accurate and easily accessible data allows well informed decisions to be made on machinery and plant.

Alongside TPM, an OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) measurement is used – this breaks down measurement into three key categories known as: • Availability, • Performance Rate and • Quality Rate.

These in turn are broken down into six big losses:

Availability Equipment Failure Changeover and Set Up

Performance Rate Idling and Minor Stops Reduced Speed

Quality Rate Defects in Process Reduced Yield and Start Ups

Notes. Calculate the efficiency of a canning line with the capacity of 2,000 cans a minute that produces 288,000 cans in three hours.

(a) Machine Cycle Times and Packaging Line Design

Line layouts and speeds are of the essence to good line performance. There are many layout alternatives. The end result may depend on existing layouts, but modern objectives plan to achieve best efficiencies and low manning.

Designs depend on Machine Cycle Times and packaging lines are designed so that the key items of equipment are supported by plant upstream and downstream.

The rate limiting or critical process is usually the filler.

In practice this means that palletisers, washers, labellers etc. will be rated higher than, for example, the bottle filler as illustrated in the chart below:-

Bottling line speed distribution graph - “V” curve

140

120

100

0 De-palletiser Bottle washer Filler Labeller Palletiser De-crater Bottle inspector Pasteuriser Crater

Machines before and after the filler are planned to run faster by increments of 5 to 8%. In this way the line stands the best chance of giving a good efficiency. The machine at the bottom of the graph gives the rated output for the line. The faster the line, the less robust the efficiency, and stoppages will also give a greater loss of output. Also the more machines there are on the line, the lower the efficiency.

It is important that the line equipment is run at the specified rate, otherwise quality problems could well be experienced:-

• A palletiser that runs over speed could damage pallets, crates or packages.

• A bottle washer that runs over speed could reduce the time that bottles are soaked or rinsed leading to dirty bottles. It would also result in detergent carryover into the next section of the washer.

• A filler that runs over speed could result in fobbing due to under counter pressure or air pickup due to under evacuation.

• A labeller that runs over speed could result in ‘angled’ labels.

• A pasteuriser that runs over speed could result in under pasteurisation.

Different package types and different multipack systems will effect line running rates as shown in this example:-

A palletiser is designed to load a certain number of cases per hour. If the cases are required to hold 18 bottles instead of the normal 24, the new configuration, because the palletiser has a maximum case capacity, will reduce the line capacity for bottle filling by 18/24 or 25%.

(b) Line Availability

Packaging line efficiency is also affected by the line availability .

Most machines have a high reliability of around 99%. Some machines, especially those at the dry end, which handle soft packaging, can be as low as 95%. It is normal to ask for a guarantee for machine availability when making a purchase, and to ensure this is met. This may mean spending more initially in order to achieve better reliability. The effect on output is a multiplication of all the availability factors.

Machine Availabilities for a bottling line could be as follows:

• Depalletiser 99% • Washer 98% • Empty Bottle Inspector 99% • Filler 99% • Full Bottle Inspector 99% • Pasteuriser 99% • Labeller 97% • Label Inspector 99% • Sleeve Wrapper 96% • Tray/Shrink 97% • Palletiser 99%.

So, line availability is:

0.99 x 0.98 x 0.99 x 0.99 x 0.99x 0.99 x 0.97 x 0.99 x 0.96 x 0.97 x 0.99 x 100

= 82.5%

Accumulation helps to smooth out the periods of availability assuming that stops are not greater than 2-3 mins in duration. Remember, accumulation is expensive. For slower lines, <300 containers per minute (cpm), accumulation is not as crucial, and also the ‘V’ graph can be flatter. For higher speeds, however, accumulation is vital in order to give an effective line balance. There are two types of accumulation:

1. Static 2. Dynamic

The simplest form of static accumulation is the bi-directional table, which is fitted at right angles to the conveyor. The product accumulates, and is then released into the conveyor when the line restarts. The disadvantage of this type is that products maybe held on the table for some considerable time, as the product will only be slowly released onto the line.

Dynamic accumulation can take place on any conveyors more than one slat wide. Conveyors on a packaging line are divided into two distinct areas – upstream and downstream. Upstream conveyors feed the core machine, for example, the filler, and downstream conveyors take product away from that machine. The upstream conveyors will normally run full, so if for any reason a machine feeding the filler should stop, there is a buffer of containers on the conveyor to keep the filler running. Conversely, the conveyors downstream will run around half full which allows them to fill up when there is a stoppage downstream.

(a) Beer losses

If the amount of wort collected at the start of the production process is compared with the amount of beer in package at the end, it will be found that some losses have been made.

Losses can be in volume or strength (alcohol %) or a combination of the two.

Losses are incurred in a number of ways:-

• Yeast growth during fermentation. A large amount of yeast is created from the materials in the wort and CO2 is evolved from the fermentation. At the end of this process, the yeast is removed and the volume of liquid in the fermenting vessel goes down accordingly. This is usually called the fermentation loss. • When tanks are filled and emptied, it is inevitable that there is some loss because of the liquid left on the sides of the vessel (the wetting loss). • Purging of sediment from the bottom of fermenting and maturation vessels incurs a loss. This is often called the processing loss. • Beer remains in the pipework on the completion of beer transfers. This is often called the transfer loss. • Filtration losses are made because of the material that remains in the filter. • Packaging losses are made when packs are overfilled or when spillages or breakages occur.

Loss control is only possible when the losses are measured. The way to measure losses is to compare the volume before and after a process.

Examples of loss measurement are shown in the diagrams below:-

Filtration losses Beer in maturation vessel Beer in bright beer tank

5,000 Filtration 4,950 litres litres

Filtration loss 5,000 - 4,950 = 50 litres.

50 = 1% 5,000

Packaging losses

Beer in bright beer tank Warehouse stock

5,000 Bottling litres Machine 4,900 litres

Packaging loss 5,000 - 4,900 = 100 litres.

100 = 2% 5,000

Losses are reduced by:-

• Flushing product through with water at completion of transfer.

• Plant maintenance and elimination of leaks.

• Action taken to reduce packaging breakages.

• Strict control of fill heights

(b) Measurement and control of packaging materials wastage.

Packaging materials include such things as:- • Cans and can ends. • Bottles. • Crowns. • Trays. • Labels.

Packaging material costs are the main raw material costs in many plants, especially those that run canning lines. Therefore the measurement and control of these losses is very important.

The way that packaging material losses are measured is by calculating a theoretical use and comparing that to ‘actual’ as illustrated in the table below:-

Packaging 5,000 litres into 440 ml cans:-

Packaging Theoretical amount used Actual amount Waste material used Cans 5,000 X 1,000 = 11,363 cans 11,555 1.7% 440

Can ends 11,363 ends. 11,625 2.3%

Trays 11,363 = 474 trays 500 5.5% 24

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 1 GCP (All Containers): Section 9: Engineering maintenance Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Beer Packaging (GCP) Section 9 Engineering Maintenance

9.1 Packaging Plant Maintenance - Aims and Approaches.

Maintenance is the management of activities that contribute to optimum levels of availability and performance of plant.

The AIMS of maintenance are: • To sustain the functionality of plant • To minimise downtime • To provide a safe environment for personnel operating/cleaning/maintaining the plant • To protect product quality • To prove due diligence, for example for consumer safety • To ensure legal requirements are met, for example environmental compliance • To protect the value of plant

There are four approaches to maintenance.

1. No maintenance. This is when no checking and no maintenance takes place at all. This applies to certain items like electrical components that as and when they fail are discarded and replaced. This approach will only be appropriate in some circumstances.

2. Breakdown maintenance. This is when equipment is only attended to if it breaks down. With this system, there is a big risk of lost production because breakdowns often occur at the worst time. It may be applicable if duplicate plant is installed; otherwise a big stock holding of spares is needed. Breakdown maintenance can also be known as Corrective maintenance.

3. Preventative maintenance. This is where plant is maintained to a plan whether or not it shows signs of wear. Usually components are replaced at the same time, for example pump glands or wear strips on conveyors.

Planned maintenance can vary from a weekly inspection and oil top, through two or three day mini-overhauls, up to a complete line or major item annual overhaul. The concept is that unforeseen breakdowns are much less likely to occur. Preventative maintenance can also be known as Planned maintenance or Planned Preventative maintenance.

4. Predictive maintenance. This is where plant condition is monitored and a prediction is made about when it is likely to break down. A maintenance programme is developed based on the information gathered. This is called ‘Condition Monitoring’ and specifically it is a maintenance process where the condition of equipment is monitored for early signs of impending failure. Equipment can be monitored using sophisticated instrumentation such as vibration analysis, oil analysis, laser alignment of shafts in rotating equipment and thermal imaging. More traditionally, temperature, over voltage or current and liquid level has been monitored to warn of problems. Equally monitoring can be manual often using the human senses. Where instrumentation is used (automatic monitoring) actual limits can be imposed to trigger maintenance activity, generally through a computerised maintenance management system. Predictive maintenance can also be known as Condition Based maintenance. A further variation can be Risk Based maintenance where maintenance tasks are arranged to reflect the risk of failure based on predicted plant life and plant history.

Comments a) Whatever maintenance system is employed all activities must be carried out safely and meet all legal requirements. To meet these requirements a system of ‘safe working practices’ should be employed to ensure that Health and Safety is treated as a priority at all times. A system of safe working practices would include items such as: • Some form of permit to work. • Use of the correct personal protective equipment. • Interlocked guarding systems. • Training • System reviews

b) Most maintenance systems now employ computers for recording information, issuing work and storing plant history. This also enables automatic electronic spares ordering and easily obtainable financial information about maintenance. c) The cost of engineering maintenance needs to be controlled so annual budgets and regular reviews (normally monthly) of expenditure are a prerequisite for control purposes. The normal costs for day to day maintenance

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 3 GCP (All Containers): Section 9: Engineering maintenance activities are usually referred to as revenue items whereas the purchase of a new machine like a de-palletiser or filling machine are capital items.

The advantages and disadvantages of the various maintenance systems are detailed in the table below:

System Advantages. Disadvantages. No maintenance. Easy to set up. Risk of plant unavailability at key Appropriate in some times. circumstances High cost of replacement parts. Breakdown No unnecessary work on Risk of plant unavailability at key maintenance. the plant. times. High cost of spares. Preventative Work done on the plant at a Expensive. Maintenance. convenient time. Plant may be worked on Less likelihood of unnecessarily. breakdowns. Predictive Most effective use of Complex information system needs to maintenance. engineering resources. be maintained. Work done on the plant at a convenient time. Less likelihood of breakdowns.

9.2 Maintenance Tasks

Types of tasks associated with engineering maintenance.

Whether the conditions are breakdown, planned, preventative or associated with an overhaul the majority of engineering maintenance tasks can be linked to the following headings: Mechanical Lubrication Electrical Software/hardware Calibration Inspection Condition monitoring Cleaning of plant Health and Safety Recording and updating information.

Specify important pieces of mechanical and electrical plant that you are familiar with. What method of maintenance is employed to ensure that these pieces of plant or equipment perform as required? Describe in detail a variety of maintenance tasks that are performed under the headings shown above. How much does engineering maintenance cost on an annual basis. How is the budget controlled? Find out the costs of major capital plant items. Describe how health and safety and other legal requirements are met under the engineering maintenance banner.

9.3 Systems for Continuous Improvement.

Poor plant performance and plant failure in one form or another has a major impact on business performance; consequently systems that improve plant reliability are becoming widely implemented.

Three process improvement initiatives are:

• Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM) where teams of key personnel for example maintenance engineers and plant operators decide on how the plant can fail, the consequences of failure and finally the most appropriate maintenance procedures that will reduce the incidence of failure.

• Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) where the plant technicians/operators are trained to pay strict attention to detail, to take great pride in their equipment and to tolerate zero plant defects.

• Workplace Organisation (5S) where technicians/operators focus on achieving and maintaining visual order and cleanliness. 5S aims to remove unneeded items and organise the workplace so that it is easy for the operatives to carry out their tasks and maintain a clean and orderly environment.

In more detail:

(a) Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM)

The principles, which define and characterise RCM are:

• A focus on the preservation of system function; • The identification of specific failure modes to define loss of function or functional failure; • The prioritisation of the importance of the failure modes, because not all functions or functional failures are equal;

• The identification of effective and applicable maintenance tasks for the appropriate failure modes. (Applicable means that the task will prevent, mitigate, detect the onset of, or discover, the failure mode. Effective means that among competing candidates the selected maintenance task is the most cost effective option).

These principles, in turn, are implemented in a seven-step process:

1. The objectives of maintenance with respect to any particular item/asset are defined by the functions of the asset and its associated desired performance standards. 2. Functional failure (the inability of an item/asset to meet a desired standard of performance) is identified. This can only be identified after the functions and performance standards of the asset have been defined. 3. Failure modes (which are reasonably likely to cause loss of each function) are identified. 4. Failure effects (describing what will happen if any of the failure modes occur) are documented. 5. Failure consequences are quantified to identify the criticality of failure. (RCM not only recognizes the importance of the failure consequences but also classifies these into four groups: Hidden failure; Safety and environmental; Operational and Non-operational.) 6. Functions, functional failures, failure modes and criticality analysed to identify opportunities for improving performance and/or safety. 7. Preventive tasks are established. These may be one of three main types: scheduled on-condition tasks (which employ condition-based or predictive maintenance); scheduled restoration; and scheduled discard tasks. Although one of the prime objectives of RCM is to reduce the total costs associated with system failure and downtime, evaluating the returns from an RCM program solely by measuring its impact on costs hides many other less tangible benefits. Typically these additional benefits fall into the following areas: (1) improving system availability; (2) optimizing spare parts inventory; (3) identifying component failure significance; (4) identifying hidden failure modes; (5) discovering significant, and previously unknown, failure scenarios; (6) providing training opportunities for system engineers and operations personnel; (7) identifying areas for potential design enhancement; (8) providing a detailed review, and improvement where necessary, of plant documentation.

(b) Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) TPM aims to establish good maintenance practice through the pursuit of "the five goals of TPM": (1) Improve equipment effectiveness: examine the effectiveness of facilities by identifying and examining all losses which occur - downtime losses, speed losses and defect losses. (2) Achieve autonomous maintenance: allow the people who operate equipment to take responsibility for, at least some, of the maintenance tasks. This can be at:

• The repair level (where staff carry out instructions as a response to a problem);

• The prevention level (where staff take pro-active action to prevent foreseen problems); and the

• Improvement level (where staff not only take corrective action but also propose improvements to prevent recurrence). (3) Plan maintenance: have a systematic approach to all maintenance activities. This involves the identification of the nature and level of preventive maintenance required for each piece of equipment, the creation of standards for condition-based maintenance, and the setting of respective responsibilities for operating and maintenance staff. The respective roles of "operating" and "maintenance" staff are seen as being distinct. Maintenance staff is seen as developing preventive actions and general breakdown services, whereas operating staff take on the "ownership" of the facilities and their general care. Maintenance staff typically move to a more facilitating and supporting role where they are responsible for the training of operators, problem diagnosis, and devising and assessing maintenance practice. (4) Train all staff in relevant maintenance skills: the defined responsibilities of operating and maintenance staff require that each has all the necessary skills to carry out these roles. TPM places a heavy emphasis on appropriate and continuous training.

(5) Achieve early equipment management: the aim is to move towards zero maintenance through "maintenance prevention" (MP). MP involves considering failure causes and the maintainability of equipment during its design stage, its manufacture, its installation, and its commissioning. As part of the overall process, TPM attempts to track all potential maintenance problems back to their root cause so that they can be eliminated at the earliest point in the overall design, manufacture and deployment process.

TPM works to eliminate losses: • Downtime from breakdown and changeover times

• Speed losses (when equipment fails to operate at its optimum speed)

• Idling and minor stoppages due to the abnormal operation of sensors, blockage of work on chutes, etc.

• Process defects due to scrap and quality defects to be repaired

• Reduced yield in the period from machine start-up to stable production.

5S can be broken down into 4 activities and one conviction to continue with the 4 activities. 5S originated in Japan and there are many translations of the Japanese words for 5S – a common set is listed below:

• “Sein” - Sort • “Seiton” - Set in order • “Seiso” - Shine • “Seiketsu” - Standardise • “Shitsuke” - Sustain

Sort The aim of Sort is to remove from the workplace items that are not needed, such as tools, materials and parts, and to identify what items are needed to perform the operations at each of the workstations.

Set in order Set in order is the part of the 5S technique that arranges materials, components and tools in such a way that the operatives can easily access them. An example of this is a shadow board, where each tool has its own place and can be easily located. Additionally, if an empty place exists on the board the missing tool can easily be identified.

Shine For Shine, the workplace needs to be kept clean so that it is safe for the operators to carry out their tasks and move around their workstation. This also benefits productivity as the easier it is for the operatives to move around the quicker it is for them to carry out their tasks.

Standardise Formalise the Sort, Set in order and Shine activities to standardise their practice so that all involved can achieve the same results. Application of this will ensure that the workplace is clean and organised.

Sustain The sustain activity will ensure that 5S is ingrained in the organisation culture. Sustain aims to keep the workforce focussed on carrying out 5S activities on a regular basis, usually daily. Performance is measured to maintain consistency and ensure that all involved are informed of their progress.

The direct changes resulting from carrying out 5S are workplace tidiness and orderliness; these have a beneficial effect on a large number of other factors which improve efficiency. These range from reduced time searching for tools, reduced changeover time, reduced inventory to reduced cycle time.

All three methods rely on detailed records and analysis and ‘problem solving’ in a teamworking environment. These methods also depend on the teams being supported by senior management. High initial set-up costs ultimately enable the achievement significantly improved and sustainable plant reliability.

Comments: There are a number of performance improvement initiatives that are similar to RCM, TPM and 5S. The majority of them focus on improving plant performances by combining a number of simultaneous initiatives and typically include the following:

• ‘Organisational Changes’. • Computerised systems for maintenance, measuring plant breakdowns and performance. • Predictive maintenance techniques. • Cleaning-inspection-lubricate. • Teamworking. • Improvement analysis (various techniques). • Defining roles, responsibilities and accountabilities. • Training and education.

Two further improvement initiatives, generally but not exclusively targeted at high-speed small-packaging lines with complex secondary packaging streams, are Design of Experiments (DOE) and Maintenance Excellence (MEX) :

Design of Experiments (DOE)

Design of Experiments is a structured, organised method that is used to determine the relationship between the different factors (Xs) affecting a

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 9 GCP (All Containers): Section 9: Engineering maintenance process and the output of that process (Y). It involves designing a set of perhaps ten to twenty experiments, in which all relevant factors are varied systematically. When the results of these experiments are analysed, they help to identify optimal conditions, the factors that most influence the results, and those that do not, as well as details such as the existence of interactions and synergies between factors.

Maintenance Excellence (MEX) “Maintenance excellence” is a general term that has been used widely over many years to describe “best practice”. However, Maintenance Excellence (MEX) is the title used (often by suppliers) for a variety of specific approaches to performance improvement, a number of which may be relevant to packaging lines.

Two such examples are:

Maintenance Excellence (MEX) 1 The alignment of interdependent elements of (a) reliable, fit for purpose plant (b) an organisation which has the skills and competence to maintain and operate the plant efficiently (c) business and work processes which optimise design, operations, maintenance and inspection activities. These interdependent elements are aligned to the asset business requirements and balanced against the constraints of safety and environmental impact. This alignment is aimed at optimising maintenance strategy in a cost effective matter.

Maintenance Excellence (MEX) 2

A Japanese variant on Reliability Centred Maintenance which does not have the necessity to spend a great many hours or days looking at failure modes. Equipment and component criticality is also based on the knock-on effect of a failure and the severity of the consequences but the rating and response to it is arrived at in a much simpler way. Those failures which cause safety or environmental risks are prevented from happening and either the components are carried as spares and replaced before failure or the plant item is put on a condition monitoring programme. Those failures which cause production loss or affect quality are also prevented from happening or put on a condition monitoring programme. Those failures which are of no significant consequence are treated as breakdowns.

Notes . Describe the typical features of a performance improvement initiative you are familiar with. Describe your role and responsibilities, who you consult and who you inform.

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 1 GCP (All Containers): Section 10: Warehousing Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Beer Packaging (GCP) Section 10 Warehousing.

10.1 Warehouse Operations and Practices

Warehousing relates to the storage and dispatch of beer, and the reception storage and issue of packaging materials.

Ideally, packaged beer would be delivered to customers directly from the packaging lines. The exact matching of packaging runs to the customers’ requirements, however is not possible and a buffer store of product ready for sale is essential.

Warehousing is an expensive operation, it requires large areas of space and the multi handling of packages or pallets. Space can be used more efficiently if units/pallets are stacked one on top of another. This can be done on racks or by stacking robust pallets, for example pallets of containers. The height that stacks can go depends on the stability of the unit being stacked and the use of mechanical stacking equipment.

Space utilisation is a balance between filling the available volume and keeping products separate for ease of stock management.

The number of times that a unit is handled before being dispatched affects the costs of the warehousing operation. Obviously, the fewer times the better and it is normal to use computer systems to handle stock control especially when a large number of items is being stored.

Best Practices

There are a number of rules governing the warehousing of beer to ensure that maximum quality, customer satisfaction and legal obligations are met:-

• Stock rotation must be on a ‘first in first out’ basis. The age of beer in package is a key quality parameter and as a general rule, the younger the better. Some breweries operate a ‘positive release’ system that ensures that only beer that meets specification is despatched to customers. • Storage conditions must reflect the product being stored:-

Temperature. The temperature range for filtered beer storage is quite wide: it must be above freezing and should be no higher than 25 °C. Very low temperatures could cause the beer to go hazy and very high temperatures could encourage the development of infection or off flavours.

The required temperature range for cask conditioned beers is narrower because yeast is present and beer conditioning needs to occur under optimal conditions. The ideal range is 10 - 17 °C. Condensation problems will affect stretch wrapped pallets if the bottles or cans are still warm off the pasteuriser when they are wrapped and then transferred into a cold warehouse.

Humidity. Air humidity needs to be low because condensation on beer packages can destroy the cardboard of trays and boxes etc. Wet conditions will also adversely affect packaging materials like cardboard.

Handling. Beer packages need to be handled with care, cans for example are easily damaged.

Housekeeping.

Pests, for example pigeons, mice and cockroaches are attracted to warehouses, especially if they are not kept clean and tidy. A hygiene procedure needs to be in place to eliminate all types of pests.

[ For hygiene procedures for floors and walls, see Section 17. ]

Stock taking and control are much easier and more effective in tidy conditions.

Stock control and Taxation (Excise) regulations. Beer in package is liable for duty although the duty is usually paid when the beer leaves the site (i.e. at the gate).Product traceability is a prerequisite. Taxation (Excise) regulations demand that detailed records are kept so that the correct duty is paid.

10.2 Health and Safety.

There are numerous hazards associated with warehousing and distribution, these are itemised below along with the normal procedures used to reduce or eliminate them:-

Hazard Safety procedure Manual handling • Plant and systems designed for minimum manual handling. accidents • Staff training in safe working procedures. • Use of hard hats and safety wear. Fork Lift Truck and • Separation of FLTs and all vehicles from pedestrians; use of other vehicle clearly marked walkways. accidents • Audible and visible alarms. • Staff training in safe working procedures, for example pre-use checks on FLTs. • Use of high visibility clothing. Slips trips and • Use of non slip materials for floors and steps etc. falls. • Regular cleaning of floors. • Limited use of hoses. Machinery • Permit to work procedures for maintenance. accidents. • Guarding of machinery.

Notes.

Describe the warehousing operation at your brewery. What checks, other than for stock control, are carried out in this warehouse?

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 1 GCP (All Containers): Section 12: Beer quality & process control for packaging Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Beer Packaging (GCP) Section 11 Beer Quality and Process Control for Packaging.

11.1 Key Packaged Beer Parameters.

A basic knowledge of key quality parameters is required along with the factors affecting them during the packaging of beer.

The table below lists the main quality measures taken during and at the completion of beer packaging along with an explanation why that measure is important.

Dissolved carbon dioxide • Carbon dioxide gives beer its lively fizzy character. (CO 2 ) • High levels of CO 2 will make the beer fob or over foam.

Dissolved nitrogen. • Nitrogen gives beer a stable foam which clings to the side (N 2 ) of a glass as it is consumed.

Beer flavour. • Beer flavour is its most important characteristic and it is (Trueness to type). why people consume the product. • Customers expect a specific beer to have a consistent flavour, that is it should be true to type. Beer clarity. • Customers expect the beer that they drink to be ‘bright’, it (Haze, potential haze) looks more attractive. • Cloudy beer indicates poor quality and perhaps contamination or infection.

Beer head stability, • Most customers expect the beer to have an attractive (Foam/cling). foamy head and for that head to cling to the sides of the glass. Fill level. • The fill level determines the amount of beer in the package. This is what is sold to the customer who expects to get what is paid for. It also is the volume of beer that is specified in the ‘contents’ statement.

Label quality. • Customers expect to see an attractive bottle. • Legibility. • Conformance to local regulations. Bottle crown quality. • The bottle must be sealed so that beer cannot leak out or air leak in. Can printing quality. • Customers expect to see an attractive can.

Can seam quality. • The can must be sealed so that beer cannot leak out or air leak in.

Sterility • Microbiological contamination is the most destructive form of quality defect. Wild yeasts, moulds and bacteria will grow readily in beer and effect its flavour, aroma and clarity to the degree that makes it undrinkable. • Sterility is a key factor because of the microbes’ ability to grow at phenomenal rates, so a small contamination quickly becomes a major problem.

Notes: What are the local regulations which control statutory declarations (e.g. ABV, fill levels, labelling requirements) in the country where you operate?

Quality Parameters

Quality parameters are measured at each stage of the process so that the performance of each stage can be checked and the final outcome of beer quality can be predicted.

The table below details the final pack analysis where quality is measured and the factors that determine each quality parameter:-

Packaged beer production and Packaging operations.

Parameter Determining factors Alcohol content (ABV) • Packaging/liquor flush operations. • Original gravity. Final specific gravity • Packaging/liquor flush operations. (OG & PG) • Original gravity. Beer pH. • Filtered beer pH. Beer colour • Filtered beer colour. Beer bitterness. • Filtered beer bitterness. (Isohumulone / EBU) Diacetyl. • Filtered beer diacetyl. • Microbiological contamination from plant/package. Trace flavour compounds. • Trace flavour compounds in filtered beer. (DMS, acetaldehyde, esters) • Contamination. Air in headspace. • Packaging performance. Dissolved oxygen (DO 2) • Transfer-in procedure. • Air levels in the bright beer tank before transfer in. • Packaging performance.

Dissolved carbon dioxide • Bright beer CO 2. (CO 2) • Packaging performance, counter pressure. Dissolved nitrogen. • Nitrogen additions/dosing. (N 2) • Packaging performance, counter pressure. Beer flavour. • Bright beer flavour. (Trueness to type). • Contamination. • Beer DO 2. • Pasteurisation performance. Beer clarity. • Bright beer clarity/stability. (Haze, potential haze) • Beer DO 2. • Packaging performance. • Pasteurisation performance. Beer head stability, • Bright beer head stability. (Foam/cling). • Beer handling. • Contamination from plant/package. • Packaging performance.

Fill level. • Packaging performance.

Label quality. • Packaging performance, labeller. • Label stock quality. Bottle crown quality. • Packaging performance, crowner. • Crown stock quality. Can print quality. • Can stock quality. Can seam quality. • Packaging performance, seamer. Beer sterility. • Bright beer sterility. • Packaging plant sterility.

11.2 Process Specifications

A basic knowledge of key quality parameters is required along with the factors affecting them during the production of wort and beer.

Beer production involves a number of complex and interacting physical, biochemical and microbiological processes.

The table below lists the main quality measures taken during beer production and packaging along with an explanation why that measure is important.

Parameter Relevance to beer quality. Alcohol content (ABV) • Indicates the strength of the beer and value to the consumer. • Indicates the degree to which a consumer can become intoxicated. Original Gravity (OG) • Indicates the strength of the beer and value to the Present Gravity (PG) consumer. • Indicates the strength of flavour of the beer. pH. • Mash & wort pH affect enzyme performance in the brewhouse. • Wort & beer pH affect hop utilisation and beer bitterness. • Wort & beer pH affects microbiological growth. • Beer pH affects its flavour. • Variable pH can indicate contamination.

Beer colour • Beer colour is immediately perceived by the consumer.

Beer bitterness. • Beer bitterness has a strong flavour effect. (Isohumulone / EBU)

Trace flavour compounds. • Trace by-products of fermentation give the beer its (Diacetyl, DMS, characteristic and distinctive flavour. Their balance ensures acetaldehyde, esters) that the beer will be ‘true to type’. • Excess of any substance will cause flavour problems.

Dissolved oxygen (DO 2) • Dissolved oxygen is required in wort to encourage yeast growth and a healthy fermentation. • Dissolved oxygen in beer causes oxidation which makes it taste unpleasantly stale and on pasteurisation the beer will also taste of wet cardboard. • Dissolved oxygen in beer will make it unstable and hazes can form during ageing. Dissolved carbon dioxide • Carbon dioxide gives beer its lively sparkling character. (CO 2) • High levels of CO 2 will make the beer fob or over foam. Dissolved nitrogen. • Nitrogen gives beer a stable foam which clings to the side (N 2) of a glass as it is consumed. Beer flavour. • Beer flavour is its most important characteristic and it is (Trueness to type). why people consume the product. • Customers expect a specific beer to have a consistent flavour, that is it should be true to type. Beer clarity. • Customers expect the beer that they drink to be ‘bright’, it (Haze, potential haze) looks more attractive. • Cloudy beer indicates poor quality and perhaps contamination or infection. Beer head stability, • Most customers expect the beer to have an attractive (Foam/cling). foamy head and for that head to cling to the sides of the glass. Sterility • Microbiological contamination is the most destructive form of quality defect. Wild yeasts, moulds and bacteria will grow readily in wort of fermented beer and effect its flavour, aroma and clarity to the degree that makes it undrinkable. • Sterility is a key factor because of the microbes’ ability to grow at phenomenal rates, so a small contamination quickly becomes a major problem.

O.G. or ‘Original Gravity’ is the specific gravity of the wort before it has been fermented. P.G. or ‘Present Gravity’ is the specific gravity of the sample when sampled. pH is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a substance. Water is neutral with a pH of 7, acids are lower than 7 alkalis are higher.

Quality parameters are measured at each stage of the process so that the performance of each stage can be checked and the final outcome of beer quality can be predicted.

The tables below detail the stages where quality is measured and the factors that determine each parameter:-

Bright beer production and Filtration operations.

Parameter Determining factors Alcohol content (ABV) • High gravity beer dilution performance. • Filtration/liquor flush operations. • Original gravity. Final specific gravity • High gravity beer dilution performance. (OG & PG) • Filtration/liquor flush operations. • Original gravity. Beer pH. • Mature beer pH. Beer colour • Mature beer colour. Beer bitterness. • Mature beer bitterness. (Isohumulone / EBU) • Bitterness loss on filtration. Diacetyl. • Time of maturation. • Temperature of maturation. Dissolved oxygen (DO 2) • Transfer-in procedure. • Air levels in the bright beer tank before transfer in. • Filtration performance.

Dissolved carbon dioxide • Mature beer CO 2. (CO 2) • Back pressure on transfer into bright beer tank. • CO 2 trimming during filtration. Beer flavour. • Mature beer flavour. (Trueness to type). • Contamination. Beer clarity. • Time of maturation. (Haze, potential haze) • Temperature of maturation. • Filtration performance. • Stabilisation. Beer head stability, • Brewhouse and fermentation operations. (Foam/cling). • Raw materials, quality & usage rates. • Beer handling. • Contamination. • Beer additions. Beer sterility • Mature beer sterility. • Filter & filter main sterility. • Bright beer tank sterility.

The table below lists the main quality measures taken during and at the completion of beer production, along with an explanation why that measure is important.

Parameter Relevance to beer quality. Alcohol content (ABV) • Indicates the strength of the beer and value to the consumer. • Indicates the degree to which a consumer can become intoxicated. • Dictates the amount of duty to be paid on the beer. Final specific gravity • Indicates the strength of the beer and value to the (OG & PG) consumer. • Indicates the strength of flavour of the beer. pH. • Beer pH affects microbiological growth. • Beer pH affects its flavour. • Variable pH indicates contamination. Beer colour • Beer colour is immediately perceived by the consumer. Beer bitterness. • Beer bitterness has a strong flavour effect. (Isohumulone / EBU) Trace flavour compounds. • Trace by-products of fermentation give the beer its (e.g. Diacetyl, DMS, characteristic and distinctive flavour. Their balance ensures acetaldehyde, esters) that the beer will be ‘true to type’. • Excess of any substance will cause flavour problems. Dissolved oxygen (DO 2) • Dissolved oxygen in beer makes it taste unpleasantly stale and on pasteurisation the beer will also taste of wet cardboard. • Dissolved oxygen in beer will make it unstable and go cloudy. Dissolved carbon dioxide • Carbon dioxide gives beer its lively fizzy character. (CO 2) • High levels of CO 2 will make the beer fob or over foam. Dissolved nitrogen. • Nitrogen gives beer a stable foam which clings to the side (N 2) of a glass as it is consumed. Beer flavour. • Beer flavour is its most important characteristic and it is (Trueness to type). why people consume the product. • Customers expect a specific beer to have a consistent flavour, that is it should be true to type. Beer clarity. • Customers expect the beer that they drink to be ‘bright’, it (Haze, potential haze) looks more attractive. • Cloudy beer indicates poor quality and perhaps contamination or infection. Beer head stability, • Most customers expect the beer to have an attractive (Foam/cling). foamy head and for that head to cling to the sides of the glass. Sterility • Microbiological contamination is the most destructive form of quality defect. Wild yeasts, moulds and bacteria will grow readily in beer and effect its flavour, aroma and clarity to the degree that makes it undrinkable. • Sterility is a key factor because of the microbes’ ability to grow at phenomenal rates, so a small contamination quickly becomes a major problem.

Action to be taken when parameters are out of specification:-

There are two points to consider when confronted with an out of specification result:- Firstly, what to do with the current problem. Secondly, what to do to prevent things going wrong in the future .

When handling any problem, it is best to start with some form of investigation and not to jump to conclusions. The sort of questions to ask are:- • Is it real? Are the results correct? • What is the extent of the problem? Are other beers affected? • When did it happen? Where did it happen? What else was going on at the time? • What are the possible causes? What are the likely causes? • What can be done about it? This is an example of the action that could be taken to resolve an out of specification high colour beer.

Investigation and action:-

Are the results correct? Recheck the analysis. -The result is correct What is the extent of the Check other beer colours. problem? -There are no other defects. When did it happen? Check the cusum graph. - Colours started to increase at sample 5. What else was Check process activities that could affect beer colour at happening at the time? the time that the sample was brewed. - A delivery of a new coloured malt. What are the possible or It is likely that the new malt is causing high colours. likely causes? What can be done about For the current problem:- it? Blend the beer with a lower colour beer. The beer is acceptable and blending will not cause any further problems. For the future:- Reduce the amount of coloured malt added. Investigate the cause of the high coloured malt.

Notes. Describe the action that was taken to resolve an out of specification parameter in a brewery of your experience.

The people who consume our beer expect and deserve a consistently high quality product. The key factors in maintaining consistent quality are the establishment of, and the measurement for comparison to, a set of process and product specifications .

There are a number of measurements that are taken during the process and at the completion of the process which indicate whether the process is in control and whether the beer is of the right quality. Examples of the most important of these measurements are given below.

The principle of controlling quality is based on setting specifications for each of these measurements, measuring the process and taking corrective action if the product or process is ‘out of specification’. Having said that, there are some factors to be taken into consideration:- • All measuring instruments have a degree of tolerance. • The raw materials used in the brewing process are naturally grown and therefore cannot be expected to always behave in exactly the same way. • Errors can be made in sampling, especially when a small sample is taken from a large batch. Therefore it is usual to give specifications a ‘range’ to reflect the normal expected variation in values.

Methods for Recording, Reporting and the Interpretation of Data.

Sampling Schedules. A sampling schedule is a plan specifying where, how and how frequently samples of the product in process and at the end of process are taken.

A routine sampling schedule is required so that:-

• Key measurements are taken without exception and the whole of the process is covered. It is too late if the first warning of a quality problem comes from the consumer.

• The quality picture can be seen from statistically presented data. A very useful quality control method is to look at historical trends. Using this method, current results are compared to those obtained in previous months/years. A sampling schedule makes sure that there is enough data to make these comparisons.

• The work of the people who are sampling and measuring can be organised effectively.

An example of a sampling schedule is detailed in the table below:-

Stage. Frequency. Notes. Fermented beer and Each vessel/tank. To monitor quality and to prepare for beer ready for filtration. action in the event of problems. Beer ready for Each vessel/tank. To confirm conformance and packaging. therefore suitability for packaging and consumption. Packaging materials. Each delivery. Frequency depends on supplier reliability. Beer in package. Each code. To monitor packaging performance. Plant. A specified number of To monitor plant cleaning tanks per week. performance. Cleaning materials. A specified number of To ensure that the plant is cleaned samples per week. effectively.

Collation and presentation of data.

It is likely that there will be a large number of results from a sampling schedule like the one illustrated, especially in a large plant. The results must then be presented in a way that highlights the information as effectively as possible.

There are two main ways of presenting data so that problems are highlighted and action can be taken:-

• Defect highlighting. • Control charts.

An illustration of how defects can be highlighted is given below:-

Sample Result for beer colour number (Specification = 10 to 15) 1 13 2 13 3 12 4 13 5 15 6 13 7 14 8 16 9 14 10 14

It can be seen very quickly that sample number 8 is out of specification.

This type of presentation is useful, if for example, a simple decision is required as to whether the beer is passed as suitable for packaging. It does not however, assist in analysing results so that some clue as to the cause of the problem can be discovered.

• It would be useful to know the average colour of these beers. If that was high, then an adjustment to the process upstream could be made. • It would be useful to know the range or spread of colours of these beers. If the range is very wide, then the process may be out of control and action may be required to resolve the situation.

In order to resolve these problems, statistical analysis in the form of control charts is required. Pictures in the form of graphs have much more impact than simple tables.

Charts can be in different formats and can show:-

• Individual results plotted on a graph. The specifications can be drawn in as well. • Average results or ‘rolling’ average results plotted on a graph. • The range of results obtained. • The cumulative effect of deviation from the target and the effect of any action taken. This is a graph plotting the beer colours that were shown above as individual results:- 17

11 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910

The defect sample 8 stands out from the others. Also it can be seen that there seems to be a trend of increasing colours.

The next graph was prepared by plotting a three point moving average of the same beer colour results. The first point is an average of colours 1, 2 & 3 the second point is an average of colours 2, 3 & 4 and so on.

14.5

13.5

12.5 1-3 2-4 3-5 4-6 5-7 6-8 7-9 8-10

This method of presenting data evens out the highs and lows and illustrates the rising trend very well. From this graph, it can be seen that the beer colours have been increasing steadily and that, unless something is done about it, they will continue to increase.

The next figure is a bar graph histogram that shows the numbers of samples that have the same beer colour results, that is how many beers have a colour of 12, how many have a colour of 13 etc.

0 12 13 14 15 16

In this distribution curve, a wide distribution indicates a very wide range and a control problem, a narrow distribution indicates a narrow range with the process well under control.

The next graph below is called a ‘cumulative sum’ or ‘cusum’. It is designed to exaggerate very graphically, how a trend is going and the effect of any action taken to correct a problem. It is plotted by taking as a starting point, the target value which would normally be the middle of the specification.

(For our beer colours, the middle of the specification would be 12.5.)

The next step is to calculate the difference between the target value and the actual colour. Then the differences are added up cumulatively as follows:

Sample Result difference Cumulative number from target of sum 12.5 1 13 +0.5 +0.5 2 13 +0.5 +1.0 3 12 -0.5 +0.5 4 13 +0.5 +1.0 5 15 +2.5 +3.5 6 13 +0.5 +4.0 7 14 +1.5 +5.5 8 16 +3.5 +9.0 9 14 +1.5 +10.5 10 14 +1.5 +12.0

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910

The ideal situation for a cusum graph is for it to run along the zero line because that indicates that there is zero deviation from the target. The graph above shows that beer colours were in control until sample number 5 and from then on they were too high.

Many breweries enter the results of analyses into computer databases. This gives a number of benefits:-

• Recording data is quick and easy. • It means that cumbersome paper records are not required. • Defects can be highlighted automatically. • Records can be easily accessed from a number of points on a network.. • The sort of graphs discussed above can be generated automatically.

Notes.

Using the table of results for beer pH given below, plot graphs illustrating individual results, a three point moving average, a distribution curve and a cusum chart.

Sample Result for beer pH number (Specification = 4 to 5) 1 4.0 2 3.5 3 4.5 4 5.0 5 4.5 6 4.0 7 3.5 8 3.5 9 4.0 10 3.5

What do the graphs tell you about the process?

Instrumentation for in-line process control.

The brewing industry uses instruments to measure the quality of the beer in process or the conditions of a process so that the process can be controlled.

A typical control loop is illustrated below:-

Fermenting Vesel Coolant valve Cooling Jacket Control system

Temperature probe

In this model, the temperature of the beer in the fermenting vessel is being controlled. The temperature probe measures the temperature of the beer and sends the information to the control system which compares it to the required value. If it is different, say for example that the actual temperature is too high, then the controller sends a signal to the valve to open sending coolant to the jacket and lowering the temperature of the b

The table below details the principles of instruments in common use in brewing and packaging:-

Value measured Instrument description Special points

Temperature. The signal from a e.g. for pasteurization • Transmitting resistance thermometer transmitting temp. (electrical resistance ≅ temp). thermometer may need checking. Pressure. • Pressure gauge. Pressure sensors are e.g. for filter pressure • Pressure sensor using a transducer. easily damaged and differential. need regular maintenance. Flow rate. • Rotary vane meter. Can be used to e.g. for PU control. • Magnetic flow meter (change in measure total volume. magnetic field ≅ flow). • Pressure differential across an orifice.

Alcohol (ABV) • Infra red adsorption. Results usually backed e.g. for dilution of • Refractive index. up by laboratory high gravity beer. analyses. PG • Weight of the liquid in a known volume. e.g. for dilution of e.g. a ‘U’ tube in line. high gravity beer. • Vibrating ‘U’ tube in line. (resonance ≅ density). Haze. • Light beam scattered by the particles in Regular calibration e.g. for filtration suspension is measured. using a clear liquid monitoring. (water). Volume. • Pressure sensors at strategic levels in It is useful to have an e.g. for measuring the the tank. alternative method of contents of a tank. • Flow meter on the tank inlet line. checking for example • Ultra sonic beam measures depth of dipping the tank. liquid in the tank. Mass/weight. • Load cells e.g. for check weighing of kegs Dissolved oxygen. • Gas transfer through a membrane The membrane is e.g. for checking DO 2 where the increase in pressure across sensitive and is easily pickup during beer the membrane is measured. poisoned (corrupted) transfer. by fouling or damage. Dissolved nitrogen. • Gas transfer through a membrane The membrane is e.g. for monitoring N 2 where the increase in pressure across sensitive and is easily injection. the membrane is measured. poisoned (corrupted) by fouling or damage. Carbon dioxide. • Gas transfer through a membrane The membrane is e.g. for monitoring where the increase in pressure across sensitive and is easily CO 2 injection the membrane is measured. poisoned (corrupted) systems. • Infra red adsorption. by fouling or damage. Conductivity. • Measuring the electrical differential Regular maintenance e.g. for measuring across two sensors located in the required especially if detergent strength in liquid. the values control a a C.I.P. system. system. pH. • Measuring the electrical differential The membrane is e.g. for monitoring across a membrane between the liquid sensitive and is easily water supplies. and a salt solution. poisoned (corrupted) by fouling or damage.

Notes.

List the instrumentation in an automatically controlled process in beer packaging that you are aware of. What is the basis of their operation and how do they control the process?

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 1 GCP (All Containers): Section 12: Beer quality – Flavour Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Beer Packaging (GCP) Section 12 Beer Quality - Flavour.

Flavour Evaluation - Introduction.

Candidates need to be able to define concisely particular beer styles in terms of their aroma, alcohol, colour, bitterness and palate feel.

The main differences between lagers, ales and stouts:-

Beer type Raw materials Brewing process Characteristics Lager. Relatively under-modified Temperature staged Light colour, delicate and very pale malt. mash. flavour. Often dry and Possibly some cereal Bottom astringent with an ‘onion’ adjunct (e.g. maize or fermentation. character. rice). Long, cold Premium beers at 5% Delicately flavoured hops. maturation followed alcohol. by filtration. Lower strength beers at 3-4% alcohol. Ale. Well modified malt with Single temperature Pale colour, strong bitter Bitter beer. rich flavour. mash. flavour and hoppy aroma. Possibly some sugar Top fermentation. Normal strength 4-5% adjunct. Short maturation, alcohol. Strongly flavoured hops. possibly in cask. Ale. Well modified malt with Single temperature Pale or dark colour, slight Mild beer. rich flavour. mash. bitter flavour and usually Possibly some sugar Top fermentation. sweet. adjunct. Short maturation, Normal strength 3-4% Flavoured hops. possibly in cask. alcohol. Possibly some priming sugar. Bitter Well modified malt with Same as an ale. Very dark colour with Stout. additions of coloured malt strong flavours of roasted and roasted barley. barley. Very bitter. High levels of hop additions Sweet Well modified malt with Same as an ale. Very dark colour with Stout additions of coloured malt. flavours of roasted Possibly some caramel barley. Very sweet. and sweet primings.

Beer production in different geographic regions.

There are two factors that have effected the growth of beer production in different regions, firstly the availability of raw materials, especially water and barley and secondly the success in selling the beer to the local customers. Where the two factors have come together, then production levels have grown.

The source of the water supply in these areas has played a part in flavouring the beer. More detail about water supplies can be found in Section 18, but the main salts that effect beer flavour are:- • Chlorides which give beer a fuller flavour. • Sulphates which reduce mash pH and give the beer a dry sulphury character. • Iron which gives beer a metallic flavour.

Notes. Write down details of the characteristics of the beer produced in your geographic region as well as in your brewery.

People sense the flavour of a beer in two ways, aroma and taste:-

Aroma:- Hoppy, Fruity, Floral, Yeasty, Honey, Sulphury, Spicy, Cardboard, Chlorine

Taste:- Sweet Salty Bitter Sour M etallic

Another factor which influences taste is ‘mouth feel’, that is how the liquid stays on the tongue and helps the flavour to linger.

The various characteristics of the flavour can be given standard terms so that people tasting the beer can recognise and describe that flavour in a common language. That way, a beer can be tested and analysed for flavour just as it can be analysed for other quality parameters like colour or pH. It is possible to relate flavour descriptors to certain chemical components, as follows:

Recognised flavours and associated beer constituents  Flavour Characteristic Beer Constituent  Alcoholic Ethyl alcohol Solvent-like, estery, fruity Ethyl, iso-butyl, amyl, β-phenyl acetates Fruity/appley/sharp Acetaldehyde Phenolic: herbal 4-Vinyl and ethyl guicacol chlorophenol Various chlorophenols Fatty acid Valeric acid Buttery Diacetyl Rancid Caproic acid Cooked Vegetable/sweetcorn Dimethyl sulphide Papery trans-2-Nonenal Acetic/sharp Acetic acid Sour Lactic acid Sweetness Glucose, fructose, sucrose, maltose, chloride ion Bitterness iso-α-Acids Metallic Iron, copper, zinc Carbonation Carbon dioxide Warming Amyl alcohol

People need to be trained to taste and this is done by exposing them to the tastes and aromas normally associated with beer so that they learn to recognise them and to judge their intensity. A common language has been devised to describe beer flavours and brewers throughout the world have agreed on a terminology that is used for beer. In this terminology, each of the recognisable flavours has been given a name and the flavour wheel is a pictorial summary of the main flavour characters:

Professional assessment of beer flavour is an important analytical tool. Beers are given flavour profiles so that tasting by trained tasters can be carried out during and after the production and packaging processes and they can judge whether a beer meets the required standards. Each beer brand will have its own unique flavour profile which goes with its other unique specification values.

Trueness to Type.

A beer that is ‘true to type’ matches the standard flavour profile for that particular product or brand. Flavour profiles are produced by specifying a beer’s typical flavours and intensities and documenting them, probably in a graphic form. A typical flavour profile in the from of a spider diagram is shown below:-

SWEET ALCOHOL BITTER

SOUR HOPPY

YEASTY FRUITY

FLORAL

Trueness - to – Type is a type of grading test used to classify a product for quality by selected assessors on the basis of several attributes. For example, a beer is scored on up to 12 key flavour attributes using a 7-point scale from ‘Too much’ through ‘Just right’ to ‘Too little’. ‘Just right’ is scored 3, ‘Too much’ and ‘Too little’ 0, with the intermediate ratings for 1 or 2. One of the benefits of this technique is to provide a single numerical indicator of flavour quality which can be used to monitor trends. The value obtained can also been used to augment the results of a direct assessment of acceptability obtained from assessors’ judgement using a 1-10 scale. A minimum of 5 tasters present at the same time are required and no more than 3-4 beers should be tasted in a session.

A ‘high scoring’ beer is used as a standard to remind tasters of the ‘ideal’ product. The occasional check by a different group, preferably one sited on a different location, is necessary to guard against a drift in the standard/ideal product.

Taste tests. Beer must be tasted as part of normal quality control, the specification being the ‘flavour profile’. Flavour profiling is described as a “ Descriptive ” Taste Test, requiring trained tasters to be able to analyse the flavour of beer in considerable detail. Even the simplest tests should be carried out under controlled conditions or the results, because of an inability to reproduce them, will be worthless.

Because tasters – even trained and selected ones – vary in sensitivity to a particular flavour from ‘blindness’ to hyper-sensitivity, it is necessary to use several tasters to assess each beer. A suitable number for such a “Flavour Panel” is 8, and 5 should be regarded as absolute minimum.

If problems are encountered, an investigation could include a ‘triangular taste test’ or three-glass test, where three samples are tasted with one of the samples being different to the others. This is described as a “ Difference ” test and is used to answer the questions ‘Are the samples different?’, or ‘Do the samples differ on a specific attribute?’ They may also be used in the selection and training of tasters and for monitoring their performance.

If there is a notable difference between the samples, a statistically significant number of tasters will pick it out. For statistically reliable results from a triangle taste test using untrained testers, it is usually recommended that a minimum of 25 assessors should be used.

The triangle test is recommended:

to detect slight differences between samples;

when only a limited number of assessors is available;

for the selection and training of assesors.

Some disadvantages of the test are that:

it is uneconomical for the assessment of a large number of samples;

with intensely flavoured samples it may be more affected by sensory fatigue than the paired comparison test;

it may be difficult to ensure that the two samples that are supposed to be the same are in fact identical.

In the Triangle Taste Test the assessor is presented with three beers, two of which are identical. The purpose of the test is to select the odd beer out of the three. The assessor is normally asked to express a preference between the beers and to indicate which attribute(s) were perceived as different in making the choice.

The beers should be arranged in random order so as to eliminate bias due to carry-over of flavours. ( i.e AAB, ABA, BAA, etc). After tasting has ended, the number of correct answers is counted and compared with the number taking the test and the statistical significance of the results is determined.

Notes. Write down the flavour profile of two distinctly different types of beer produced in your brewery.

12.3. Tasting during Processing

Tasting during processing and packaging can ensure that any flavour defects are recognised before the beer is released to trade. It is common practice to operate a “positive release” programme of beer from bright storage tank prior to transfer to Packaging.

Common Flavour Taints in Beer

(a) Sulphur Compounds

H2S (Rotten Eggs) and SO 2 (Burnt Matches) are usually regarded as flavour taints, but sub-threshold levels of a whole range of sulphur compounds (including dimethyl di-sulphide – DMDS and tri-sulphide - DMTS) and various hop-derived thiol esters can all contribute to an ill- defined, so-called “Lager” character.

(b) Phenols

One of the most flavour-intense group of substances causing beer taint is the chlorinated phenols, such as TCP, generating flavour described as Medicinal, Disinfectant. The range of individual taster’s sensitivity to these compounds can vary by several orders of magnitude, so that some individuals are virtually “taste blind” to chlorophenols. These compounds are usually generated by reaction between chlorine (such as Towns Water disinfected with Cl 2, or inappropriate use of hypochlorite in beer vessels and mains) with phenols in water or beer (often contaminated steam, used for plant or container sterilisation); prolonged and excessive exposure of beer lines in draught beer installations to beer line cleaner is also a classic source of this beer taint Control is achieved by elimination or tightly controlled use of hypochlorite and carbon filtration of all relevant water supplies to remove any Cl 2 residues.

Related Phenolic taint can be due to wild yeast infection. In this case the flavour taint is described as Medicinal or Cloves and is usually due to the synthesis by the wild yeast of 4-vinyl guaiacol.

This compound is associated with the flavour character described as Musty, Fungal or Wet Carpet. It is caused usually by mould or bacterial infection in water supplies and is controlled by appropriate hygiene regimes.

(d) Metal Ions

Elevated levels of Iron and sometimes Copper and Aluminium can lead to flavour taints such as Metallic, Rusty and Astringent. Some filter aids (diatomaceous earth) contain high levels of Iron and poor quality or corroded stainless steel in vessels and mains can also contribute. Poorly lacquered cans and kegs can be a source of pick up of aluminium.

(e) Plastic

Incompletely polymerised plastic (eg PET) beer containers (bottles or one trip kegs) or excessive plastizer can be sources of Plastic taint. In addition poorly cured lacquer linings in aluminium cans and kegs can contribute.

(f) Aldehydes

Control of Flavour Stability

(a) Elimination of Oxygen

Minimise oxygen pick up by use of deaerated brewing liquor, fill vessels from bottom up, purge all vessels and mains with inert gas, prior to beer transfers, etc.

Maintain sufficient levels of natural anti-oxidants, eg polyphenols from malt and hops, SO 2 from fermentation.

The amount of polyphenols in beer is affected by mashing, wort boiling, break formation and protein-polyphenol precipitation as well as oxidation. The amount of polyphenols remaining needs to be protected to maximise their anti-oxidant activity.

SO 2 forms complexes with aldehydes and so restrict the adverse flavour effects.

(b) Packaging Considerations

O2 scavenging materials can be incorporated into bottle crown seals, e.g sulphite and/or ascorbate.

Good quality lacquer for cans (and optimised curing) to ensure no metal contamination (iron or aluminium). Also applies to kegs (and casks).

Iso-α-acids are susceptible to photochemical degradation. In the presence of a sulphur source, they will generate the production of 3-methyl-2- butene-1-thiol (MBT), which has a skunky aroma (at a very low flavour threshold - 10 ng/l).

- Photochemical degradation can be avoided by use of brown bottle glass, but if, for marketing reasons, green or flint lass must be used, then exposure to light is a major concern.

- Alternatively, reduced iso-α-acids can be used (such as Rho- and tetrahydro-iso-α-acids, which are totally resistant to “light-striking”.

Minimisation of temperature changes for stored beer; ideally at 0ºC; since the chemical reaction rate doubles for every 10ºC rise in temperature; therefore, STORE BEER AS COLD AS POSSIBLE.

Filtered and Pasteurised beer; store at 0º C; “live” beer (cask- or bottle- conditioned), store between 10 and 15 ºC.

Warehouse control: first in; First out; good stock rotation.

Ideally, store in darkness.

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 1 GCP (All Containers): Section 13: Beer quality – Dissolved oxygen Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Beer Packaging (GCP) Section 13 Beer Quality - Dissolved Oxygen.

13.1. Dissolved Oxygen and Beer Quality.

The quality of a beer is continually changing. Beer is not completely stable in its final package even after packaging to the highest standards. Generally speaking, fermented beer will improve in quality during maturation, but will start to deteriorate once the beer has been filtered or clarified.

The two major factors in this change are the absence of yeast and the presence of oxygen.

Yeast helps the beer to mature by absorbing some of the unpleasant flavour compounds like diacetyl and scavenging oxygen.

Oxygen de-stabilises both the flavour and haze stability of the beer.

What does oxygen do to finished beer?

• Firstly, oxygen, when it has dissolved in beer, assists in the binding together of protein material and tannin material derived from the malt used in brewing to create particles large enough to form haze and make the beer go cloudy. • Secondly when oxygen has dissolved in beer, it combines with other materials like lipids (fats) to form compounds with a very unpleasant flavour. The flavour formed is often described as ‘stale, papery or cardboard’. This reaction is speeded up at high temperatures, thus the combination of high levels of oxygen and pasteurisation is disastrous!

Control of Flavour Stability

Oxidation of fatty acids and other lipids to aldehydes and other carbonyl compounds, such as trans-2-nonenal, is associated classically with stale flavour taints (Papery, Cardboard) and are major factors influencing beer flavour stability. Elimination of Oxygen pick up into the beer stream, either during processing or packaging is key to controlling the stability of beer and to prevent staling and is described in section 13.4, below.

Flavour stability of beer depends primarily on the oxygen content of the packaged beer. Beer staling is a major topic with all brewers, and it is true to say that the mechanism for its development is not fully understood.

In order to ensure that beer has a good shelf life, it is important to keep the oxygen in package below 0.2ppm (200ppb) measured as TIPO (Total in Package Oxygen) and not subject the product to more heat than necessary during treatment. Many brewers insist that the exit temperature from a tunnel pasteuriser is as low as 20 oC although 26 oC is more normal. This is in order to prevent further deterioration during storage.

Where does the oxygen come from?

• Air contains oxygen, so that any time the beer comes into contact with air, it will pick up oxygen.

• The point of contamination is at the surface of the beer and this means that the larger the surface area, the more oxygen will be picked up. When the beer is agitated, a larger surface area is created and more oxygen will be dissolved.

How much oxygen is needed to spoil the beer?

• A very small amount of oxygen will cause problems because it only needs a small amount of protein/tannin to form a haze and only a small amount of oxidised lipid is needed to give an off flavour.

• A DO 2 level of 0.5 parts per million will cause problems, this is a thimble full of air in five 100 hl (22 UK gallon) kegs.

• Most brewers try to maintain DO 2 levels below 100 ppb (0.1 ppm).

How do brewers keep oxygen out of their beer?

There are five ways of controlling DO 2 :-

• Eliminate the air from the plant, pipes and vessels to be used for beer transfers.

• Ensure that any additions to beer are oxygen free.

• Reduce the surface area where beer is in potential contact with air.

• Add oxygen scavengers to the beer.

• Monitor DO 2 levels and make corrections where necessary.

These control methods are explained in more detail below:-

Elimination of air from plant, pipes vessels and packages.

1. Maintain an inert atmosphere (CO 2 or N 2 ) in maturation vessels and bright beer tanks. 2. Flush plant and pipes through with de-aerated water before running the beer through.

3. Flush and counter pressure containers with CO 2. 4. The presence of air in cask conditioned beer is not so destructive because of the activity of yeast.

Oxygen free additions.

1. Use de-aerated water to dilute beer and for mixing filter aid additions. 2. Ensure that recovered beer, yeast pressings etc. are oxygen free.

Reduction in the area of the gas/beer interface.

1. Design pipes and plant so that beer turbulence is minimised. This means graduated bends etc. 2. Fill tanks at a controlled speed from the base. 3. Fill containers with minimum beer turbulence.

Addition of oxygen scavengers.

1. Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) can be added to beer, although it is becoming common to reduce additions to food products. 2. Sulphur dioxide is added to products like finings.

Monitoring and correction of DO 2 levels.

This is described in detail in the next Sections (13.3. and 13.4.).

13.3. Monitoring of Dissolved Oxygen.

DO 2 levels will be zero in fermenting vessel at the end of fermentation. All oxygen has either been used by the yeast or purged out of the beer by the evolution of CO 2 during the fermentation.

Following on from this, it is useful to know DO 2 levels at the following points:-

• In maturation tank. • In the beer in line out of maturation tank. DO 2 levels can rise at tank changeover. • In bright beer tank. • On transfer to Packaging filler • In package.

It is important to measure for DO 2 immediately after potential contamination by air, for example immediately after transfer into a tank.

This is because oxygen is used up in the oxidising process so oxidised (stale) beer could have a low DO 2 .

High DO 2 levels in tank can be reduced by purging with an inert gas like CO 2 or nitrogen, but this could risk loss of beer foam proteins by causing fobbing.

Once the beer is in package, nothing can be done to improve out of specification DO 2 levels.

Measurement of dissolved oxygen is carried out by use of dissolved oxygen meters, which can be attached to sample points or the actual sensing probes can be located in-line in the beer transfer mains. It is important to site either in-line probes or sample points in the correct positions to be able to monitor DO 2 levels as described above, viz. • In maturation tank. • In the beer in line out of maturation tank, during filtration • In bright beer tank. • On transfer to Packaging filler • In package.

13.4. Control of Dissolved Oxygen Levels

Elimination of pick up of oxygen is key to controlling the stability of beer and to prevent staling:

Minimise oxygen pick up by use of deaerated brewing liquor, fill vessels from bottom up, purge all vessels and mains with inert gas, prior to beer transfers, etc.

Maintain sufficient levels of natural anti-oxidants, eg polyphenols from malt and hops, SO 2 from fermentation.

SO 2 forms complexes with aldehydes and so restrict the adverse flavour effects.

O2 scavenging materials as part of the packaging materials can be incorporated into bottle crown seals, e.g sulphite and/or ascorbate.

Notes . Write down details of dissolved oxygen levels and procedures for controlling them in a plant that you are familiar with.

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 1 GCP (All Containers): Section 14: Beer quality – Contamination & Microbiology Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Beer Packaging (GCP) Section 14 Beer Quality – Contamination and Microbiological Contamination.

14.1 Beer Contamination.

There are a number of ways by which beer can be contaminated:-

• Contamination that arrives with the raw materials. This problem is monitored by identifying the most likely contaminants and either inspecting the material before delivery or agreeing specifications with a reliable supplier and monitoring that supplier’s performance.

Examples of this type of contamination are pests in a malt delivery, contamination of filter aid by ‘off flavours’ because it is so absorbent or dust and debris in empty cans.

• Contamination of the water supply by surface water, nitrates or effluent. • Contamination of product by plant cleaning chemicals.

• Contamination of the product by the use of unsuitable material for plant or package construction. Modern plant is constructed of stainless steel and it is important to be aware of the various grades of steel and that some grades corrode under brewing conditions. Hoses and beer lines must be made of suitable food grade material.

• Contamination by oil or grease. Only a small amount of oil will spoil a beer, it will taint the flavour and destroy the beer’s foam stability. Oil or grease can get into the product via, for example, poorly maintained pump glands. Oil free compressed air is essential for beer production and packaging.

• Microbiological contamination, which is covered in the following section.

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 2 GCP (All Containers): Section 14: Beer quality – Contamination & Microbiology 14.2 Spoilage Organisms - Microbiological Contaminants

There are four main microbiological contaminants to consider:-

• Bacteria. Very small living organisms of which there are many varieties. Fortunately only a limited range will grow in beer and ‘pathogenic’ organisms (those that could give food poisoning) will not.

• Wild yeast. Small living organisms similar to, but different from the yeast that is used to ferment the beer. The difference being that wild yeasts will give quality problems, for example flavour or fining difficulties.

• Fungi or moulds.

• Water born organisms. Usually bacteria associated with contaminated water.

The table below lists the main bacterial contaminants, their appearance under the microscope, their growth characteristics and the effect that they have on the product:-

Category of Appearance & behaviour Effect on wort or beer bacteria Pediococcus Small round shapes. Forms acid and possibly Sometimes in pairs or groups of diacetyl from sugars during four. fermentation. Ferments sugars into lactic acid. Will use any sugar left after May form ‘capsules’ of fermentation. carbohydrate around the cells. Beer goes cloudy, tastes sour and smells of sour milk or honey. Beer may go glutinous and ‘ropy’. Lactobacillus. Long rod shaped. Forms acid from sugars Sometimes in pairs forming an ‘L’ during fermentation. shape. Will use any sugar left after Ferments sugars into lactic acid. fermentation. Bacteria can grow very quickly. Beer goes very cloudy, tastes sour and smells of sour milk. Acetobacter. Small, short stubby rods. Forms a skin on the surface Often in pairs or longer chains and of the beer. sometimes ‘motile’ (moving). Beer goes cloudy and tastes Convert alcohol into acetic acid in of vinegar. the presence of air. Grow very quickly even at low pH.

Obesum- Short fat rods as single cells but Grows along with the yeast in bacterium. capable of changing shape. wort but dies off early in the (Hafnia) Convert sugar into alcohol. fermentation; however it can Do not grow at low pH. cause off flavours in a very Often associated with water. slow fermentation. Very common infection. Presence indicates poor wort main or FV cleaning. Zymomonas. Plump rods sometimes in groups of Beer goes very cloudy and four forming rosettes. smells of bad eggs. Convert sugar into alcohol, Beer may go glutinous and acetaldehyde and hydrogen ‘ropy’. sulphide. Grow quickly in sweet sugars. Sometimes associated with ‘primed’ beers.

Samples can be examined with the naked eye or viewed under a microscope. More detail can be seen under the microscope as micro-organisms have different shapes and an experienced microbiologist can identify them. A useful technique is to stain the sample to be examined, some bacteria take on the stain, others do not. A Gram stain colours ‘Gram positive’ bacteria like lactobacillus.

Obesumbacteria

Lactobacillus

Pediococcus

Acetobacter

Photomicrographs of typical bacteria found as brewing contaminants. Top – Pediococci and Bottom – Lactobacilli.

The table below lists the main Wild Yeasts encountered in a brewery and effect that they have on the product:-

Category of Yeast Effect on wort or beer Pichia. Grows rapidly in the presence of air. Forms a film on the surface of the beer. Candida mycoderma. Grows rapidly in the presence of air. Forms a film on the surface of the beer. Saccharomyces Continues to ferment all carbohydrates diastaticus. so there is no control of attenuation. Also causes off flavours. Torulopsis. Fails to sediment and causes hazes. Brettanomyces. Very slow growing but it produces acid and causes off flavours. Hansenula. Grows rapidly in the presence of air. Forms a film on the surface of the beer.

Photomicrograph of ( A) wild yeast, and (B) brewing yeast culture contaminated with wild yeast.

Cross contamination of pitching yeasts

A cross contamination, for example a lager yeast contaminating an ale yeast, could be considered a wild yeast infection especially as quality problems like abnormal flavours or an inability of the yeast to settle or fine properly are experienced.

Moulds or Fungi do not normally grow in beer because they need air; however they can affect beer in a number of ways:-

• The malting ability of barley can be effected by the presence of mould.

• Moulds will grow in empty beer packages (e.g. bottles) and in poorly cleaned plant. If this happens, the mould will effect the flavour of the beer.

• Mouldy surfaces in buildings like fermenting rooms are difficult to clean and will harbour beer spoilage yeasts and bacteria.

Effect of infection at key stages of the brewing and packaging processes.

Stage Infection Effect Unpitched wort Obesumbacteria. Off flavours like ‘parsnips’. Escherichia. Enterobacter. Pitching yeast. Pediococcus. Sour flavours and cloudy beer. Lactobacillus. Sour flavours and cloudy beer. Wild yeast. Abnormal flavours and cloudy beer. Perpetuation of the infection. Fermentation. Pediococcus. Sour flavours and cloudy beer. Lactobacillus. Sour flavours and cloudy beer. Wild yeast. Abnormal flavours and cloudy beer. Maturation. Pediococcus. Sour flavours and cloudy beer. Lactobacillus. Sour flavours and cloudy beer. Wild yeast. Abnormal flavours and cloudy beer. Acetobacter. Vinegar and cloudy beer. Zymomonas Dense turbidity, bad egg aroma. Bright beer and Pediococcus. Sour flavours and cloudy beer. packaged beer. Lactobacillus. Sour flavours and cloudy beer. Acetobacter. Vinegar and cloudy beer. Zymomonas Dense turbidity, bad egg aroma.

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 7 GCP (All Containers): Section 14: Beer quality – Contamination & Microbiology 14.2.1. Sources of microbiological contamination.

Micro-organisms will thrive in the most inhospitable conditions and even when they are deprived of their nutritional requirements, they can form spores which are very difficult to destroy. Consequently, they can infect the beer from many different sources. The main areas of contamination are raw materials, plant, product and the environment. The tables below identify the main sources of contamination.

Raw materials and packaging materials:-

Source of infection Comment Water. Brewing water will be boiled as part of the process, but additions later must be sterile. Brewing materials (malt, All naturally grown material harbours micro-organisms. hops & adjuncts) These are unlikely to be a problem because of the brewhouse boiling process. Pitching yeast. The conditions of yeast storage and handling encourage other micro-organisms. This is a major problem because an infection will proliferate unless controlled. Additives (filter aid etc.) Unlikely to be infected, but the additions process and the water used for mixing can be a source of infection. Packages New bottles and cans may contain dust and debris. Returnable bottles, casks and kegs will be heavily infected when returned from the trade because they contain small volumes of beer, which may have been there for a long time.

Plant:- Source of infection Comment Brewhouse plant. Wort chillers and wort mains are important because of the nature of the wort, which is a perfect medium for micro- organisms to grown in. Fermenting vessels. Difficult to clean because of the residue left by the yeast and FV’s are a major source of infection because of the long time that the beer is in contact with them. Yeast handling plant. This can be a major source of infection because of the nature of the yeast itself and the complexity of the plant makes it difficult to clean. Maturation plant. Easier to clean than FV’s but there is some yeast soil and again, the beer is in contact with them for a long time. Filtration plant. Difficult to clean because of the complex pipework and the design of the filter itself. Bright beer vessels. Easy to clean because the beer in the tanks is bright and likely to be sterile. Packaging plant. Difficult to clean because of the complex pipework and the design of the filler itself.

Product:-

Source of infection Comment Wort. Wort is a perfect medium for micro-organisms to grown in; however, it will be sterile after boiling.. Beer in process. Beer will support micro-organisms but in itself it is unlikely to be a source of infection, a more likely source is the plant. Beer from other breweries should be treated with suspicion. Recovered beer. Beer recovered from surplus yeast is a major source of infection because of the plant it has been processed in. Any recycling operation needs special care because of the possibility of perpetuating an infection. Beer recovered from packaging operations is also a major source of infection.

Environment:-

Source of infection Comment Insects and pests. Storage areas for raw materials will encourage insects and pests unless maintained in a hygienic condition. Insects and pests will carry infection and must be kept away from open vessels. Walls and floors. Infection can be picked up from poorly maintained walls and floors especially in open vessels.

Notes. Identify the areas in a plant that you are familiar with where microbiological contamination is most likely.

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 9 GCP (All Containers): Section 14: Beer quality – Contamination & Microbiology 14.3 Other Organisms Indicative of Contamination

Water borne organisms are very common but can cause serious problems.

Pathogenic bacteria that will not grow in beer will, however, grow in water.

• The presence of Escherichia or Enterobacter may indicate that the supply is contaminated with untreated surface water or even sewage. Further investigation would be recommended. Both Escherichia and Enterobacter grow readily in unfermented wort causing flavour problems when in high numbers.

• Legionella can cause serious illnesses. Usually the bacteria is transmitted when the water is in a mist form, for example from cooling towers (see Section 18).

14.4. Detection, Monitoring and Control

14.4.1. Methods for Detecting and Monitoring Micro-organisms.

It is important to know the microbiological condition of the production plant, the product in process and of the raw materials. That way any infection can be controlled before any serious damage is done.

Detection is difficult because:-

• Microbes are so small that they cannot be seen by the naked eye.

• Microbes can grow rapidly, therefore only a very small population of them is a potential risk. Identifying a small population is nearly impossible especially in a large volume of beer.

Detection therefore is traditionally a three stage process:-

1. Taking a representative sample. The sample must be uncontaminated.

2. Encouraging the micro-organisms to grow in the sample so that they can be detected more easily.

3. Inspecting the sample through a microscope and identifying the cause of the infection.

(a) Sampling Techniques.

Beer for microbiological analysis can be sampled in a number of ways. These are shown in the table below along with the procedure’s advantages or disadvantages:-

Sample Sampling procedure Comment point Sample tap in • Tap is sterilised, usually by Easy to operate. a tank. heat. The tap is difficult to sterilise. • Sample is run into a sterile The tap needs to be cleaned when the bottle. tank is cleaned. Membrane • A sterile needle is inserted into The membrane is easily cleaned when sample point the membrane. the tank is cleaned. in a tank. • Sample is run into a sterile The membrane needs to be replaced bottle. regularly. Continuous • A sample is continuously Representative of the whole batch of sampling ‘dripped’ into a sterile bottle beer. from a from a sample point in, for process line. example a sterile beer line.

All methods need to ensure that samples are taken aseptically. In aseptic sampling, the sampling equipment and the sample bottle are all sterile, a contaminated sample gives a completely false result.

(b) Microbiological Procedures.

The micro-organisms are encouraged to grow so that they can be detected when the sample is finally examined under the microscope. Conditions are provided so that the micro-organisms can grow quickly.

Four factors are key to this process, they are time, temperature, air/no air and a food source. Time. The sample will be incubated for anything up to five days.

Temperature. The sample will be kept at a specified temperature that encourages maximum growth; usually this is around 25 °C.

Medium. Different micro-organisms thrive on different types of food. Samples are inoculated onto or into a medium that encourages the growth of the type micro-organism being looked for. ‘Differential media’ are used to encourage certain types of contaminant and discourage others. Thus for example, differential media would be used when testing for a wild yeast in a population of culture yeasts.

Air. Some micro-organisms need air, these are termed aerobic, others do not, these are termed anaerobic. Aerobic conditions are provided for aerobic micro-organisms, anaerobic conditions for anaerobes.

Examples of aerobic bacteria - Acetobacter, Obesumbacteria.

Examples of anaerobic bacteria - Lactobacillus, Pediococcus, Zymomonas.

Samples may either be plated out on an agar medium or ‘forced’ just by keeping them as they are.

A microbiological forcing sample is a sample that is incubated without further manipulation (i.e. ‘as is’). It is kept under conditions that encourage the growth of any micro-organism that may be present and examined under the microscope at the end of the specified incubation period.

Samples can be examined with the naked eye or viewed under a microscope. Samples that have micro-organisms growing in them will usually be cloudy and an experienced person can tell from this if there is a problem. Also colonies can be seen on plates on which micro-organisms are growing.

More detail can be seen under the microscope as micro-organisms have different shapes and an experienced microbiologist can identify them. A useful technique is to stain the sample to be examined, some bacteria take on the stain, others do not. A Gram stain colours ‘Gram positive’ bacteria like lactobacillus.

Obesumbacteria

Lactobacillus

Pediococcus

Acetobacter

In recent years, the development of ‘immuno-flourescence’ techniques has enabled fast methods for the detection of micro-organisms to be used. Specific types of micro-organism will glow under the microscope after treatment.

14.4.2. Procedures for Controlling Microbiological Contamination.

Microbiological contamination is the most common cause of beer spoilage and its control is essential to the achievement of good quality.

There are five main methods of control:-

• Design of plant for maximum hygiene and ease of cleaning. • Effective plant cleaning and sterilisation. • Product and raw material sterilisation. • Creating conditions that inhibit microbiological growth. • Monitoring microbiological quality.

Plant design. Micro-organisms will persist on rough surfaces, in corners and it the ‘dead ends’ of pipework. The plant should be designed to eliminate these problems (for more detail see Section 17).

Plant cleaning and sterilisation. The principles of effective cleaning are to remove soil and micro-organisms from the plant surface and then ,if necessary sterilise to kill and remaining harmful bacteria or yeast, (for more detail see Section 16).

Product sterilisation. • Wort is boiled in the brewhouse, and one of the reasons for doing this is to sterilise it. • Beer for packaging is usually sterile filtered or pasteurised to improve microbiological stability. • Beer recovered from surplus yeast or from packaging operations is often sterile filtered or pasteurised to improve microbiological stability. • Pitching yeast is sometimes acid washed to kill off any contaminating micro-organisms. Bacteria are more vulnerable to acids because they have thinner cell walls

Conditions that inhibit microbiological growth. Micro-organisms have optimum conditions for growth, where possible, beer is kept in conditions that inhibits their growth. This means as low a temperature as practicable, that is near to -1°C. Also pH values in the range 3.5 - 4.3 will inhibit the growth of many bacteria.

The same principles apply to yeast during its storage.

Monitoring microbiological quality. Knowledge of the condition of the plant and the beer in process is essential to the control of quality. Details of how microbiological quality is monitored is given above.

Notes. Give details of the microbiological sampling procedures and schedules in a brewery that you are familiar with.

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 1 GCP (All Containers): Section 15: Quality assurance and quality management Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Beer Packaging (GCP) Section 15 Quality Assurance and Quality Management.

15.1 Quality Management.

Candidates should have an understanding of the fundamental principles of Quality Management and be familiar with the methodology of at least one quality system appropriate to their region/country of operation.

The key features of a Quality Management system are:-

• To understand precisely what is to be achieved. This means having specifications to meet and it means having procedures to follow. This also means that the procedures and specifications will have to be documented .

• To monitor actual performance against what is to be achieved. This means keeping records of performance and it means auditing .

• To correct things when they go wrong. This means having a system of initiating corrective action .

• To review the overall quality management system and to plan for improvement .

Specifications.

Process and product specifications must detail all those parameters that are required to be measured, including flavour, and they must identify an ideal value together with an acceptable range for each parameter.

Procedures.

Documented procedures are there to explain what has to be done and when and how it should be done. Procedures can cover a wide range of topics:-

• An explanation of the organisation and responsibilities. • Procedures to be followed in the case of non-conformance’s. • Procedures on how the processes are managed. • Instructions on how to operate the plant. • Procedures to be followed when auditing.

Documentation.

Quality management systems rely on documents to ensure that procedures are followed. The theory being that ‘if it isn’t written down, it isn’t done’.

It is important that documents are ‘controlled ’ so that people are confident that the document they are working to is current and valid.

Monitoring.

Quality performance is monitored on a regular basis and the results can be presented in a way that highlights problems.

Auditing.

The purpose of auditing is to check that the quality system is being followed. Audits are concluded with a report back which usually identifies areas for improvement. Auditing procedures have the advantage that they can be conducted internally. Audits do not necessarily have to cover the whole quality system, often following a trail of evidence will reveal how rigorously procedures are being followed.

Corrective Action.

Action must be taken to put things right and how this is done is usually covered by a procedure.

The procedure will ensure that the following areas are covered:-

• Detail of the problem. • Nominating the person responsible for taking the action. • When the corrective action will be completed. • A review of the result of the corrective action taken.

Review.

An overview is required so that it can be confirmed that, for example:-

• Corrective actions are being followed (implemented) in time. • Audits are taking place as specified. • The brewery’s quality is meeting requirements.

The procedure for a review is specified and documented in the same way as all other procedures.

Improvement.

It may be that an overall improvement in quality is required, many world class manufacturers have a ‘zero defect’ policy. In this case a plan to achieve the required improvements is necessary. The quality management system will contain all the specification and monitoring procedures to enable an improvement plan to be implemented.

Control of Quality

The control of quality through a ‘Quality System’ gives the following advantages over a ‘Final Inspection’ approach:-

• The use of documented procedures and specifications ensures that everybody knows what they are supposed to be doing. • The responsibility for quality sits with the people who are operating the plant and making the beer. • Quality problems will be identified as soon as they occur rather than much later when the process is over. • Maintenance of accurate records makes it easier to track back and investigate raw materials or processes so that ‘due diligence’ in manufacturing can be proved.

Total Quality Management (TQM)

A good quality system includes:

• Motivated and well trained workforce • Well maintained plant • Adequate capacity for peak demand • Good plant cleanliness and house keeping • Sufficient time for operations, cleaning and maintenance • Good relationships between suppliers and customers.

Typical Quality Management Systems include:

• ISO 9000 - Quality Management • ISO 14000- Environmental Management • GMP - Good Manufacturing Practice • GLP - Good Laboratory Practice • NAMAS - National Accreditation of Measurement and Sampling • HACCP - Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points.

Notes. Give details of a quality management system that you are aware of.

Individual Actions on Product and Service Quality

Quality is the responsibility of everyone working within an organisation. However, the following actions are required of a quality system:

• It is the responsibility of top management to formulate the Company’s quality policy and to ensure commitment at all levels to comply with the Quality System and to improve its effectiveness. • Communication to all members of staff so that all understand it and are involved with its implementation. • All staff members responsibilities and level of authority should be defined and understood. • A management representative should be appointed as Quality Systems Manager, responsible for: - managing the requirements of the quality standard, - issuing amendments to manuals, - arranging audits, - checking suppliers, - taking minutes of quality meetings, - investigating problems and initiating corrective actions, - following up corrective actions, - handling complaints.

The Control of Documents

All Quality Systems require control of documentation. It is necessary to identify Controlled documents (i.e. updated) and Uncontrolled documents.

• Examples of Controlled documents include: - Quality Policy - Quality Manual - Procedures - Work Instructions - Specifications - HACCP systems - Codes of Practice

• Controlled documents must be: - approved before issue - reviewed and updated - changes identified - up-to-date - legible - external documents also controlled - obsolete documents removed.

• Document control is usually achieved by: - issuing on coloured paper or including colour logo - no photocopying - uniquely identified - pages numbered (e.g. Page 1 of 10 ) - maintaining distribution list of holders - ensuring documents are not issued without authorisation - only being available to staff who need to use them - limiting number of copies issued.

• Document change is controlled by: - approval of changes before issue - issue of an amendment sheet so that changes are identified - keeping a master list of document numbers to ensure all staff use up-to-date copies - retrieval of obsolete copies as replacements issued - archiving one copy.

The Maintenance of Conformity

Adherence to a well established quality system will ensure that conformity of product quality and company operation is maintained. However, all quality standards strive for improvement and this is often best achieved by regular management reviews of the quality system and appropriate communication to all staff, especially for changes to systems and Regulations.

Regular Quality Review meetings should: • review the Quality Policy and Quality System at defined intervals (at least annually) • be additional to departmental or section quality meetings • be chaired by senior management • include QA staff, production managers, auditors, purchasing staff • review the operation of the quality system • ensure the policy and system are suitable and effective • recommend changes • record actions and responsibilities • meeting agenda should include: - audits (internal and external) - process performance - complaints - preventative and corrective actions - changes - training needs - supplier performance - future developments.

The control of quality through a ‘Quality System’ gives the following advantages over a ‘Final Inspection’ approach:- • The use of documented procedures and specifications ensures that everybody knows what they are supposed to be doing. • The responsibility for quality sits with the people who are operating the plant and making the beer. • Quality problems will be identified as soon as they occur rather than much later when the process is over. Maintenance of accurate records makes it easier to track back and investigate raw materials or processes so that ‘due diligence’ in manufacturing can be proved.

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 1 GCP (All Containers): Section 16: Cleaning chemicals Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Beer Packaging (GCP) Section 16 Cleaning Chemicals.

Plant Cleaning - Introduction

The purpose of cleaning is to permanently remove all the soil from the surfaces of the plant and to leave it in a condition suitable for use.

The purpose of sterilising is to kill any micro-organisms that remain on the internal surfaces of the plant after cleaning so that the wort or beer is not subsequently contaminated.

Microbiology of Cleaning

The degree of cleanliness required for a processing plant is defined by the potential impact of the soil (soil and/or microbes) on the resultant product. This is largely determined by the type of product being produced in that particular plant.

Products that are sensitive to spoilage require higher degrees of cleanliness (hygiene) than those that are not as susceptible; therefore knowledge of the products propensity to spoil is essential in determining an appropriate cleaning solution. This may or may not include a sanitising/sterilisation step. • Sterilisation is defined as the elimination of all forms of life including microbial spores, typically this is most effectively achieved with live steam at a minimum temperature of 120°C for a contact time of at least 15 minutes and typically is found in the pharmaceutical manufacturing environment, but also in a microbiological laboratory autoclave for preparing growth media, etc. • Hygienic conditions are defined as a degree of cleanliness that eliminates all vegetative forms of life, typically found to be suitable for most aspects of beer brewing and other beverage plants. • Clean conditions are defined as those suitable for the removal of all soils but not all vegetative cells. Thus the higher the required degree of cleanliness the more robust the cleaning process has to be and the more important it becomes to ensure that the plant is designed for efficient cleaning.

Control of microbiological growth thus becomes the objective of any cleaning and sanitising programme.

Growth control can be effected by:

• limiting microbial growth by the removal of nutrients (cleaning); or the removal of protective materials and films in the forms of scales and biofilms; • by removing all viable microbes by either total removal (sterilisation) or removal of vegetative cells only (application of bactericidal agents to kill microbes or by the application of agents that prevent growth – bacteriostatic).

Typically control measures follow the cycles of:

• decontamination (or cleaning);

• disinfection (by chemical and/or physical agents, such as heat) to prevent growth or eliminate viable microbes;

• sterilisation to prevent the growth of any surviving organism in product, thus eliminating spoilage.

Detergents A detergent is a blend of chemicals, which is put together to solubilise soil and remove it from the surface and ensure that it does not re-deposit itself back on the cleaned surface.

Detergents help the cleaning process by:-

• Penetrating the soil, usually by increasing the wetting power of the cleaning liquid. • Dissolving the soil. • Dispersing the soil and holding it in suspension so that it does not re- deposit. • Carrying the soil away as the cleaning liquid is rinsed off.

Sterilants (Sanitisers) Sterilants (sanitisers) are formulated to kill microbes and bring micro-organism load to an acceptable level and work by:-

Creating the conditions of temperature, pH, chemical or surface activity that destroy (kill) micro-organisms.

16.1.1. Action of Detergents

(a) Wetting Power .

Water is always used as the medium for carrying the detergents used in cleaning brewing plant and water has a relatively high surface tension. That is, it forms ‘beads’ on a surface rather than wetting it. Most detergents contain a substance that reduces surface tension and so increases the detergent’s wetting power.

'Bead' of water sitting on a surface.

Water with a 'wetting' agent added.

Wetting agents have a tendency to foam so they may be supplemented with some form of antifoam.

(b) Dissolving .

When a substance is dissolved, it becomes chemically bound into the liquid and the liquid is usually clear. If soil can be dissolved in the detergent liquid, not only can it be removed from the plant surface, it can also be carried away easily. The same soil Particles of soil dissolved in a liquid

There are two main types of soil that need to be removed from the surface of brewing and packaging plant:-

• Organic soil which includes yeast, protein, fat and sugar. Plant which has a lot of organic soil that needs to be removed should be cleaned with a detergent that contains compounds that can dissolve it.

Alkalis like caustic soda dissolve organic soil and caustic solutions are often used to clean fermenting vessels and brewhouse plant.

• Inorganic soil which includes scale or ‘beerstone’. Plant in some breweries becomes scaled up quite quickly especially in hard water areas. This plant needs to be cleaned regularly with a detergent that dissolves scale. Acids like nitric acid or phosphoric acid are good at dissolving inorganic soil. Sequestering agents which can be added to alkaline detergents, are also capable of dissolving scale.

Not all the soil on brewing and packaging plant is soluble though insoluble soil can be removed if it is ‘dispersed’ so that it can be carried away in the liquid. Soil on the The same soil plant surface dispersed in a liquid

Detergents contain substances that help to disperse the soil and to hold it in suspension so that it can be rinsed away.

(d) Rinsing.

It is important that at the completion of a cleaning cycle, no detergent and accompanying soil remains on the plant surface. In other words, the detergent must be ‘rinsable’. Thus to be effective, a detergent must be capable of adhering to the plant surface being cleaned; when the job is done, however it must be rinsed away. Rinsing agents are added to the detergent to enable these two incompatible actions to take place.

16.1.2. Detergent Chemistry

A detergent is made of the base of acids or alkalis, therefore the chemical properties are acidic or basic.

Alkaline detergents tend to work better for two reasons: • organic soil tends to be ‘acidic’ in nature, organic acids, polyphenols, etc.; • basic detergents can hydrolyse organic polymer chains, which add to the easy removal of soil as smaller molecules.

(a) Ingredients

Formulated detergents used in the beverage industry comprise:

• base material, which is either alkali or acidic

• surface active molecules as wetting agents

• chelating agents or sequestrants

• flocculating agents (sometimes).

The sequestrants or chelating agents are added in order to soften water by grabbing metal ions like calcium and magnesium. The presence of these metal ions tends to bond dirt together by providing multiple charges for multi- site attachment.

The surface-active molecules act as wetting agents that assist with penetration of dirt otherwise water clings to itself due to the bipolar nature of the water molecule. During cleaning of organic soil, like proteins, surface- active molecules are created out of hydrolysed proteins hence foaming is observed during cleaning.

Flocculating agents are sometimes added to facilitate the easy removal of dirt by pulling dirt together into lumps, which are easily flushed away.

(b) Ingredients of Caustic or Alkali Detergents

Caustic detergents are made of caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) as the main ingredient with sodium gluconate/heptonate or amino tris(methylenephosphonic acid) as chelating agents. Other agents like EDTA, sodium polyphosphates, zeolites are sometimes used.

Caustic or alkali detergent can be chlorinated. The choice of chelating agents or sequestrants depends on the pH of the working solution. Their effectiveness is pH dependant. Caustic detergents are not suited for the cleaning of aluminium tanks. To clean surfaces where caustic is not allowed, alkali detergents are used. These detergents use sodium metasilicates as a base. Sometimes soda ash or phosphates salts are used as alkali source with builder (sequestering) properties.

Dealing with stubborn dirt found in paraflows (heat exchangers), chlorinated caustics or chlorinated alkalis are used. The amount of available chlorine of the working solution should not exceed 200ppm to protect stainless steel from pitting. Sometimes, wetting agents are added to caustic or alkali detergent to improve penetration and rinsability of caustic.

In the beverage industry, acid detergents are used for descaling. The scale is made of metal salts of oxalates, phosphates, carbonates, silicates, etc.

The acid detergent should be able to penetrate scale, for which a strong acid component is required. To facilitate the peeling of scale molecules, a component of acid is required that will attach itself to metal ions and act as a sequestrant. Acid detergents are often made of a blend of phosphoric acid and nitric acid to a 1.2:1 ratio.

Nitric acid is a strong acid, which is good for penetrating the scale and phosphoric acid has sequestering properties for easy removal of scale.

Acids with a higher level of nitric acid than phosphoric acid are recommended for passivation of stainless steel.

Adding wetting agents and flocculants in acid detergent improves penetration and removal of scale especially when the scale is not only inorganic soil.

The table below summarises the details of the most common constituents and their contribution to the effectiveness of the detergent:-

Constituent. Effects. Benefit/problem. Caustic soda. Dissolves organic matter. Does not rinse well. Sterilises especially when Very hazardous and cannot be used by hand. hot. Dissolves aluminium. Denatured by CO2 . Spraying a tank containing CO2 with caustic can create a vacuum and collapse the tank. Other alkalis. Dissolves organic matter. Less aggressive than caustic soda. e.g. silicates Very good dispersants. Oxidants. e.g. Help dissolve protein. Very corrosive unless at high pH. Hypochlorite Sterilises. Phosphates. Soil removal. Very good rinsing properties. Acids (nitric, Dissolves scale. Corrosive in high concentrations. phosphoric). Not denatured by CO2 . Wetting Reduces surface tension. May cause the detergent to foam. agents. e.g. teepol. Sequestering Prevent the formation of Expensive. agents. e.g. scale. EDTA.

(d) Temperature.

The temperature that a detergent operates at influences its effectiveness. The action of caustic soda, for example is much more powerful at high temperatures than at low temperatures. 1 2 0

1 0 0

8 0

6 0

4 0

2 0

0 1 5 C 3 5 C 5 5 C 7 5 C 9 5 C 2 5 C 4 5 C 6 5 C 8 5 C

The graph illustrates how caustic soda reaches maximum effectiveness at 85 °C.

(e) The factors affecting the selection of Detergents

The table below gives details of the types of detergent used to clean in the various situations encountered in breweries and packaging plants:-

Plant to be cleaned. Detergents often used. Bright beer tanks. Acid with wetting/rinsing agents. • Low level of soil. • Inert gas atmosphere. • Requirement for sterility. Process pipework. Caustic soda with wetting/rinsing/sequestering • Variable levels of soil. agents. Probably used at high temperature. • Complexity means it is difficult to clean. Packaging plant. Caustic soda with wetting/rinsing/sequestering • Low level of soil. agents. May be used at high temperature if the • Complexity means it is difficult plant is suitable. to clean. • Requirement for sterility.

Returnable bottles/ kegs. Caustic soda with wetting/rinsing/sequestering • Care with materials of agents. Will be used at high temperature. construction. Use non-caustic detergents with aluminium. • High levels of organic soil. • Need for good rinsability.

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 8 GCP (All Containers): Section 16: Cleaning chemicals Notes:- Identify the detergents used in the following areas of your brewery:- Bright beer tanks. Packaging machines. Container washing machines.

16.2 Sterilants.

There are several different types of sterilising agent, however many are either toxic, corrosive or likely to taint the beer. Consequently some plants rely on heat in the form of hot water or steam to achieve sterilisation (see 16.3 below).

Chemical Sterilants

The main types of chemical sterilant are:-

• The ‘halogens’ like chlorine, bromine and iodine. Chlorine is often used in the form of sodium hypochlorite or chlorine dioxide. Iodine can be used in the form of an iodophor.

• Formaldehyde.

• Ammonia in the form of quaternary ammonia compounds.

• Hydrogen peroxide.

• Peracetic acid.

• Ampholytic surfactants.

16.2.1. Ingredients of Sterilants (Sanitisers)

Sterilants (sanitisers), especially those for traditional non-rinse application, are acidic when peracetic acid or hydrogen peroxide is used as sanitiser. When halogens like chlorine are used as sanitiser, the base material is made of alkali for stability.

The table below summarises the properties of the various types of sterilant:-

Sterilant Properties, benefits and problems. Halogens, chlorine Very effective but loses effectiveness in presence of organic matter or iodine releasing Cheap in most forms. compounds. Dangerous as a gas. e.g. sodium Corrosive to plant. hypochlorite, Leaves a very strong and lingering taint if it contaminates the beer. iodophors. Formaldehyde. Very effective. Cheap in most forms. Dangerous as a gas (its use is banned in some countries). Has a very unpleasant pungent aroma. Chlorine dioxide Effective at low concentration Effective against a wide spectrum of micro-organisms Chlorine dioxide does not chlorinate; no risk of flavour taints. Chlorine dioxide is used for disinfection in many areas: • water disinfection, • post or final rinse sanitiser, • biocide for cooling towers and tunnel pasteurisers. Quaternary Effective at low concentrations. ammonium Adverse effect on foam stability. compounds. Hydrogen peroxide. Not very effective. Will not affect beer flavour. Safe to use but strong oxidising agent and could be a fire hazard. Peracetic acid. Effective. Safe at working strength, but dangerous in concentrated form. Will not affect beer flavour. Unstable unless combined with hydrogen peroxide. Amphoteric Effective especially on uneven surfaces. surfactants. Innocuous and safe to use.

16.2.2. The factors affecting the selection of Sterilants

There are different types of sanitisers for use in different areas of the plant and they are formulated differently to minimise the negative effects that they might have on the finished product.

• Sterilants Recommended for Non-Rinse Application

These are peracetic and hydrogen peroxide based sterilants. They are made from the blending of acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide in the presence of a stabilising agent. When used, the breakdown products will be oxygen and water for hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid and oxygen for peracetic acid.

These types of sanitisers break down in the presence of metal ions. Because peracetic acid is oxidising, residues could affect flavour stability of beer if not rinsed. Apart from being used in vessel sanitation, they are also used in sanitiser baths and in environmental sterilant formulation.

• Sterilants Recommended for Sterilant (Sanitiser) Baths

Iodophors are used in sanitiser baths because their presence can be easily be detected with brownish red colour. Iodophors combine elemental iodine with surface-active compound. Acid is added to ensure that the usage concentration is at lower pH. Iodophors can taint the product when not handled properly. Where a fear of tainting exists, peroxide/peracetic acid based sterilants are used in baths.

• Environmental Sterilants

Environmental sterilants are used in sanitising floors, walls, external surfaces of tanks and pipes and cleaning of drains. For these to work effectively on surfaces, they must be able to cling to the surface to allow for extended contact time. When rinsed off the walls, they must be easily removed. Because the risk of contact with the product is low, there is a wider choice of ingredients that can be used.

Quaternary ammonium compound (QAC) sterilants work by surface action. The QAC formulations contain non-ionic surfactants like ethoxylated fatty alcohols to boost foaming properties of the product. In order that micro- organisms do not develop a resistance to sanitisers, different types should be used over specific periods of time.

Gluteraldehydes are commercially available as acidic solutions and they are activated before use by making them alkaline. They have a wide spectrum activity against different micro-organisms. For sanitising purposes, a 2% solution is recommended.

Biguanides and Chlorhexidines have widespread bactericidal properties. For the product to foam, non-ionic surfactants are added. Because of their cationic nature, anionic compounds deactivate these sanitisers. They are also not compatible with phosphate, borate, chloride, carbonates ions because they form salts, which are insoluble. This will make active ingredients unavailable.

• Sterilants used in Different Areas of Processing

Chlorine dioxide has gained popularity as an effective, safe to use sterilant. It is effective at low concentration and it is not affected by pH.

Chlorine dioxide is effective against a wide spectrum of micro-organisms. It is effective in removing biofilms.

Chlorine dioxide does not chlorinate, therefore there is no risk of flavour taints. The breakdown products are chlorite and chloride. Chlorine dioxide is used for disinfection in many areas: o water disinfection, o post or final rinse sanitiser, o biocide for cooling towers and tunnel pasteurisers.

• Sanitiser for Drains

The most popular sanitiser for drains is sodium hypochlorite solution that has been diluted to release about 5% available chlorine during use. These must be kept separate from stainless steel equipment, as the free chlorine settles on the moist surface causing pitting corrosion.

16.2.3. Choice of Sterilant. The choice of sterilant depends on a number of factors:-

• Is a sterilant required? The microbiological condition of the plant may be suitable for its purpose after the standard clean.

• Is the sterilant to be rinsed off and if so what is the microbiological quality of the rinse water?

• Would a residual ‘taint’ affect the beer quality?

• Safety factors. Are people working in or near to the plant which is to be sterilised?

The table below gives details of the types of sterilant used to sanitise in the various situations encountered in breweries and packaging plants:-

Plant to be sterilised. Sterilants often used. Wort mains, beer transfer mains, Hot water or steam. filter mains and packaging mains. Amphoteric surfactants. Peracetic acid. Beer vessels. Amphoteric surfactants. Peracetic acid. Filtration plant. Hot water or low pressure steam. Amphoteric surfactants. Peracetic acid. Packaging plant. Hot water or steam. Amphoteric surfactants. Peracetic acid.

Notes. Give details of the detergents and sterilants used in a cleaning regime that you are familiar with. Why have those particular materials been chosen?

Heat is very effective as long as the plant is held at high temperature, say 90 °C for at least 15 minutes.

Heat sterilisation for all micro-organisms: there is a maximum permissible temperature for growth and survival and exceeding this will result in death (macro-molecules lose their structure and cease to function). This is a combination of time and temperature.

To achieve total sterilisation using steam requires contact at 120 ºC for at least 15 minutes (as in a laboratory autoclave), but for practical purposes for plant or for container sanitising, contact time with steam usually only requires 2 – 3 minutes to achieve the necessary level of hygiene.

Steam

Adding heat to water will increase its temperature until it reaches boiling point. Any more heat energy added at boiling point will be absorbed, but the temperature will not increase – instead the water will convert to gaseous steam. This energy absorption without change in temperature will continue until all the available water has been evaporated. There is a huge volume increase – 1 kg of water occupies 1 litre, but 1 kg of steam at the same pressure occupies about 1680 litres. Evaporation and condensation are referred to as ‘phase changes’ – from the liquid phase (water) to the gas phase (steam), or vice-versa.

° At normal atmospheric pressure, water boils at 100 C and the boiling point increases if it is pressurised. For example at 170 kPa (gauge) or 24.5 psig, it will not boil until 130 oC (266 oF). 130 oC is a common temperature used for disinfection.

Just as heat has to be added to turn water into steam, the same amount of heat will be released when steam turns back into water. So when steam condenses onto the surface to be disinfested, the very large quantity of latent heat is delivered onto the surfaces. This is the biocidal agent that is so important and effective, and is absolutely vital for assured disinfection.

If more heat is added after evaporation is complete, the temperature will increase, and the steam becomes ‘superheated’; or ‘dry’ because there is no moisture around. However, dry or superheated steam is much less effective at heat sterilisation than “wet” or “saturated” steam. Microbial contaminations are of course destroyed by heat, but because of the huge difference in energy release, 1 minute of ‘condensing’ heat is equivalent to many minutes, even hours, of ‘dry’ heat. The table below shows the

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 13 GCP (All Containers): Section 16: Cleaning chemicals comparative disinfection times for various conditions, also a target for assured destruction of beer spoilage organisms.

1 TABLE 1 COMPARATIVE STERILISATION TIMES M O IST HEAT DRY HEAT (Saturated steam ) (Superheated steam ) Temp. ºC Time Temp. ºC Time 100 20 hours 120 8 hours 110 2½ hours 140 2½ hours 115 50 minutes 160 1 hour 121 15 minutes 170 40 minutes 125 6½ minutes 180 20 minutes 130 2½ minutes

Recom m ended procedure for destroying all beer-spoilage organism s 2 : 135 ºC 1 minute

It is not just enough to have high pressure steam for disinfection. The steam must have a minimum temperature, which varies, from brewery to brewery, but should be in the region 130-135 oC. The steam should be close to saturation, with no more than 4 oC of superheat, so that it will condense on the surfaces and deliver up its latent heat. And a minimum contact time must be maintained for assured disinfection.

As an example, assured high-quality disinfection will be achieved if a contact time of 60 seconds is achieved with saturated steam at 135 oC.

Some packaging installations use clean steam from a clean steam generator for use on the internal wash and fill areas. This removes the risk of there being any traces of feedwater treatment chemicals and pipe scale in the steam. The steam is raised typically from demineralised water. Clean steam is corrosive thus components of the system should be manufactured from 316 stainless steel

Cleaning Techniques

(a) Manual

In manual cleaning, the normal steps of cleaning are followed i.e. pre-rinsing by removing as much loose dirt as possible followed by use of detergent at the correct concentration and scrubbers. The scrubbing material should not scratch the surface being cleaned. Therefore scrubbers or steel wools should be avoided. The surface that has been cleaned should be rinsed thoroughly with potable water.

(b) High Pressure Cleaning

High pressure cleaning combines high pressure, high temperature and detergent. This cleaning technique allows effective cleaning of surfaces that are difficult to access, e.g . top of pipes and ceilings. Cleaning at high pressure (high hydraulics) and high temperature will minimise the detergent usage. The use of a high pressure gun at appropriate pressure will ensure that even stubborn soil is removed.

In foam cleaning, the working solution is diluted with air. Strong detergent solutions can be used. Because of dilution with air, small quantities of water are used. The generated foam adheres to dirt, emulsifying and loosening it. The foam is removed by rinsing with water.

(d) Cleaning In Place (CIP)

Cleaning-in-place (CIP) systems allow vessels, piping, valves and other equipment to be cleaned without dismantling all or part of the items. Surfaces are exposed to controlled conditions where detergents act on the surfaces to eliminate soil and to sanitise.

Details on in-place cleaning systems are covered in Section 17.

(e) Room and building finishes.

The buildings that house brewing and packaging plant should be designed so that:- • The floors can be cleaned easily. This means good drainage and well finished floors possibly tiled. • The walls can be cleaned easily. Possibly tiled walls. • The plant can be accessed for maintenance, ideally without the need for scaffolding. • There is adequate lighting with access for maintenance. • There is good ventilation.

16.5 Safety - Potential Hazards when working with Detergents and Sterilants.

Detergents are designed to dissolve organic matter and sterilants are designed to kill it; consequently, these are dangerous materials for people to handle.

In the most countries, under the control of substances hazardous to health or C.O.S.H.H. legislation, manufacturers are required to issue technical information on any cleaning materials they supply. This information covers recommended usage concentrations and actions to be taken in case of accidents.

An analysis of the risks indicates the following methods of reducing the hazards:-

• If a detergent or sterilant is considered too dangerous then choose an alternative which is safer.

• Isolate people from the hazard, for example in CIP (Cleaning in Place) systems, detergents and sterilants are kept in automatically topped up tanks and away from the staff. They are also stored in suitably sized bunds and kept away from other materials that would react together.

• Implement control measures like ‘safe systems of work’ that when followed, eliminate risks to the staff. An example would be a ‘permit to work’ procedure for the maintenance of CIP equipment.

• Ensure that people in the proximity of detergents and sterilants use protective equipment especially eye protection (goggles), gloves, boots and overalls.

• Install safety showers in areas where risks are highest like detergent and sterilant delivery points.

• Inform people who work with detergents and sterilants of the potential hazards.

Safety Requirements of Cleaning Chemicals and Materials

Cleaning of tanks and pipe lines require the use of harsh chemicals which are strong acids and strong bases. Sometimes, oxidising compounds are used. Safety precautions, as required by Occupational Health and Safety legislations (ISO 18000), have to be considered when using these chemicals. Components of these chemicals may have short or long-term affect on the health of the employees. Some components can affect the health of the consumer at parts per million levels.

The safety of the environment has to be considered as well, which means that the products used have to comply with environmental legislation with respect to handling of spillage.

Every material used must be accompanied by Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS).

An MSDS should disclose the following: manufacturer’s details product identification composition information on ingredient hazards identification safety first measures fire fighting measures accidental release measures handling and storage exposure control and personal protection physical and chemical properties stability and reactivity toxicological information ecological information.

The MSDS is meant to give enough data about the product that assist the user to make an informed technical decision. A user will only know about this safety information if the information provided is read and the supplier is questioned to get clarity. There is still a culture of not going through the MSDS document before the product is used.

Hazards Identification - European hazard symbols

These hazard symbols for chemicals are defined in Annex II of Directive 67/548/EEC .

Corrosive ( C) Oxidizing agent ( O)

Highly flammable ( F) Extremely flammable ( F+ )

Harmful ( Xn ) Irritant ( Xi )

Toxic ( T) Very toxic ( T+ )

Explosive ( E Dangerous for the environment ( N)

Notes. What type of detergents and sterilants are used in your plant? What safety precautions during both storage and use are employed in this plant?

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 1 GCP (All Containers): Section 17: Plant cleaning – In-place cleaning systems Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Beer Packaging (GCP) Section 17 Plant Cleaning – In-Place Cleaning Systems.

17.1 Types of Systems and 17.2 Cleaning Cycles.

Cleaning in place has replaced older methods where plant was dismantled for manual cleaning. Modern plants do not have the manpower or time for manual cleaning operations and they need the higher standards that an effective CIP system can deliver.

CIP is the circulation of detergents, water rinses and sterilants through fixed plant without dismantling. In order to achieve this, tanks have to be fitted with spray balls/heads and pipework has to be linked into a ‘ring’ main.

Delivery

Tank

C.I.P. system Return

Pipework

Delivery

The detailed features of a CIP system to be considered are:-

The CIP could be a ‘recovery’ or a ‘total loss’ system.

• The CIP programme or sequence of cleaning elements.

• Tank CIP choice of spray head.

• Flow rates, delivery and return.

• Choice of cleaning/sterilising materials (se Section 15).

• Automation and monitoring.

• Running costs.

Choice of System - Recovery or Total Loss.

A recovery CIP system consists of tanks where supplies of detergent and sterilant are held at the required concentration for use. Cleaning fluids are delivered from the tanks and returned to them. Detergent and sterilant strength is maintained in the tank. A total loss system doses concentrated detergent or sterilant into the delivery line and although they are recirculated, at the end of the clean the cleaning fluids are run to waste.

CIP Cleaning and sterilising Programmes.

The standard programme is:-

• A rinse to remove as much soil as possible and to flush this to drain.

• A detergent recirculation to clean the plant.

• A rinse to remove traces of detergent.

• A sterilisation to destroy any remaining micro-organisms.

• A final rinse if it is decided that no sterilant should remain in the plant.

Recovery System (Multi-use).

First rinse:- C.I.P. Recovery system stage 1 Rinse.

Drain Dilute Dilute Detergent Sterilant Plant tank tank

Rinse water

Fresh water is delivered to the plant and returned to drain. When cleaning tanks with spray balls, several burst rinses may be more effective than one. The time taken for these rinses will depend on the plant and how easy it is to clean.

Detergent circulation:-

C.I.P. Recovery system stage 2 Detergent.

Drain Dilute Dilute Detergent Sterilant Plant tank tank

Rinse water

The dilute detergent tank is maintained at the correct strength and its contents are circulated through the plant. As the plant may contain rinse water, the first delivery may be run to drain so as not to dilute the tank. The time of recirculation will depend on the level of soil in the plant, but times of 30 or 60 minutes are common.

Second rinse:- Fresh water is delivered to the plant and returned to drain. As the plant may contain detergent, the first delivery may be returned to the tank to save detergent.

Sterilisation:-

C.I.P. Recovery system stage 3 Sterilant.

Drain Dilute Dilute Detergent Sterilant Plant tank tank

Rinse water

The dilute sterilant tank is maintained at the correct strength and its contents are circulated through the plant. As the plant may contain rinse water, the first delivery may be run to drain so as not to dilute the sterilant tank. The time of sterilisation will depend on the level of microbiological contamination in the plant, but times of 10 or 20 minutes are common. Micro-organisms are destroyed by contact so that actual circulation of the sterilant is not necessary.

Final rinse:- C.I.P. Recovery system stage 4 Rinse.

Drain Dilute Dilute Detergent Sterilant Plant tank tank

Rinse water

This is similar to the initial rinse although the water that is used must be uncontaminated. If it is considered, however, that residual traces of the sterilant will not harm the product, the final rinse may be omitted. Water from the final rinse can be collected and used as an initial rinse when the next vessel is cleaned. The benefits of a final rinse recovery being a reduction in water use, a reduction in effluent and a more effective pre-rinse.

Total Loss System (Single Use).

First rinse:-

C.I.P. Loss system stage 1 Rinse.

Drain Buffer Bulk Bulk tank Detergent Sterilant Plant tank tank

Rinse water

Water from the second rinse of the previous clean is delivered to the plant and returned to drain. Depending on the size of the buffer tank, the rinse may be supplemented with fresh water. When cleaning tanks with spray balls, several burst rinses may be more effective than one. The time taken for these rinses will depend on the plant and how easy it is to clean.

Detergent clean:-

C.I.P. Loss system stage 2 Detergent.

Drain Buffer Bulk Bulk tank Detergent Sterilant Plant tank tank

Rinse water

Fresh water is delivered to the plant and dosed with detergent at a rate that meets the required concentration in use. When this concentration is achieved, the detergent is circulated back to and from the buffer tank. The cleaning liquid is topped up with detergent or fresh water as required during the clean.

The time of recirculation will depend on the level of soil in the plant, but times of 30 or 60 minutes are common.

Second rinse:-

C.I.P. Loss system stage 3 Rinse.

Drain Buffer Bulk Bulk tank Detergent Sterilant Plant tank tank

Rinse water

Fresh water is delivered to the plant and returned to the buffer tank. The contents of the buffer tank provide the first rinse for the next clean.

Sterilisation:-

C.I.P. Loss system stage 4 Sterilant.

Drain Buffer Bulk Bulk tank Detergent Sterilant Plant tank tank

Rinse water

Fresh water is delivered to the plant and dosed with sterilant at a rate that meets the required concentration in use.

The time of sterilisation will depend on the level of micro-organisms in the plant, but times of 10 or 20 minutes are common. Micro-organisms are destroyed by contact so that actual circulation of the sterilant is not necessary.

Final rinse:-

Fresh water which must be uncontaminated is delivered to the plant and returned to drain. If it is considered that residual traces of the sterilant will not harm the product, the final rinse may be omitted.

Comparison of Recovery versus Total Loss Systems

The benefits and problems associated with ‘Recovery’ and ‘Total Loss’ systems are detained in the table below:-

Recovery System Total Loss System Capital costs are higher because of Lower capital cost the need for large tanks Running costs are lower because all Higher running costs chemicals are recovered Only able to clean one type of plant One cleaning unit can clean different from a cleaning unit. types of plant, for example rough beer and bright beer tanks. Simple to operate. Complex control system relying on detergent/sterilant strength sensors.

Notes.

Write down details of a CIP programme for a piece of plant that you are familiar with. Include times, temperatures and flow rates for rinses, cleans and sterilisations. Include chemical strengths. What precautions are taken to ensure that the plant is not re- contaminated before re-use?

Spray heads for tank CIP.

There are two main types of spray head, the fixed spray head and the rotating spray head.

Tank fitted with low Tank fitted with high pressure fixed spray pressure rotating spray head head (spray ball)

Fixed spray ball .

This uses large volumes of cleaning liquid at low pressure. It relies on the cleaning liquid flowing over the surface of the tank, therefore the whole surface must be covered. Positioning of the head must ensure full coverage.

Burst rinsing is effective because the liquid finds new routes to flow down with each burst.

The large volume of cleaning liquid used means that attention needs to be paid to tank drainage/scavenge. The base of a poorly drained tank is not cleaned because the cleaning liquid does not flow over the surface at sufficient speed.

Spray balls are relatively cheap and they are easy to maintain although they can block up especially if the cleaning liquid is unfiltered. The choice of spray balls or rotating spray cleaners is a key factor in the effective design and operation of a CIP system. There are a number of reputed manufacturers of this equipment. The dimension of the vessel dictates the type of spray device required for an effective covering of the entire surface during the CIP cycle. Spray balls shower the entire surface all the time the pump is operational by directing the impact flow of the fluid on the area where most of the soil is located, e.g. at the yeast ring in a fermentation vessel.

The fluid runs down the side of the walls of the vessel in a continuous curtain contributing to the effect of the chemical, timing and temperature to assure a clean surface.

Rotating spray head.

This is a mechanically driven head that rotates to direct a high-pressure jet to the tank surface, usually in a pattern to ensure that the entire surface is jetted. This principle means that it takes a specific time to complete the pattern and cover all surfaces. Rotating spray cleaners require a high pressure to direct the fluid onto the surface of the vessel; the fluid flows down the rest of the surface cleaning on its way.

The rotating jets have a higher impact force on the surface exerting greater mechanical effect on the soil or scale, than the flooding low pressure system applied on fixed spray balls. The mechanical force is a powerful aid to the cleaning process and the system can use colder and or less aggressive detergent than the fixed head.

The jets on a rotating mechanism direct the fluid at one point a specified number of times for a complete cycle, at the end of which the entire surface will be covered.

Rotating spray heads are relatively expensive and are made up of moving parts, therefore there is wear and tear during use. Rotating spray heads are often fitted with rotation detectors because a stationary head will only clean a small section of the tank.

Notes. Write down the type of spray heads fitted to a tank installation that you are familiar with. Why was that type of spray selected?

Automation and monitoring.

Complex CIP systems are ideally controlled automatically, the advantages being:-

• A programme can be designed and set when the plant is commissioned to maximise cleaning and this will be consistently adhered to.

• Detergent and sterilant strengths can be optimised.

• A cleaning cycle can run unsupervised.

• Automated recording of cycle times, detergent strengths and temperatures by the monitoring equipment is available. Cleaning can be held up if a problem is detected.

• Sensors can detect detergent/sterilant strength on the return line and direct the return to tank or drain saving chemical costs.

In the CIP system illustrated (below), the following items are automatically controlled:-

• Inlet and outlet valves of detergent/sterilant tanks. • Delivery pump. • Rinse water and drain valves. • Detergent/sterilant strength detection and tank top up from bulk supplies. • Detergent/sterilant strength detection on the return line.

Auto sensing Drain

Auto Dilute Dilute Auto sensing sensing Plant and Detergent Sterilant and top up tank tank top up

Rinse water

Notes. Draw an automated CIP system that you are familiar with and specify the pieces of equipment that are automatically controlled.

17.3. Plant Design - Hygiene Cosiderations.

Candidates should have a basic knowledge of those plant design features which improve hygiene.

Effective cleaning is the result of a combination of four factors:-

• Time . How long is the cleaning agent/detergent in contact with the plant?

• Temperature . How hot is the cleaning agent/detergent?

• Chemical activity . How strong/effective is the cleaning agent/detergent?

• Physical activity . How vigorously is the cleaning agent/detergent applied to the plant?

If one of these factors is reduced, for example if the plant has to be cleaned quickly, then another factor must be increased to compensate, for example hot instead of cold detergent could be used.

Plant design needs to take this concept into consideration in the following ways:-

• The plant capacity needs to be large enough to allow time for cleaning.

• The parts of the plant where very high standards of hygiene and sterility are required should be capable of being cleaned hot.

• The materials of construction should be capable of withstanding strong detergents like caustic soda.

• The plant design should either allow access for manual cleaning or more commonly, ensure that detergent can flow over the surface at the speed required to give a vigorous clean.

17.3.1. Plant capacity.

If, for example it was planned to install a new facility to filter 1,000 hectolitres per day that required cleaning once per day and it took four hours to clean it, then the capacity calculation would have to take the cleaning requirement into consideration as follows:-

Total time = 24 hours. Production time = 20 hours. Cleaning time = 4 hours. Requirement = 1,000 hectolitres. Filter capacity = 1000 = 50 hectolitres per hour. 20

17.3.2. Hot Cleaning.

Some plant is designed to be cleaned at high temperatures because of the importance of hygiene and sterility, an example could be a yeast culture vessel. Plant design features that allow high temperature cleaning are:-

• Strong construction, for example thick walls to a vessel. • The presence of a pressure relief valve, which must be regularly tested. • Vacuum relief system, to prevent the collapse of the vessel due to the very low pressures that will occur if the vessel cools quickly.

17.3.3. Construction materials.

The choice of material that the plant is made from needs to allow for the detergents and sterilants that are going to be used. Most modern plant is constructed of a suitable quality of stainless steel; however, pump glands, sensing equipment like thermometers, hoses and valves must also be compatible with what might be very corrosive substances. Some of the more obvious problems are listed below:-

• Caustic soda will dissolve aluminium. • Chlorine is a very strong oxidising agent and will corrode most metals. • Acids will seriously damage concrete. • Dilute sulphuric acid corrodes many grades of stainless steel. • Hoses and rubber seals, for example plate heat exchanger gaskets can pick up taints from sterilising agents.

17.3.4. Plant design.

When taking the need for effective cleaning into consideration during the design of the plant the main areas are:-

• As few encumbrances in vessels as possible. • Vessels must drain well. • There must be no ‘dead legs’ in the pipework. • Pipes must be designed for fast flow of detergent during cleaning. • Spray heads must be sited in the correct position. • Where necessary, the plant must be accessible for cleaning or maintenance.

(a) Vessel design.

Vessels in modern breweries are designed for being cleaned in place, that is by spray head rather than manually by personnel having to enter and clean. They drain well and have very few internal encumbrances.

C onical vessel. G ood drainage S m ooth w alls N o encum berances

S quare vessel. P oor drainage. A ttem perators difficult to clean.

(b) Vessel drainage :-

Good drainage. Poor drainage. Fast flow of liquid Slow flow doesn't cleans the base clean the base and re-deposits and carries away the soil. the soil.

Pipes and mains in modern breweries are designed to be cleaned in place, they have smooth bends and no ‘dead legs’. Flow of cleaning fluids is fast through all the pipework, an ideal is 2 meters per second.

Pipes with angled bends Pipes with are difficult to smooth bends clean, they are easy to leave soil in the clean. areas shown.

'Dead legs' in pipework never get cleaned at all.

Slow flow of cleaning fluid through a pipe is ineffective Fast flow of cleaning because there is no fluid through a pipe scrubbing action. causes turbulence and a good scrubbing action.

A pipe circuit for CIP should consist of pipes of the same diameter, otherwise the flow in the larger diameter pipework will be too slow.

(d) Valve design.

Valves in modern breweries are designed so that they can be cleaned in place as part of the pipework cleaning cycle.

A 'butterfly' valve is easy to clean, it is smooth, it has hygienic glands to house the spindle and there are no areas where soil can hide. Activator

A 'plug' valve is very difficult to clean, the housing surrounding the plug hides soil which can only be removed by dismantling the valve. Activator

(e) Pump design. A piston pump is difficult to clean, soil stays on the A centrifugal pump cylinder wall and is easy to clean, A stainless steel in the 'one way' the impellor creates 'lobe' pump is fairly valves. turbulence and easy to clean, the there is only one internal surfaces gland. are polished and there are no difficult corners.

Sometimes pumps are fitted with pressure relief by-pass systems. This by-pass must be opened during the cleaning programme.

(f) Room and building finishes.

The buildings that house brewing and packaging plant should be designed so that:-

• The floors can be cleaned easily. This means good drainage and well finished floors possibly tiled.

• The walls can be cleaned easily. Possibly tiled walls.

• The plant can be accessed for maintenance, ideally without the need for scaffolding.

• There is adequate lighting with access for maintenance.

• There is good ventilation.

Hygiene of plant environment assured .

All floors must be constructed from cement, tiles or suitable material that is durable and has a flat surface that will allow for regular cleaning and sanitation. Skirting of the wall to floor joints must be 100mm high and of the same material as the floor finish. Floors must have a 1 to 1,5% fall towards the drains to prevent ponding of water after hosing down. Floors of the process and packaging areas must be made from materials that resist acid and caustic at the concentrations found in the operational areas. Where areas are earmarked for storage of the concentrated forms of detergents and other materials, the floors and walls should be able to resist those materials. All drains in the process areas and packaging areas should have appropriate airlocks. Drain covers in the packaging areas should be constructed with baskets to retain glass. Walls in the process areas should be tiled to the ceiling or coated with a durable and washable coating. Ceilings should be painted with durable and washable coating. Where possible, anti-mould coatings should be used. Walkways and hand rails should be made of corrosive resistant material or coated with a suitable corrosion resistant material. Walls of the storage areas should be painted with a suitable durable coating. Natural ventilation or air-conditioning should supply sufficient air movement to prevent mould growth and eliminate odours. No protrusions should be allowed on walls and windows should have sills facing the outside. Any internal protrusion or beams should have a 30° fall to prevent dust from accumulating and to facilitate cleaning. All holes to the exterior should be covered by plastic mosquito netting. All process areas should be protected against entry of insects, vermin, dirt and dust. Hot and cold water points should be positioned strategically around the plant for hand cleaning and cleaning of equipment, walls and floors. All factory drainage systems should be dimensioned (size and falls) to allow for effective discharge of effluent with solids without having any blockages. Ablutions must be positioned away from the process area and be fitted with suitable lockers, showers, washbasins and other required sanitary fittings.

Materials Used for General Cleaning

• Suitable bins to hold all waste material should be positioned around the plant; • brooms and brushes to sweep and clean the floor; • squeegees to push excess water from the floors; • drain pumps and pull through to clear blocked drains; • sufficient hoses and hose points to clean all surfaces (walls, floors and equipment); • special brushes for cleaning surfaces of the plant: care must be taken not to scratch inside and outside surfaces of stainless steel plant; • personnel performing cleaning duties should be suitably clothed and protected.

Cleaning Agents

• Sufficient 70°C water must be available on tap to facilitate cleaning in all process areas. • A suitable detergent should be used for general cleaning of all surfaces: choices of the detergents need to take account of the fact that chlorine based chemicals are corrosive on stainless steel equipment. MSDS certificates must be available for all materials on site.

Control of Environment

• Physical inspection of all plant and buildings to assess the level of hygiene must be done on a routine basis. • Microbiological surveys of the environment (walls, floors, equipment and the air) will indicate the effectiveness of the plant hygiene programme.

Notes. Draw a diagram of a piece of plant with which you are familiar. Identify parts that are easy to clean. Identify parts that are difficult to clean.

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 1 GCP (All Containers): Section 18: Utilities – Water and Effluent in packaging Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Beer Packaging (GCP) Section 18 Utilities - Water and Effluent in Packaging.

18.1 Water Treatments.

A plentiful supply of water is essential to the brewery; this is why, in the past, breweries were built in areas that had their own sources, usually in the form of wells or boreholes. These original sources are still used in some plants while others have to rely on the local water authority for their supply. The nature of the water source will affect the quality of the beer and this has resulted in some areas being famous for their beers. Examples are Burton- on-Trent for strong bitters and Pilsen for fine lagers. The quality of the water will also affect the efficiency of the processes where it is used, for example in boiler feed water or in plant cleaning systems. Water can be sourced from underground wells (boreholes) or from a surface supply like a reservoir.

Borehole Water: Surface Water:

Rain Bore hole

Top soil Rain

Sub soil

Reservoir Water bearing rock

Impervious rock

The Principal Characteristics and Requirements of a Brewery Water Supply.

The source of supply will affect the characteristics of the water in the following ways:

Source Mineral Salt Microbiological Taints Consistency of Content Content Supply Boreholes. Will contain some Likely to be low Likely to be Very good over of the soluble because the water low unless long periods of material present has been filtered the water time. in the rock strata through the rock has been where the water strata. contaminate is held. d by surface water, for example in built up areas. Surface Likely to be low Likely to be high Likely to be Can be variable Water. unless because of low unless especially in agricultural contamination the water is periods of chemicals are from farm land. contaminate drought. being washed off d by the land. accidental spillage.

Public Depends on Likely to be low Likely to be Very good Supply. whether the because of low because because of the source is treatment by the of treatment water authority’s borehole or water authority. by the water legal surface. Any authority. obligations. anomalies should be known if the supplies alternate.

A Brewery Water Supply should have the following characteristics:

Characteristic Standard Appearance. Clear and colourless. Wholesomeness/Potability. Freedom from taint. Mineral salt and Metallic Contents that meet the brewing and process content. requirements. Microbiological standard. Freedom from any micro-organisms that would spoil the beer or affect the people that drink it. Reliability of supply. There must be water available at all times.

Water used in a Brewery can be identified as: • Product (Brewing) Water – actually used in the production of beer. • Process Water – used for cleaning plant, washing containers before filling. • Service Water – used to raise steam (in Boilers), in refrigerants for cooling (including cooling towers) and general hygiene.

Methods for Pre-treatment of Water.

Some water sources require no treatment at all, so the selection of a ‘perfect’ supply is the ideal; however a water supply that meets all requirements is rare and usually some form of water treatment is used.

Quality Standard Treatment Clear and colourless Filtration, usually sand filtration or by flocculation. appearance. Wholesomeness/potability - Filtration, usually by carbon filtration. Freedom from taint. Mineral salt and Metallic Carbonate removal by boiling, or more usually by content that meets the brewing de-ionisation. Where the required salts are and process requirements. absent, these can be added to the water tank or during the process. For example, calcium chloride can be added to the brewing process. Freedom from any micro- Sterilisation by UV light, by sterile filtration, by organisms that would spoil the pasteurisation or by the addition of a sanitiser. beer or affect the people that drink it. There must be water available An alternative supply is often used. Where this is at all times. the case, different water treatment may be needed.

De-ionisation (removal of the salts) in Ion exchange columns is common in breweries. The columns contain special resins that are capable of exchanging the unwanted ions for harmless ones. The resins can be regenerated when exhausted, usually by washing through with mineral acids.

In the plant illustrated below, Carbonates are removed in ion exchange columns and CO 2 is formed. This is removed in the degassing towers.

Acid regeneration tank

De- Ion Gassing Exchange Tower Break Column Tank

Alternative primary treatments are:

• Sand filtration for the removal of solids.

• Carbon filtration for the removal of flavour taints like chlorine.

• Ion exchange columns for de-mineralisation or de-alkalisation.

• Membrane filters or reverse osmosis. Reverse osmosis is a process where water is passed via a high pressure pump through a semi-permeable membrane which allows the passage of water but not the dissolved solids in the water, which are concentrated and directed to the drain. With the appropriate selection of membrane, water can be totally de-mineralised and have bacteria, trihalomethanes (THM's), some pesticides, solvents and other volatile organic compounds (VOC's) removed.

• Removal of iron or manganese using a BIRM filter.

De-aerated Water. It is common to brew beer at ‘high gravity’ and to dilute the beer to its specified alcohol content at a later stage, for example post filtration. The water used for dilution has specific quality requirements ie ‘The water must be free of unwanted micro-organisms and the water must be free of any dissolved oxygen’. The de-aerated water plant is designed to supply water to that standard:

P re - tre ate d W ater

F in e U .V . C o arse Cooler Filter Steriliser

Filte r Column De-aeration

De-aerated W ater Supply T a n k

The plant illustrated has the following features: • A filtration system that ensures that the Ultra Violet (UV) light steriliser is effective. • A de-aeration system that works by spraying the water through an atmosphere of inert gas (carbon dioxide or nitrogen) where any oxygen in the water is replaced by the inert gas. • Sterilisation by UV light (chlorine sterilisation would taint the water). • Temperature adjustment (the water will eventually be added to beer at low temperature).

Other plants remove oxygen by heating the water. Some sterilise the water using heat or by membrane filtration.

Notes: Describe how the de-aerated water plant operates in your brewery. Use flow diagrams to illustrate your description.

Methods for Sterilising Water.

The method of water sterilisation depends on the level of infection and on the subsequent use of the water. If the water is heavily infected it may require filtration followed by heat treatment. If the water is to be used for normal brewhouse operations sterilisation can be by the addition of a sanitiser like chlorine gas, hypochlorite or chlorine dioxide. If the water is to be used for addition to beer at later stages, for example the dilution of high gravity beer and it is considered that chlorine would taint the beer, then sterilisation by UV light or by sterile filtration is more usual.

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 6 GCP (All Containers): Section 18: Utilities – Water and Effluent in packaging 18.2. De-aerated, Process and Service Waters and Water Conservation.

De-aerated Water.

De-aerated water is that water used for:

• Additions make up. • Beer dilution to sales gravity. • Jetting.

Water Use Quality Requirements Treatment Additions makeup in The water must be free of See the section on water Fermentation & unwanted micro-organisms. sterilisation. Maturation. For later stages, the water See the section on water The water used to mix must be free of any de-aeration. and add material like dissolved oxygen. finings.

Additions makeup in The water must be free of See the section on water Filtration. unwanted micro-organisms. sterilisation. The water used to mix The water must be free of See the section on water and add filter aid. any dissolved oxygen. de-aeration. Breakdown in Filtration. The water must be free of See the section on water The water used to unwanted micro-organisms. sterilisation. adjust alcohol content in The water must be free of See the section on water high gravity beers. any dissolved oxygen. de-aeration. Jetting in Packaging. The water must be free of See the section on water The water used to jet unwanted micro-organisms. sterilisation. into bottles to promote a The water must be free of See the section on water CO 2 purge. any dissolved oxygen. de-aeration.

Process Water.

Process water is that water used for:

• Cleaning brewery plant. • Washing beer packages before filling. • Heating, for example in tunnel pasteurisers.

Water Use Problems Treatment Cleaning Formation of scale in CIP Carbonate removal as described brewery plant delivery systems and spray above. (CIP). heads caused by the presence Selection of a detergent that works of carbonates in the water. best with the water in use. Detergent deterioration caused by the presence of carbonates. Bottle washing Formation of scale in the Washer Carbonate removal as described Cask washing sprays and ‘bloom’ on bottles. above. Keg washing. Detergent deterioration, all Selection of a detergent that works caused by the presence of best with the water in use. carbonates. Rinsing plant Re-infection of the product or Water sterilisation as described and packages plant through the presence of above. after cleaning. micro-organisms. Tunnel Formation of scale in the Carbonate removal as described Pasteurisers. pasteuriser sprays caused by the above. presence of carbonates. Use of additives that suppress Formation of mould in the mould. pasteuriser caused by the Use of additives that inhibit rust presence of micro-organisms. formation. Rust on the bottle crowns caused by the activity of the water.

Notes:

Describe the problems experienced with your brewery’s Process Water and how these are overcome.

Service Water.

Service water is that water used in boilers to raise steam, in cooling towers as part of the refrigeration plant and general hygiene cleaning.

Boiler Water :

The main requirements for boiler water are that it does not form scale deposits on the heating surfaces and that it does not corrode the plant. Consequently, the removal of carbonates is essential and often the standard de-ionisation process described above is supplemented with further treatment. To prevent corrosion, additives are used to scavenge oxygen from the water and its pH is adjusted.

Cooling Tower Water:

Water used in cooling towers is prone to the growth of bacteria of which the most important is Legionella. Legionnaire’s disease is a potentially fatal pneumonia caused by legionella bacteria. The infection is caused by breathing in small droplets of water contaminated by the bacteria. The disease cannot be passed from one person to another. Legionella bacteria are common in natural water courses such as rivers and ponds. Since legionella are widespread in the environment, they may contaminate and grow in other water systems such as cooling towers, evaporative condensers and hot and cold water services. They survive low temperatures and thrive at temperatures between 20 oC – 40 oC if the conditions are right, eg if a supply of nutrients is present such as rust, sludge, scale, algae and other bacteria. They are killed by high temperatures. In many countries there are regulations for managing the risks from legionella. These regulations generally include: • The identification and assessment of sources of risk; • The preparation and management of a scheme to prevent or control the risk; • The keeping of records to check that what has been done is effective. Cooling towers and similar systems are often treated using biocides but other treatments are available such as UV irradiation, copper / silver ionisation and ozone. In hot and cold water systems legionella has traditionally been controlled by storing water above 60 oC and distributing it above 50 oC - and cold water below 20 oC if possible. Other methods which are used include copper / silver ionisation and chlorine dioxide treatment.

General Cleaning Water :

This is water that is used for hosing down and general hygiene and the normal standard supply can be used.

Notes: Describe the treatment used for your brewery’s boiler water and cooling tower water.

Water usage Ratios, Conservation Methods and Costs.

Water is an expensive commodity, it is charged for by the Water Authority whether or not it comes from the brewery’s own boreholes and the brewery is charged for any liquid sent down the drain. Consequently, a knowledge of how much water is used is essential for its control.

Usage Ratios : Breweries calculate the amount of water used compared to the amount of beer produced. Surveys of breweries have shown that the ratio of volumes of water consumption to production varies from 3:1 to 20:1. The adjudged minimum ratio of consumption, allowing for unavoidable losses, is approximately 1.4:1. In practice the minimum consumption is generally in the range 2.5:1 to 5:1 depending on the operations carried out by the particular brewery. The ratio is normally measured in hectolitre / hectolitre (hl/hl).

Notes: Describe below, what your brewery’s water ratio is and what steps are taken to reduce it.

18.3 Sources of Effluent and Measurement.

Effluent is the waste material discharged to the brewery drains. It is expensive to process and the brewery is charged for this processing. The local authority will also impose limits to the amount of and content of the effluent that the brewery is allowed to discharge.

Sources in Brewing and Packaging operations

C O 2

W arehouse

Boilerhouse Packaging Hall

C O 2 Bottle and Keg rin s e s

Brewhouse Fermentation Filtration

W aste yeast & Spent grain drainings W aste Filter Aid and trub Vessel rinses

Packaging Effluent Effluent from the Packaging Hall comes from the washing of returnable bottles, cask and keg washing machines, from filling machines and from pasteurisers. In addition, some effluent is generated from bright beer vessel and pipework cleaning operations. Package washing is the most likely cause of effluent problems; detergents are used and the packages have to be rinsed with fresh water before being filled. Returnable bottle washing machines are required to remove paper labels which could be washed to drain. Many tunnel pasteurisers use large volumes of water, some of which is carried over with the packages on the exit conveyor.

Effluent Values Effluent is measured in five ways - Volume, Suspended Solids, COD, pH and temperature. A brewery can often be charged by the Water Authority using a formula (such as the Mogden formula) incorporating a number of the key values. The formula is adjusted to comply with local needs. The values are explained in the table below:

Value Explanation Source Volume The volume of effluent discharged, usually Wastage of water measured in cubic metres. described above. Suspended The amount of solid material in the effluent, Spent grain, trub, Solids measured in ppm (parts per million) or yeast, filter aid and mg/litre. bottle labels. C.O.D. Chemical oxygen demand. The amount of Organic material like ‘work’ that the effluent plant has to do to spent grain, trub and break the effluent down to a quality that can yeast. be discharged into a local river. B.O.D. Biological oxygen demand. Similar to C.O.D. Organic material like spent grain, trub and yeast. pH A measure of the acidity/alkalinity of the Detergents and beer. effluent. Water is neutral at 7. Temperature. A measure of the heat in the effluent. Hot effluent from the brewhouse, boilerhouse or pasteurisers.

Reduction in Effluent loading.

Effective monitoring is necessary for the control of effluent. This is usually done using flow meters, by sampling the effluent to measure its suspended solids and COD and by sensing for pH and temperature. Swift detection of problems, for example yeast being washed to drain can help manage the costs of effluent.

Taking individual samples of effluent, of course will only provide information on the state of the effluent at a particular point in time.

The ‘Pie Charts’ below illustrate how the various areas of a brewery influence the effluent picture:

Brewery Effluent Volume

Filtration

Fermentation

Bottle washer Brewhouse

Pasteuriser

Fillers

Brewery Effluent Solids

Trub

Lauter Tun

Pasteuriser Filler Fermentation Bottle Washer

Filtration

Brewery Effluent COD

Trub Lauter Tun

Pasteuriser Filler

Bottle Washer Filtration Fermentation

Packaging effluent can be reduced by taking the following action:

Source of Effluent Control Methods

Bottle washing machines. • Run at the specified speed to limit water ‘carry over’. Please note that modern plant is designed • Maintain detergent strengths at the to reduce effluent and that operating the specified levels to keep the system in plant as recommended by the balance. manufacturers is essential. • Collect dumped detergent in settling tanks and dispose of by alternative methods. Keg washing machines. • Ensure that the cycle timers are operating as specified. Operating the plant as recommended by • Maintain detergent strengths at the the manufacturers is essential. specified levels. • Recycle washing water. Filling machines. • Maintain to reduce bottle breakages. • Maintain to control filling heights. Please note that modern plant is designed • Make use of burst bottle detectors. to reduce effluent and that operating the • Control over foaming. plant as recommended by the manufacturers is essential.

Tunnel pasteurisers. • Run at the specified speed to limit water ‘carry over’. • Maintain and check to control temperature to specified levels. Line stoppages. Ensure rinsing water and line lubrication is automatically switched off.

Effluent Costs The authorities which operate the effluent plants often have particular problems to resolve and their charging policies reflect these. The charge for discharging effluent generally takes into account volume, suspended solids and COD and these values are used in a formula eg Mogden to calculate the cost per unit of effluent. Individual authorities may adjust the formula itself to reflect their own problems.

Notes: Identify the charges for your own brewery and how they are calculated:

Statutory Controls Water Authorities generally impose limits to the amount of and condition of effluent being discharged from a brewery into their systems. They can levy penalties and fines to companies who persistently exceed the limits.

A typical set of limits is detailed in the table below:

Parameter Limit Maximum volume 100,000 litres per 24 hours Maximum suspended solids 500 mg/litre Maximum COD 10,000 kg per 24 hours pH range 6 - 10 Maximum temperature 40 o C

Notes: Identify below the limits set for your brewery.

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 1 GCP (All Containers): Section 19: Utilities – Process Gases Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Beer Packaging (GCP) Section 19 Utilities - Process Gases.

19.1 Properties, Applications and Safety of Gases.

Requirements. Candidates should be familiar with common practices aimed at ensuring economy of use and purity of supply of Process Gases. Familiarity with safety features of the supply systems is also required.

The Brewery needs inert gases to protect the beer’s quality. All these utilities are potential safety hazards and procedures must be in place to protect the people who work in the plant.

The main uses of Gases in Brewing and Packaging

Gas Purpose Method of use Air or To ensure yeast growth. • Injection into wort during chilling. oxygen. • Aeration of yeast cultures or yeast during storage. Air. To drive pneumatic equipment. Pipework direct to plant Nitrogen. • To enhance beer’s foam • By injecting N2 into the beer, stability. usually during the packaging process. • By pressurising the package with N2. • To replace air in tanks and • Flooding tanks and packages packages creating an inert with N2. atmosphere. • De-gassing beer that has a • Purging from the base or outlet of high level of dissolved a tank. oxygen or carbon dioxide. Carbon • To give beer its fizzy • Injection into beer. dioxide. character. • To replace air in tanks and • Flooding tanks and packages packages creating an inert with CO2. atmosphere. • To act as an oxygen • Filling de-aeration tower with scavenge in de-aeration CO2. plants. • De-gassing beer. • Purging from the base or outlet of a tank.

The Quality of Gases in relation to their use

Gas and its Quality parameter Reason use Air or oxygen • Sterility. • Product will become infected. for yeast growth. • Freedom from • Contamination. contaminants e.g. oil or grease. Air for Dry and clean. Inoperation of equipment. pneumatic plant. Nitrogen for • Purity, especially absence • Even a small amount of oxygen foam stability of oxygen. will cause flavour staling and beer or air instability. elimination. • Sterility. • Product will become infected.

• Freedom from • Contamination. contaminants e.g. oil or grease. Carbon • Purity, especially absence • Even a small amount of oxygen dioxide for of oxygen. will cause flavour staling and beer beer instability. condition or air • Sterility. • Product will become infected. elimination. • Freedom from • Contamination. contaminants e.g. oil or grease.

Gases are sterilised by filtration through very fine filters which have to be steam sterilised.

Carbon dioxide, especially that collected from fermentations, is checked for purity, cleaned and dried as necessary. Only pure CO2 must be re-used.

The collection of, purchase of and the production of these gases is expensive. Wastage is a problem because the gas distribution systems are under high pressure and leaks are common.

The detection of and repair of gas leaks are important areas in cost control.

Carbon dioxide is a safety hazard especially in fermenting rooms. There are several features of this gas to be considered: • It is a toxic gas at high concentrations in the atmosphere. 5% of CO2 in the atmosphere is dangerous. • It is heavier than air and it will accumulate in low-lying areas. • It is generated in very large quantities during fermentation.

The risks associated with CO2 can be reduced by: • Effective removal of the gas from FV rooms using extraction systems. • CO2 collection from fermentations. • The installation of gas detectors. Alarms indicate levels above 0.5% • Safety measures that include permits to work, permits to enter confined spaces and evacuation procedures.

Nitrogen is potentially dangerous because it will suffocate and it is difficult to detect (air is 80% N2). People required to enter tanks where N2 is used for back pressure are especially at risk. Dangers can be reduced by the installation of gas detectors (Oxygen deficiency meters).

All pressurised process gas systems (including compressed air) present safety hazards. If pressure systems fail, they can seriously kill or injure people. Most countries have regulations dealing with the risks created by a release of stored energy should the system fail and detailing the measures that should be taken to prevent failures and reduce risks. The regulations generally cover: • Safe operating limits. • Written schemes of examination. • Specific requirements relating to most pressure vessels, all safety devices and any pipework which is potentially dangerous.

Compressed gas cylinders can present severe hazards to personnel and property. Many gas cylinders are stored at extremely high pressure. A sudden release of gas can cause a cylinder to become a missile-like projectile of fracture catastrophically. There are well recognised procedures to minimise risks covering: • Labelling • Handling • Storage • Transporting • Use of personal protective equipment.

Notes:

Candidates should familiarise themselves with their own brewery’s procedures for:

• the safe entry into tanks, cold rooms and other confined spaces where carbon dioxide or excessive nitrogen may be present

• the use of portable and fixed alarms together with other personal protective equipment

Candidates should also investigate their own national (and any local) safety regulations and procedures relating to:

• the storage of liquid gases and their distribution in high-pressure mains

• compressed air systems and equipment

• the safe handling and storage of compressed gas cylinders

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 1 GCP (All Containers): Section 20: Packaging and the Environment Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Packaging (GCP) Section 20 Packaging and the Environment

20.1 Sustainability and climate change

The brewing industry, in common with other industries, impacts on the environment in many different ways. For example: • As a user of energy. • As a ‘consumer’ of water and other natural resources. • As a source, both directly and indirectly, of atmospheric emissions, trade effluent and packaging waste.

Sustainable development

The challenge of sustainable development is to achieve economic, social and environmental objectives at the same time.

In the past economic activity and growth have often resulted in pollution and wasted resources. A damaged environment impairs quality of life and at worst may threaten long term economic growth, for example as a result of global climate change.

Climate change

Climate change is being caused by an increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These gases come from both natural and man-made sources, but the increase is the result of human activity, mainly the release of carbon dioxide from the use of fossil fuels such as coal, gas, oil, petrol and diesel.

All businesses and societies, to a greater or lesser extent, will feel the impact of climate change and the policies of governments around the world to address it. These may include: • restrictions on emission levels • restrictions on water use • changes in agricultural growth patterns • increases in energy prices • changes in consumer habits

Sustainability guiding principles

Companies committing to minimising the total impact of their activities on the environment, to using natural resources wisely, to pursuing social progress and to playing leading roles in their economies adhere to certain guiding principles typified by the following:

• To comply with all relevant national and local legislation and regulations. • To design, operate and maintain processes and plants to: - optimise the use of all resources (materials, water, energy etc) whilst ensuring that unavoidable wastes are recovered, reused or disposed of in an economically sustainable and environmentally responsible manner. - minimise the potential impact on the environment from site emissions to air, water and land. • To regularly assess the environmental impacts of processes and plants and, based on the assessments, set annual objectives and targets for the continual improvement of environmental performance. • To use and develop packaging distribution systems for which packaging/product combination will make fewer demands on non- renewable and renewable natural resources. • To minimise the use of substances which may cause potential harm to the environment and ensure they are used and disposed of safely. • To encourage a culture of awareness on sustainability issues amongst employees through management commitment, appropriate communications, training and other initiatives. • To establish and maintain appropriate procedures and management systems to implement these principles through policy commitment. • To work with suppliers and other business partners in the supply chain to maintain high environmental standards.

The role of carbon dioxide – the carbon cycle

Carbon dioxide emission is seen as a key measure of environmental damage. During fermentation the yeast acts on the sugars in the wort to produce a combination of alcohol and carbon dioxide. The impression may erroneously be given that the brewing industry is a net generator of carbon dioxide as a result. In reality, carbon dioxide evolution through that route is simply part of the natural carbon cycle:

• The amount of carbon dioxide released during fermentation is roughly a quarter of the amount absorbed from the atmosphere through photosynthesis by the growing grain. • Photosynthesis by the growing grain releases oxygen back into the atmosphere. • Carbon dioxide is also released back into the atmosphere through human metabolism.

CO 2 PROCESS CYCLE

oxygen

carbon dioxide

barley malting fermentable beer mashing sugar yeast man

water

Carbon dioxide derived from the fermentation process is increasingly recovered in the brewery for use in the process and product. The first carbon dioxide from a fermentation is mixed with air and is therefore vented to atmosphere. Carbon dioxide recovery becomes viable when the gas reaches a predetermined purity level (e.g. 99.5%). Generally, the recovery process involves the following stages:

• Collection • Washing / scrubbing • Compression • Deodorising and drying • Liquefaction and storage

In addition to reducing emissions to the environment, this saves the brewery having to purchase all the gas it requires from outside manufacturers thereby reducing demand on resources and indirect energy use.

Principal sources of carbon dioxide emissions

The real source of carbon dioxide emissions in the brewing industry is the combustion of fossil fuels – either at the brewery itself or in the generation of the electricity supplied. There is therefore a need for continuing improvement in the efficiency with which fossil fuels are used, whether through the use of electricity or through the combustion of fuel at the brewery:

• Electricity, as compared with natural gas, gives rise to three times the quantity of carbon dioxide for the same amount of delivered energy. • Whereas electricity provides only perhaps 25% of the energy requirements of the brewing industry, the generation of electricity creates almost 50% of carbon dioxide emissions. • Where available, natural gas generally provides perhaps 66% of the total energy requirement but creates only 40% of carbon dioxide emissions.

20.2 Energy conservation

The energy use in brewing where it interfaces with the processes takes the form of Heat (steam and hot water) and Power (electricity). The heat energy is normally generated on site in boilers using primary fuels such as gas, oil or coal. Electricity on the other hand is usually purchased from national grids, even though some breweries generate a proportion in-house.

Principal energy consuming activities

Within the brewing industry the main energy usage will vary between breweries (large, small, old, modern), with product (beer, lager), with package type (keg, returnable bottle, non-returnable bottle, can) and with location (ambient air temperature and water temperature). The following are some illustrative examples:

Thermal Energy % Brewhouse 20 to 50 Packaging 25 to 30 Utilities 15 to 20 Admin, space heating Up to 10

Electricity % Refrigeration 30 to 40 Packaging 15 to 35 Compressed air 10 Brewhouse 5 to 10 Boilerhouse 5 Other 15 to 35

Typical energy reduction strategies

The approach to achieving savings in the use of energy can be categorised under the following headings:

Process technologies Horizontal technologies Overall energy management

1. Process technologies

Process technologies relate to the use and treatment of the materials themselves, principally malt, water and hops in a way peculiar to brewing. Energy savings can be achieved by the adoption of Best Available Techniques (BAT) which are widely disseminated within the brewing industry. Examples of processes which require high energy inputs where much work has been carried out might include:

Mashing Wort boiling Wort cooling Hot water management Fermentation Pasteurisation

2. Horizontal technologies

Horizontal technologies (with demonstrable Best Available Techniques) can invariably be applied across many industries. Examples include:

Steam raising Refrigeration Compressed air Utility pipework distribution systems and insulation Combined heat and power Electric motors and drives Biomass solutions as alternative energy sources

3. Overall energy management

A number of well tried techniques can be employed in the effort to reduce energy use:

a) Analysis of energy use and implementation of a monitoring and targeting (M & T) system

This is the fundamental energy management technique that must always be implemented first. It ensures that all energy usage is monitored on a regular basis.

The key is strategically positioned effective metering to provide reliable data. Best practice is to develop the energy metering to allow the transfer of measured energy costs into the user cost centres with a comparison of usages against calculated standards, any variance being reported.

The energy data provided by the monitoring and targeting system must be disseminated inside the brewery. This is of prime importance, in conjunction with awareness training, to motivate the staff to save energy and allow them to participate and improve the efficiency of the equipment.

b) Targeted investigation and action plan

Here an investigation is initiated to look at an area (or areas) of high energy usage or known inefficiency. For a generalised approach the highest users of energy would be targeted first (adopting the Pareto principle). Examples for heat would therefore be mashing, wort boiling and pasteurisation. Examples for electricity would be refrigeration, compressed air, large pumps and conveyor systems.

The key stages in the investigation process are:

• Audit the process • Produce findings • Evaluate findings • Produce action plan • Make modification / investment • Re-evaluate process performance • Assess energy saving and financial implications

This technique can be developed into one of continuous improvement:

• Evaluate against standard / benchmark • Assess options • Make change • Re-evaluate • Monitor improvement • etc

c) Pinch analysis and pinch technology

Introduced in the mid 1980s pinch analysis provides a systematic approach to analyse energy networks and improve the energy performance of industrial processes. Pinch technology uses graphical representations of the energy flows in the process and utility streams to determine the minimum energy consumption a process should use to meet its specific production requirements.

Pinch technology proceeds in two steps:

• In the first step, composite curves are created considering all the streams within the process that require cooling as “hot” lines and all the streams that require heating as “cold” lines. The theory is then compared with the actual amount of utility to pinpoint to what extent there is room for improvement. The points on the composite curves at which the “hot” and “cold” lines come closest to each other are called the “pinch point”. • In the second step of the pinch technology analysis, aspects that can be improved are studied from the perspective of energy conservation, operational costs and new plant capital cost. Finally the heat exchange network is improved and optimised.

The concept is designed principally for new breweries or for retrofit situations. In its widest application it can take account of all the energy flows on a site and identify projects that look attractive on their own or inappropriate when considered in a wider context. d) Feasibility studies into alternative technologies

In addition to the energy saving techniques described above, it may be appropriate from time to time to carry out feasibility studies into alternative technologies which may lead to strategic capital investment. Examples of such technologies might be:

Combined heat and power Wind power Generation of methane from biomass

Access to a sustainable water supply is critical to the brewery as one of the key raw materials. Quality and availability are of major significance.

It could, perhaps a little cynically, be said that breweries “borrow” water from the environment: • treat it as needed • use it once (mostly) • treat it again • throw it away

This can be represented as the “Water Supply Chain”

The Environment

Water Water Effluent Supply Use Treatment

The Environment The The The Environment

Surveys of breweries have shown that the ratio of volumes of water consumption to production varies from 3:1 to 20:1. The adjudged minimum ratio of consumption, allowing for unavoidable losses, is approximately 1.4:1. In practice, however, the minimum consumption is regarded as being in the range 2.5:1 to 5:1 depending on the operations carried out by the particular brewery.

Principal water consuming activities (see Section 2.3 for more detail)

There are three distinct purposes:

• Product (brewing) water (liquor) - for the production of the beer itself • Process water - for cleaning brewery plant, washing beer packages before filling, cooling and heating • Service water - for boilers, utility cooling towers, general cleaning water

Typical water conservation strategies

Strategies to conserve water are, unsurprisingly, very similar to those to conserve energy (see Section 21.2). The adoption of Process and Horizontal Technologies incorporating Best Available Techniques (BAT) is essential in seeking step-wise reductions in water use.

As described in the section on energy reduction, similar approaches can be adopted:

a) Analysis of water use and implementation of a monitoring and targeting (M & T) system b) Targeted investigation and action plan c) Feasibility studies into alternative technologies

An example of a well proven staged approach to improve water management is detailed below: • Produce mass balance - Start with survey of water use across brewery - Include all water use – product, process, and service - Aim to account for > 80% of water use • Construct simple model - Build simple network model based on information known (flows, concentrations) to identify areas of inaccuracy - Resample critical nodes to improve accountability to 90 to 95% • Reduce Waste - Focus on poor housekeeping to reduce wastage o routine inspection for leaks o prevention of losses from taps, triggers by fitting flow restrictors o or shut-off valves • Improve Management - Examine CIP programmes to ensure the water is being used effectively - Examine operations of keg washers, bottle washers and all small pack pasteurisers to prevent unnecessary wastage of water - Examine utilities (cooling systems, water purification, boiler operation) to check for inefficient water usage • Identify Reuse or Recycling Options - Using network model, identify opportunities for water reuse and water recycling - Identify minimum economic water consumption for site • Generate Strategic Vision - Incorporate new plant, expansions, discharge consent levels (new plant will be designed for minimum economic water use) - Identify new minimum economic water consumption for site • Improvement Plan - Identify steps to implement water management strategy and - Prepare economic cases • Implement water reuse and recycle improvements

It is generally accepted that full savings cannot be achieved in one step. There is often merit in starting with the cheapest and most cost effective. Typical savings may then build up in the following way:

• Reduction in uncontrolled use (housekeeping) 20 to 30% • Improved control (management) 20 to 30% • Water reuse 10 to 20% • Water recycling 10 to 20% • Design improvements 10 to 20% Diagramatically this staged approach might be represented as shown:

WATER SAVING

100 % REDESIGN

80 % RECYCLE

60 % REUSE

40 % MANAGEMENT

20 % HOUSEKEEPING CAPITAL COST 0 %

20.4. Packaging Waste

Focusing purely on packaging, the beverage industry is one of the most environmentally efficient of industries. Few industries can claim such an impressive record of lightweighting, minimisation, refilling and recycling. The cost of most beverages tends to be relatively low and yet they are relatively heavy and bulky; therefore, the cost of packaging as a proportion of sales tends to be higher than is the case with many consumer goods. This creates compelling financial and environmental arguments for minimising beverage packaging and is entirely in line with society’s aims of sustainable development.

The impact of packaging waste on household (consumer) recycling

Factors such as market expectations and cost will always be among the foremost drivers of packaging minimisation but in the 1990s such factors came to be rivalled in their impact by legislation. The purpose of the legislation was to divert packaging waste from landfill by forcing the recycling of packaging materials.

Much of the legislation was pioneered separately in Europe and the United States. In 1989 Germany introduced a law mandating ambitious recycling and refilling targets for beverage packaging. This legislation led to the creation of the European ‘Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive 1994’ in order to preserve a free market across Europe.

The Directive initially specified that by June 30 th 2001:

1. Between 50 and 65% of packaging must be ‘recovered’ (collected for some acceptable form of processing, which does not involve landfilling). The term ‘recovered’ is specified as consisting of any of the following; • Recycling – whereby the material is recycled into usable product(s), although not necessarily the same product. • Energy recovery – incineration with recovery of the resultant energy, whereby the energy gained from the combustion process is utilised in some useful form, such as electricity generation or combined heat and power (CHP). • Composting and biodegradation – where biodegradable packaging is turned into useful compost, or otherwise biodegrades to the extent that most of the resultant material ultimately decomposes into carbon dioxide and water.

2. Between 25 and 45% of packaging must be recycled as defined above, with a minimum of 15% of any individual packaging material being recycled. The remaining 5 to 40% of packaging which has been recovered but not recycled, may be incinerated with energy recovery or composted.

The initial targets were varied for individual EU countries and have since been revised upwards a number of times with the latest being set for 2008. The mechanics of achieving the recovery and recycling targets vary considerably between countries. However a typical system would involve:

• The country in question legislating to make product suppliers liable to achieve the required levels of recovery and recycling. • The setting-up, with state encouragement, of an industry-controlled recycling organisation. • Product suppliers joining the recycling organisation and paying it levies (based on their tonnage of packaging marketed) to undertake the legally-mandated recycling burden on their behalf.

The existence of rather different legislation in the USA demonstrates another way of proceeding. The view of the US legal system is that, once money has changed hands, only the owner of a product can have any responsibility for it. This fundamental conceptual difference has influenced US packaging legislation, since producers of beverage packaging are less likely to be held responsible for recycling packaging waste owned by consumers. Apart from this underlying difference in thinking compared to Europe, however, there is a wide variation in requirements of individual US states. For example states variously:

• ban particular products from landfill • ban all containers from landfill • ban the disposal of recyclable packaging materials • mandate deposits on beverage containers • require the payment of an ‘advance disposal fee’

Local household recycling of packaging materials

Recycling of household packaging materials began on a voluntary basis over 30 years ago with bottle-banks (green, brown and clear glass) being strategically positioned near supermarkets, car-parks etc. Many of these schemes started in northern Europe and Scandinavia. In due course receptacles were added for metal cans and cardboard (and later still, beyond packaging materials, clothes, shoes etc).

In the 1980s and 1990s national waste regulations increasingly gave rise to regional and local regulations, policed by local authorities, district and city councils etc. These local regulations required compulsory schemes to be introduced covering all households living in the catchment area. Households are generally issued with coloured bins or plastic sacks to segregate waste streams. The schemes vary considerably depending on the sophistication of the waste reception and sorting centre run by or on behalf of the authority or council. One scheme, which is typical of many, requires households to segregate packaging waste streams as follows:

• glass (all colours)

All glass is collected in a blue rigid plastic bin the contents being emptied into a special section of the refuse lorry when it calls on a weekly basis. The glass is subsequently recycled by returning to glass manufacturers for use in coloured bottles, jars etc.

• paper, cardboard, cans and non-rigid plastic containers

All the above are collected in pink plastic sacks which are taken away in the weekly refuse collection. At the waste reception station the packaging materials are sorted mainly by hand but with some automation (eg powerful magnets to separate steel cans and tins). The segregated wastes are then returned via intermediate waste transfer stations to the appropriate manufacturers.

The scheme described here extends to garden waste (collected in large “wheely-bins”) collected separately every two weeks. Another scheme has an additional small closed bin for domestic food waste. These schemes are evolving continually with ever higher recycling targets being imposed from national governments.

Strategies to minimise packaging material and encourage recycling

Around the world governments’ objectives are broadly similar:

• to minimise packaging and packaging waste as far as possible • to promote reuse of packaging materials • to encourage the recovery and, in particular, the recycling of packaging waste

There are four key drivers to minimise packaging material and encourage recycling: • legislation • market mechanisms • the consumer • cost

1. Legislation

Much of the packaging waste legislation imposes considerable responsibility on packaging ‘producers’ who generally include:

• manufacturers of raw materials for packaging • businesses that convert raw materials into packaging • fillers, who put goods into packaging, or use packaging to wrap goods • sellers, who sell packaging to the final user or consumer of the packaging

Producers are subject to the essential requirement that packaging must be minimal. A typical interpretation of minimal is: ‘Packaging shall be so manufactured that the packaging volume and weight be limited to the minimum adequate amount to maintain the necessary level of safety, hygiene and acceptance for the packed product and the consumer’.

The following is an example checklist which may help to determine if a package is minimal:

• Have other ways of packaging this product been considered? • Have ways of minimising this packaging been considered? • Do other packaging suppliers offer lighter weight versions of this pack which do the job just as well? • Has this pack been benchmarked against competitors’ packs? • How does this pack compare with similar products on the market? • If this pack had to be defended in court, is there a compelling defence as to why this pack has to be this way?

In terms of reuse, recycling or disposal, for most countries with packaging and/or packaging waste regulations, packaging technologists have to be able to answer the following question in the affirmative: ‘Is the packaging biodegradable (made of paper or board) or able to be incinerated cleanly with the release of calorific energy (paper or board, plastics and even aluminium foil usually meet this criterion), or recyclable (meeting the requirements of the recycling process in operation where the packaging is sold)?’

How are packaging materials affected by legislation? Clearly, glass is encouraged. Plastics are discouraged, except for PET (Polyethylene terephthalate), which is sometimes well received due to the high recycling rates achieved and the existence of PET refill systems. PVC (Polyvinyl chloride) is the least favoured plastic. Metals are discouraged in some regions in order to encourage the use of refillables and treated favourably in others, due to the high recycling rates achieved for metal cans. Laminates are discouraged due to their poor recyclability despite the fact that they meet minimisation requirements to a greater extent than any other packaging material and offer good calorific value for incineration. (The attractiveness of laminates is ensuring that much work is being done to improve their recyclability and a wider use of laminates can be anticipated in the future).

2. Market mechanisms

Environmental issues have come to drive market mechanisms to a greater extent than ever before. This is because what began as informal environmental interest has evolved into more formalised market mechanisms.

PVC (Polyvinyl chloride) forms an illustrative example. There may be little in the way of legislation banning PVC yet less formal market mechanisms have

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008) 15 GCP (All Containers): Section 20: Packaging and the Environment a huge negative impact on the use of this plastic. For example Greenpeace has called for a ban on PVC and indeed all chlorine chemistry.

PVC beverage packaging is generally accepted in the USA and most countries outside Europe and within Europe is banned by legislation only in Switzerland. However, in practice, PVC beverage packaging cannot be used throughout much of Europe. This is due to a variety of negative mechanisms. For example, in several countries, such as the Netherlands, retailers refuse to stock beverages packed in PVC. In other countries, just one handling retailer may refuse to stock PVC for selected product lines. In still other countries, PVC is accepted by most retailers but discouraged by a few (the UK is such an example).

In the face of these difficulties, many beverage manufacturers have chosen to package their products in non-PVC containers throughout Europe. Most switched to PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) to enable continued access to key markets.

3. The consumer

The impact of consumer attitudes to environmental issues concerning beverage packaging is a complex matter. Consumer surveys tend to show that the majority of consumers take an interest in environmental issues and yet only a small majority shop as if they do.

In the beverage market there can be little doubt that packaging is the major perceived determinant of the environmental performance of a beverage. Therefore, environmentally responsible packaging is likely to grow in importance as a significant determinant of the market success of a beverage brand, while packaging that is environmentally inferior to market norms will increasingly represent a significant brand weakness.

Against this background brewing companies are acknowledging the concerns of their various stakeholders, including consumers, in employing scientific methods to assist packaging technologists design environmentally responsible packaging systems. The leading method is known as Life Cycle Assessment or Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). In Germany and Switzerland, the term Eco-Balance is preferred but the method is substantially the same:

1. The entire life cycle of an item of packaging is investigated: extraction of raw materials, shipping, processing, manufacture of packaging, transport, filling, distribution, sale, use by the consumer and waste management. 2. At each of these stages, environmental impacts are measured – materials and energy consumed, emissions and wastes produced. 3. These impacts are summed-up and analysed to give an overall picture of the environmental impact of the pack. Repeating this for several pack types enables comparisons to be made.

4. Cost

Scientific studies provide the clearest message when it comes to the consideration of minimal packaging. When the amount of material used in the construction of a package is reduced, a certain amount of material is saved and so never used. Material that is not used is not mined or harvested, nor is it transported, processed, used or disposed of. In other words, the environmental impact is reduced throughout the entire lifecycle. Identifying net gain does not involve weighing-up costs and benefits, as it does with recycling and refilling – the environmental benefit of minimisation is total.

Clearly it is in a company’s interest to drive down costs through the process of minimisation whilst ensuring no reduction in the protection afforded to the beer by the pack.

A number of methods are employed. Examples include:

• Value Engineering

Value engineering analyses packaging by function rather than by content and looks to reduce the cost. Focussing on function allows the analysers to concentrate on essential features and avoid any preconceived notions.

Each study will comprise the following steps: 1. Information gathering 2. Definition of function 3. Speculation on alternatives 4. Evaluation of all alternative ways of meeting the requirements 5. Verification 6. Presentation of proposals 7. Implementation and subsequent follow-up

• Lightweighting

Lightweighting of packaging features under many initiatives, not least cost reduction.

Much progress has been made in the last ten years or so in all aspects of packaging from primary containers to secondary packaging. Examples include the lightweighting of glass bottles, PET bottles, cans, cartonboard, corrugated board and plastic films.

• Technological developments

Manufactures and suppliers often work with companies or representative industry bodies to improve the companies’ or industry’s competitiveness through technological developments often leading to cost reduction. Examples include the two-piece can and the progressive reduction in can-end size.

NOT TO BE EXAMINED - INFORMATION ONLY

Absorption The process of material being swallowed up

ABV A measure of alcohol content by volume

Acetaldehyde A flavour compound

Acetic Acid Acid (Vinegar) produced by aerobic bacteria

Acetobacter A type of aerobic bacteria (producing acetic acid from ethanol)

Adjunct A supplementary raw material

Aeration The addition of air to wort

Alcohol Compound formed by fermentation (ethanol or ethyl alcohol)

Ale Beer brewed using UK methods

Aleurone Layer Layer under the barley skin (produces enzymes during germination)

Alpha acid A resin from the hop plant (which produces bitterness when isomerised)

Amber Malt A type of medium coloured malt (produced by gentle roasting)

Amino Acids Breakdown products of protein

Ammonia A gas used as a refrigerant

Amphoteric Surfactant A type of sterilant

Amylase An enzyme that breaks down starch

Antifoam An additive used to reduce foaming

Ascorbic Acid Vitamin C used to reduce oxygen

Astringency A mouth drying/bitter flavour

Attemperation A term for cooling down beer during fermentation

Attenuation Limit A measure of the fermentability of wort

Auxiliary finings A liquidised form of silica or alginate used to clarify beer

Bacteria Minute living organisms (smaller than yeast); can produce off flavours

Barley The main cereal used to produce malt

Barm Ale Beer recovered from yeast

Barrel A measure of 36 gallons of beer or a 36 gallon cask

Beer An alcoholic beverage brewed from malted barley

Bentonite A stabilising agent (rarely used for beer; still used for wine)

Beta Glucan A gummy material in barley (endosperm cell wall)

Bicarbonate An insoluble salt formed from carbonates; important in pH control

Bitter A type of ale with a high hop rate

Black Malt A type of very dark coloured and strong flavoured malt (produced by heavy roasting)

Blending The mixing of beers to achieve quality

Bloom A deposit on bottles

BOD A measure of effluent quality

Body Feed Powder added to the beer flow to aid filtration

Boiling Wort A process when wort is boiled to sterilise, etc.

Bottom Fermentation A fermentation where the yeast subsequently sinks to the bottom

Break The formation of solids in hot wort

Breakdown Liquor Water used to dilute wort or beer

Bright Beer Beer that has been filtered

Brown Malt A type of coloured malt, intermediate between Amber and Black malts

Buffer Tank A tank used to control beer flow to the filter

Calcium A metal ion important to yeast

Calorie A measure of heat energy

Candle Filter A type of beer filter

Canned Beer Beer packaged into can

Capacity A measure of the specified throughput of plant

Caramel Dark colouring material, derived from sugar

Carapils A type of slightly dark lager malt (produced by gentle stewing)

Carbohydrate A food source

Carbon Dioxide An inert gas that causes fizz in beverages

Carbonate A salt dissolved in water, but can produce scale.

Cask Conditioned Beer Beer that matures in cask (contains live yeast, is unfiltered and not pasteurized)

Centrifuge Equipment for clarifying beer

Cereal Cooker Equipment for cooking cereals

Chill Haze Haze formed when beer is chilled

Chloride A salt dissolved in water; important contributor to flavour

Chocolate A type of dark malt, slightly paler than Black, with chocolate flavour

CIP Cleaning In Place An automated method of plant cleaning

Clarification Removal of particles from beer

Cling The adherence of foam to a glass

Coagulation Formation of solids during boiling

COD A measure of effluent quality

Collagen A protein important to beer clarification

Conditioning Maturation of beer when CO2 is formed

Conversion A term to describe the breakdown of starch into sugar

Coolant A liquid used to cool beer or wort

Copper A vessel for boiling wort (also known as Kettle)

Copper finings Material added to the copper (kettle) to aid clarification

COSHH Regulations for handling hazardous material (Control of Substances Hazardous

to Health)

Crown Cork A cap for sealing bottles

Crystal Malt A type of coloured malt with biscuit/ caramel flavour (produced by stewing)

Customs & Excise The regulatory body for duty collection

De-palletiser Equipment for offloading packs from pallets

Deaerated Liquor/Water Water with dissolved oxygen removed

Decoction Mashing A method of heating the mash

Detergent A cleaning material

Dextrin Unfermentable sugar derived from starch (larger than maltotriose)

Diacetyl A flavour compound produced by fermentation

Diastase Enzymes that break down starch

Diatomaceous Earth A powder used as a filter aid

Dissolved Oxygen A measure of oxygen dissolved in beer

DMS Dimethyl Sulphide A flavour compound

Dormancy The delay in the onset of barley germination

Draught Beer Beer served from large containers (casks or kegs)

Dry Hopping The process of adding hops to casks for aroma

EBU A measure of beer bitterness

Efficiency A comparison between actual performance and capacity

Effluent Process waste

Endosperm The food store of the barley corn

Esters A group of flavour compounds

Ethanol The main alcohol produced by fermentation

Extract A measure of yield from the raw materials

False Bottom The slotted base of a mash or lauter tun

Fermentation The process when yeast produces alcohol

Filtration The process of removing solids from beer

Finings A liquidised form of collagen used to clarify beer

Firkin A cask containing 9 gallons

Flash Pasteurization Pasteurization through a heat exchanger

Flavour Stability The maintenance of flavour quality

Foam The stable head/bubbles on beer

Fob Uncontrolled foam

Forcing Test A procedure for microbiological analysis

Formaldehyde An aggressive sterilant

Gelatinisation The process of making starch accessible

German Purity Laws Reinheitsgebot. Beer is made from malt, hops, yeast & water only.

Germination The growth of seeds

Glucose A simple fermentable sugar

Gram Stain A procedure for identifying micro contamination

Green Beer Immature beer

Green Malt Germinated barley before it is kilned

Grind The degree to which malt is milled

Grist A term for crushed malt ready for use

Gypsum Calcium Sulphate (present in high levels in Burton water)

Halogen A member of a group of chemicals including Chlorine

Haze A description of cloudy beer

Head Retention The stability of the head on beer

Headspace The volume above the beer in a bottle

Hectolitre A volume of 100 litres

High Gravity Brewing Brewing where the OG in process is higher than the OG in package

Hogshead A cask holding 54 gallons

Hop Back A vessel for hot wort clarification

Hop Extract An extract of the useful components of hops

Hop Oil An extract of the oil of hops

Hops A plant used to 'bitter' beer

Horizontal Leaf Filter A type of beer filter

Hydrogen Peroxide A mild sterilant

Hydrometer An instrument for measuring specific gravity

Ice Beer Beer which is frozen to concentrate its alcohol content

Infusion A term for single temperature mashing

Invert A type of sugar (sucrose converted into 1:1 mix of glucose & fructose)

Ion Exchange A method of treating water (used to demineralise or soften)

Isinglass The active ingredient in finings (collagen from fish swim bladders)

Isohumulone Isomerised hop resin (isomerised form of alpha acid; gives bitterness)

Jetting Agitating beer in bottle/can before capping

Keg A metal container for holding beer

Kettle A vessel for boiling wort

Keystone A bung which holds the tap in a cask of beer

Kieselguhr A powder used in beer filtration

Kilderkin (Kil) A cask holding 18 gallons

Kilning The process of drying and cooking malt

Krausen The head on fermenting beer

Krausening The process of adding fermenting wort to fermented beer

Labeller Equipment for labelling bottles

Lacing The effect of foam clinging to a glass of beer as it empties

Lactic Acid An acid produced by certain anaerobic bacteria

Lactobacillus A type of lactic acid (anaerobic) bacteria; major cause of off flavours)

Lag Phase The early stage of fermentation (yeast cells multiplying)

Lager Beer brewed using traditional 'Continental' methods

Lagering The process of maturing lager beer (cold storage)

Lagging Insulation material used on vessels to maintain temperature

Lautering The process of wort separation

Lees The sediment remaining in a cask

Legionella A type of bacteria found in water

Lipids Fatty material in malt used by yeast (major component of cell membranes)

Liquor A term for brewing water

Losses A comparison between volumes at the start and finish of a process

Lupulin A term for the bitter resin in hops

Maize Flake Maize processed for brewing

Maize Grits Maize milled for brewing (needs cereal cooker in brewing)

Malting Variety A type of barley suitable for malting

Maltose Sugar produced by conversion of starch (disaccharide of glucose)

Maltotriose Largest fermentable sugar (tri-saccharide of glucose from starch

Mash The process of mixing malt and water

Maturation Post fermentation processing

Medium Nourishment provided for microbiological growth

Micro-organism A very small living organism

Modification A term to describe the change of barley into malt

Nitrates Chemical salts indicating water contamination

Nitrogen Inert gas used to eliminate air or to give beer a stable head

Non Biological Shelf Life The time that beer remains free of non biological haze

Non-biological Processes where microbes are not involved

Obesum Bacteria Bacteria that can contaminating wort

OG Original Gravity. The specific gravity of wort before fermentation

Oxygen Gas required by living organisms but will cause beer staleness

Palletiser Equipment for loading packs onto pallets

Pasteurization Procedure for heating beer to sterilise it

Pasteurization Unit A measure of the degree of pasteurization

Pediococcus A type of bacteria affecting beer (lactic acid bacteria)

Peracetic Acid An effective sterilising agent

Perlite A type of filter aid pH A measure of the acidity/alkalinity of a liquid

Pils/Pilsner A style of beer (lager) originally from Pilsen

Pin A cask holding 4.5 gallons

Pitching The process of adding yeast to wort to start fermentation

Plate And Frame Filter A type of filter

Plate Heat Exchanger Equipment for cooling or heating liquids flowing through

Plato Unit of measurement of specific gravity expressed in percentage of sugar

Polish Filtration Fine filtration of beer

Polyclar PVPP A beer stabilising agent (binds to polyphenols)

Precoat Procedure for coating a filter with filter aid

Pressure Filter A type of beer filter

Primings Sugar added to fermented beer

Protein Complex organic matter important in malt quality

Proteolysis The process of protein breakdown

Pure Culture A procedure for providing high quality pitching yeast

Quaternary Ammonium A sterilising agent

Racking The process of filling casks/kegs with beer

Recovered Beer Beer recovered from yeast after fermentation

Refrigeration The process of cooling beer down to low temperature

Respiration The process of oxygen use by living matter

Roast Barley An adjunct used in some dark beers and stouts (produced by heavy roasting)

Rough Filtration Filtration to remove most particles from beer

Saccharification The process of starch breakdown into sugars

Saccharometer An instrument for measuring specific gravity

Saccharomyces Yeast used in beer fermentations cerevisiae

Saccharomyces uvarum Old name for yeast used in lager fermentation

Secondary Fermentation Continuation of fermentation at a slow rate

Shelf Life The time during which a beer retains its specified quality

Shive A bung that fits into the top of a cask

Silica Hydrogel A material for stabilising beer (binds to proteins/polypeptides)

Skimming Removal of yeast after fermentation

Snift The controlled release of pressure from bottles/cans after beer filling)

Sparge Water used to wash out extract from the mash

Spear The tube in a keg used for filling and emptying

Specific Gravity A measure of the relative density of a liquid

Spent Grain Waste malt husk

Spray Ball Equipment fitted to a tank for cleaning

Stabilisation The process of processing beer to retain quality

Staling The process whereby beer loses its fresh flavour (involves oxidation)

Starch The carbohydrate food source of plants

Starch Granules How starch is held in the barley endosperm

Steeping Adding water to grain to start germination

Sterilant Material for killing micro-organisms

Sterile Filtration Fine filtration where micro-organisms are removed

Sucrose A simple sugar (disaccharide of glucose and fructose); main sugar of Cane

Sulphate A salt dissolved in water (important in beer flavour)

Sunstruck Flavour The 'skunky' flavour created when hopped beer is subjected to sunlight or UV light

Tannin A substance in barley or other plants (including hops) which affects beer stability

(polyphenols)

Top Fermentation A fermentation where the yeast subsequently floats to the surface

Torrified Wheat Processed wheat used as a brewing material

Trim Chiller A heat exchanger for cooling beer

Trub Solids created when wort is boiled

TTT Trueness To Type A measurement of standardised flavour

Tunnel Pasteuriser Equipment for pasteurising small packs

Turbidity A term for the cloudiness of beer

Ullage Waste beer

Vertical Leaf Filter A type of beer filter

Viability A measure of the number of live yeast cells

Vitamins Substances essential for healthy growth

Washer Equipment for washing bottles

Water Softening A process for removing water hardness

Whirlpool Equipment for clarifying hot wort

Widget A smallpack insert for creating foam

Wild Yeast A type of undesirable yeast; can cause off flavours

Wort Product from the brewhouse before fermentation

Yeast A micro-organism used to ferment wort

Yeast Cell A single unit of yeast

Yeast Count A measure of the number of yeast cells in a sample

Zymomonas A type of bacteria