Rotary jet head - a device for accelerating the fermentation process in brewing

Abstract

The world beer market is dominated by lagers, with production estimated at hundreds of millions of hectolitres per year. The vast majority of the beer is produced using CCT (cylindro-conical tank) technology. Fermentation and maturation are time-consuming processes and the bottlenecks of beer production. A rotary jet head (RJH) - a device originally used as a cleaning device - is proposed for use as a tool to provide homogeneity in the tank and to increase the activity of the yeast cells by keeping them in suspension during the fermentation process. The main objective of the study was to analyse the impact of mixing the content of the fermentation tank (by the means of an RJH) on the time of fermentation, maturation and cooling. The experiments were carried out under full industrial operational conditions. It was concluded that mechanical mixing, in a CCT of 3800 hL, shortened the time of lager beer production process by ca. 15%, the time of fermentation by ca. 24 h and the cooling time by ca. 35 h.