Mobile sensor units for flexible, automated brewing processes

Brewery Applications

Robert Bauer and his Kyffhäuser Service and Appliance company (KSA) specialises in the design, construction and optimisation of hygienic process systems and develops solutions tailored to the specific needs of his customers. One of these customers is Thomas Kuche, owner of the Brauner Hirsch show brewery, a well-known and popular brewery inn in the central German Harz Mountains. Here, the compact and mobile sensor units for flow and conductivity measurement built by KSA support flexible, fully automated brewing processes and optimised results with the lowest possible investment. In addition, he has equipped the flash pasteurisation and CIP systems for fully automated operation with Anderson-Negele sensor technology.

The Application

In his new, fully automated brewery, Thomas Kuche produces six types of beer for his event restaurant. Around 1,000 visitors per week can discover how beer is brewed and matured using the brewery‘s own recipes. Thanks to optimised plant technology, the brewing process is fully automated. The processes and systems are so perfectly coordinated from the malt store to bottling that the brewery can operate at full capacity — six brews of 2,000 litres per day — with just one master brewer and one other employee. Kuche‘s requirements for the plant technology were therefore clear: the highest quality in the design and equipment of the brewing plant and additional skids. Thomas Kuche‘s and Robert Bauer‘s commitment to meeting the highest standards is ensured by measurement technology from Anderson-Negele.

Application Brochure:

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Advantages in the application

» It only takes one ILM-4 conductivity meter and one FMQ flow meter to handle the processes for the 12 storage and maturation tanks fully automatically.

» The CIP system and the flash pasteuriser are fully equipped with Anderson-Negele sensors.

» This enables fully automated CIP cleaning of the brewing system, tanks and filling system, at the same time ensuring optimal product quality and shelf life.

Maximum flexibility thanks to mobile sensor technology

Thomas Kuche (right) started brewing his own beer on a small scale 13 years ago. Spurred on by his great success, he has now invested in a completely new facility:

"With this show brewery, I want to demonstrate what the ideal equipment for small brewers can look like and thus promote the idea of craft brewing among other brewers."

Robert Bauer (left) from KSA supplied, installed and commissioned all the technology alongside the brewing plant itself. One seemingly simple application turned into a particular highlight: mobile sensors that can be flexibly connected to one of the 12 storage and maturation tanks for the respective process, enabling a fully automated process.Thomas Kuche is fully convinced of this solution:

"When everything is ready, I just press a button. Three brews are carried out one after the other without any further intervention and the beer is automatically filled into the same maturation tank. This means I don‘t have to do anything for the brewing process for 12 hours."

Mobile measuring device with ILM-4 conductivity sensor

To ensure that the entire daily operation can run automatically, the ILM-4 mobile conductivity sensor is connected directly to the maturation tank and connected to the flash pasteuriser with a hose.

The ILM-4 unit ensures that the young beer is pumped into the maturation tank and the sterilisation water is drained off to the prepared storage tank. With three brews per day, this process is repeated several times without anyone having to intervene. Thanks to the short response time of less than one second, every phase transition is detected in real time, minimising the loss of beer or mixed phases. Kuche is enthusiastic:

"The switching unit with ILM-4 is the best machine in my operations. Precise, fast, reliable, it simply runs without any problems. "

Mobile measuring device with FMQ flow meter

Flow rate is an essential measurement value for many pro-cess steps, such as recipe control, flling control, or customs declarations. The FMQ is a compact device that is ideally suit-ed for integration into the mobile station.

Bauer explains:

"The mobile unit takes into account the installation position for the hose connection as well as the inlet and outlet sections for precise, trouble-free and hygienic measurement."

This prevents air bubbles and incorrect measurements and optimises the measurement results.

Flash pasteuriser

The flash pasteuriser and CIP systems are also manufactured by KSA and follow the same philosophy: Robert Bauer is convinced of the quality and reliability of Anderson-Negele sensors, so he also relies on them in these skids. In the flash pasteuriser, these are the FMQ flow meter, in this application permanently installed, and an L3 level and pressure sensor.

CIP system

A key component for hygiene, product safety, quality and process efficiency: the CIP system. As with all individual systems and mobile measuring devices, an independent control system has also been installed here. This improves operational safety and increases flexibility during operation and in the event of any malfunctions.