KHS glass filler raises the bar for German brewery

Tuesday, 19 May, 2020 | Supplied by: KHS Pacific Pty Ltd

KHS glass filler raises the bar for German brewery

The Pyraser Landbrauerei brewery, located in the Franconia region of Germany, launched its first country beers to the local market in 1870. About 150 years on, it has invested in an efficient, automated glass filler from KHS, a specialist for filling and packaging systems.

“It was successful open-heart surgery where nothing was allowed to go wrong,” said Helmut Sauerhammer, master brewer at Pyraser Landbrauerei.

Seven days from ingress to production start was the clear instruction from Pyraser Landbrauerei — one that KHS followed to the letter. The brewery had gradually renewed its bottle cellar and, in the process, invested in a KHS Innofill Glass DRS glass bottle filler. Among other aspects, the decision-makers at the brewery were convinced by the machinery’s consumption values and the low-oxygen filling process required for bottling beer. The patented KHS DRS-ZMS filling system also uses 210 grams of CO2 per hectolitre of beer.

Pyraser Landbrauerei has gradually renewed its bottle cellar and in the process invested in a KHS Innofill Glass DRS glass bottle filler. Image credit: KHS Group

“We need a lot less carbon dioxide than the usual quantity common to the market to yield the same or even better residual oxygen values,” said Mike Herrmann, KHS Sales Germany and the man responsible for the project.

Another special feature at the country brewery is that Pyraser closes its beer bottles with aluminium caps. Because of this and the greater volume more oxygen is normally pressed into the bottle compared to the amount required with classic crown corks; this would be detrimental to the beer as the product would then age more rapidly. To minimise oxygen pickup, the KHS glass filler blasts the aluminium roll-on caps with CO2 in the capper. This joint development with the brewery means that the very good oxygen values in the bottle are the same as those for crown corks. The Innofill Glass DRS also works with automatic CIP caps.

“On the one hand, cleaning is considerably simplified as a lot less effort is needed for operation. On the other, the time saved as a result boosts efficiency in production,” Sauerhammer said.

The number of manual interventions is also reduced, as are toolless format changeovers due to the hygienic QUICKLOCK fast-acting locks. The program is automatic and operated at the press of a button. Employees previously had to place the CIP caps on the filling valves by hand. Cleaning processes can now be preset for specific times, starting automatically with no manual intervention necessary. Any potential contamination of the filler, as could be the case where CIP caps are applied manually, is also prevented.

The new investment is also convincing with regard to sustainability. With its separate cooling circuit, the ECO vacuum pump significantly reduces water consumption, meaning the brewery only uses 80 litres an hour, instead of the previous 800.

All those involved in the project are very pleased, for KHS kept to the instruction issued by Pyraser Landbrauerei: seven days from ingress to commissioning. Image credit: KHS Group

With the Innofill Glass DRS, breweries profit from the technology of the high-performance range, and from a clearly structured machine design which facilitates operation and the entire production process. Pyraser Landbrauerei fills up to 26,000 bottles of beer or a maximum of 24,000 bottles of soft drinks per hour — with no issues since commissioning, according to Sauerhammer.

“I’ve never known the first filled product to be ready for sale as quickly as here. We’re delighted!” Sauerhammer said.

Top image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/WavebreakmediaMicro

Online: www.khs.com
Phone: 03 9335 1211
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