Nitrogen in the Beer Brewing Processs
Case
A tasteful solution that provides benefits
Once started in their own kitchen, for fun, brewing their first glass of beer. Together with brother Ronald, Sander van de Streek owns Utrecht craft beer brewery VandeStreek. Meanwhile, in the professional brewery, next to the brewhouse, there are more than twenty gleaming tanks. More brewing capacity also means higher consumption of CO2. A relatively expensive gas to prevent oxidation during the brewing process.
“From the beginning, we invested in growth and efficiency. From fellow breweries we heard about Presscon’s nitrogen solutions. The generator has been running in our brewery for about 1.5 years and we are using the cheaper, self-generated nitrogen to our full satisfaction.”
In 2010, Sander and Ronald brewed their first beer with a pan on the stove in Sander’s kitchen. “It was something fun to do together. Our hobby. First a crate per person. Most of it we gave away. Soon we moved on to bigger pans and brewed 50 gallons of beer. We tried recipes, learned what ingredients do and created new flavors. For the first three years, with no commercial purpose, we brewed 100 different beers with the seasons. Our brews struck a chord. People asked for our beers – “it tastes so good” – and it always ran out quickly. We fantasized, what if you could sell it?
Step to professional brewing
From home brewing, the brothers moved on to finding breweries with excess capacity to brew their beer professionally. They found two breweries. To cover expected costs, they devised a pre-sale. Very quickly, they sold 600 liters. Because of the successful pre-sales, they saw that more was possible and decided to brew two types of beer right away. What remained from the pre-sale, they poured at the Utrecht Beer Brewers Festival in 2013.
Own craft beer brewery
“After our college studies, we went to work,” Sander says. “After a while, we both decided to work one day less to brew. We were passing around tasting bottles everywhere to make sure people got to know our beer. At the end of 2015, we tied the knot. We both quit our jobs and wrote the business plan for our own brewery, which we opened at our current location in 2017.
Discovering innovative beers while playing
While building our brewery, we wanted to market an innovative series of beers under the name Playground. Playground, or playground, refers to almost everything we do here. Coming up with new flavors and new packaging, running our own brewery, it feels to us like playing in the playground. We developed Playground Non Alcoholic IPA, a modern alcohol-free beer. This was a huge success. Before it came in, it was sold. People kept ordering. Retail also discovered our beer and wanted our beer on their shelves. Unexpectedly, Playground Non Alcoholic IPA became our main product and Playground is available in (almost) every Dutch supermarket.”
Controlled expanding
The brothers started small.Following their own design, they had brew kettles made in China, to reduce costs. Meanwhile, in the brewery, next to the brewhouse, there are more than twenty gleaming tanks. More brewing capacity also means higher consumption of CO2 . A relatively expensive gas to prevent oxidation during the brewing process. At VandeStreek, most of the CO2 went into emptying the tanks.
Using nitrogen over oxygen
After expanding, the brothers were left with a corner of the brewery and wondered what to do with it.“Don’t those guys at Kompaan have a nitrogen generator?” they said to each other. “From the beginning, we’ve been investing in growth and efficiency. Since Kompaan was positive about this investment, we sought contact with Peter Valentin of Presscon. We made estimates, various calculations and discussed where in our process we could replace CO2 with the cheaper N2 . We determined the volume needed and how big our benefit would be. When an investment pays for itself in three years, for us the decision was quickly made. We have now been working with the nitrogen generator in our brewery for about 1.5 years and are very satisfied.”
Getting a grip on energy consumption
The required volume of N2 at VandeStreek is quite large.This high volume cannot be generated on demand, so the generator runs through the night. The nitrogen produced is stored in buffer vessels (storage tanks). “Because we buffer nitrogen at night, which we use during the day, a generator with a smaller capacity is sufficient for us. This allows us to keep a grip on our energy consumption. Peter constantly thinks along with us. Calculations indicated that we needed additional buffer storage, given our use and need for nitrogen. With a view to the future, we therefore recently decided to install an extra buffer tank. In addition, it is possible to increase the pressure in the buffer tanks in the future with a relatively small investment, thus increasing the buffer capacity.”
Partner for service and maintenance
Sander continues: “Through fellow brewer Kompaan, we heard about the nitrogen solutions that Presscon is developing. Like them, we are positive about the cooperation. The contact is good. Thanks to Presscon’s technical knowledge and experience in the beer sector, they know what they’re talking about and they think along with us. Presscon is also our partner for service and maintenance. Not only for the generator, but also for the Airpress compressor. We can easily reset the system if, for example, the power has been cut. A push of a button and it takes care of itself!”
“Because we buffer nitrogen at night, which we use during the day, a generator with a smaller capacity is sufficient for us. This allows us to keep a grip on our energy consumption.”
VandeStreek uses N2 for:
- Flushing and pre-tensioning of casks in the cask cleaner.
- Emptying tanks by providing top pressure on the tank.
- Pre-tensioning tanks to expel oxygen before they fill with beer.
Advantages use N2 over CO2:
- Cost savings.
- More N2 , means less (production and transport of) CO2. Therefore less CO2 emissions and thus a beneficial effect on our climate.
- Beer with a softer mouthfeel
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