Global Companies and Smaller Firms Handle the Universal Needs of Craft Brewers
By: Cheryl Gray
All craft beer must include two key ingredients that no brewery can do without – the perfect tank and the pristine cleaning of it.
Companies making tanks and tank cleaning equipment know that cutting corners on these important steps can not only ruin a batch of beer but could also ruin a brewery’s relationship with its customers.
Helping breweries stay on top of sanitizing tanks and related equipment is the specialty of Butterworth, Inc., a global industry leader with representatives and supply depots in more than 25 countries, including beverage installations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Brazil, Belgium, Venezuela, Japan and China.
When Arthur Butterworth founded the Houston, Texas-based firm in 1925, company archives record how he invented and patented the process for tank cleaning and received a patent for the first automated tank cleaning machine. Started initially to address the needs of ocean vessels requiring improved safety measures to tackle the dangerous job of manually cleaning cargo tanks, breweries are among its 21st-century food and beverage industry customers.
Mark E. Murphy is Global Industrial Sales Manager for Butterworth, with a degree in Petroleum Engineering and more than 34 years of industry experience. Murphy provided an overview of Butterworth products for Beverage Master Magazine as well as innovations that the company has introduced to the market.
“Stream impingement technology, a method by which a contiguous stream is delivered to the wall of the vessel being cleaned, such that upon contact, it shears to clean a larger area than just the stream. Our LTFT product in a 10 mm nozzle configuration is by far our best seller. We offer static spray balls, dynamic reaction drive rotating nozzles and our premium line of high-impact auto-indexing tank cleaning machines. We also build custom CIP solutions to our customer’s specifications.”
A single Butterworth machine, Murphy said, can clean up to a 230-foot diameter tank. After point-of-sale, Butterworth provides custom on-site maintenance training, technical support by telephone, email or video, as well as start-up assistance and factory repair. Butterworth products, Murphy said, are virtually maintenance-free.
“Typically, little maintenance is required, given proper upfront preventative maintenance, such as filters and soft start systems on the CIP pumps. The high impact line will have seals that need to be replaced at 300 to 500 hours – about one and a half to two years for the average brewery,” he said. “The aforementioned filtration and soft start on the CIP pumps ensure longevity and productivity. As far as cleaning and sanitizing, our designs are self-draining, so as CIP chemicals are run through the devices, they are cleaned and sanitized. Our spray nozzles and CIP equipment are made of 316 stainless steel or higher metallurgy. “
Breweries, large and small, have to make important decisions about what equipment they choose to keep their tanks and related equipment clean. Murphy told Beverage Master Magazine that Butterworth offers many options, including those that accommodate a brewery’s growth.
“Smaller craft breweries will typically use static spray balls. As your equipment becomes larger, you start moving up the food chain of function. At 50 to 100 barrels, you start looking at more dynamic reaction drive rotating nozzles. Above 100 barrels, the high impact auto-indexing machines start to outperform everything else.”
Ecolab is another global frontrunner with nearly a century of industry experience. Its focus is on maintaining clean and safe environments while, at the same time, optimizing water and energy use. The Minnesota-based conglomerate boasts nearly three million customer locations in more than 170 countries. That business portfolio includes craft brewery clients benefitting from an integrated brewery cleaning and sanitation project called the Ecolab Craft Brewery Program. The program guides brewers on best practices for achieving product quality, flavor, operational efficiency, budget management, team building and safety.
CraftMaster Stainless, based in California with clients in the U.S. and Canada, produces tanks using the material that its name implies. Owner and operator David Silva said that his company has invested a decade into providing a variety of stainless steel tanks, not just for breweries but also for winery and distilling operations. Silva told Beverage Master Magazine that CraftMaster Stainless has a roster of products to accommodate multiple equipment needs for breweries of all sizes.
“We offer all sorts of equipment, from complete brewhouses, uni-tanks, brite tanks, lagering tanks, serving tanks, mixing tanks, mash tuns, cold and hot water, to keg washers, yeast brinks, brew hoses, down to just some basic hardware. If you need a custom tank designed, that’s no problem. We have our engineers design to your specifications to fit our customer needs.”
Whether it is a first-time client or a returning one, Silva said that his company prides itself on a personalized customer experience from point-of-sale and beyond.
“We also love to educate our customers when they call in to ensure they are getting the correct size, correct equipment, and just steer them in the right direction. There is nothing better than talking and educating our customers!”
CraftMaster Stainless offers its customers a 10-year warranty and lifetime customer service on its tanks, made of 304 stainless steel. Silva said that it is good to periodically passivate all stainless-steel equipment with an acid-based solution to establish a uniform passive oxide layer that will maximize corrosion resistance.
While stainless steel is tough, Silva warns that it is not invulnerable, which is why proper cleaning is a must. He considers heat as the best sanitizer but also recommends commonly used over-the-counter products for general cleaning and heavy-duty sanitizing. The exception is any product with chlorine bleach.
Silva and other experts agree that using chlorine bleach on stainless steel is a recipe for disaster. Not only is its use potentially dangerous to the health of workers, but chlorine bleach can also damage the invisible chromium oxide layer that protects stainless steel from stains and rust. If the layer is breached, rust can form on the surface, making way for what the industry calls pitting corrosion. Instead, proper cleaning with the right products can benefit the stainless steel tank and its invisible protection shield, that all-important chromium oxide layer.
CraftMaster Stainless has created some innovative products for craft brewers. “We have a very unique ½ barrel yeast brink (shown above). We designed it to be user friendly by adding rolling casters, an oversized yeast outlet, large 6-foot manway opening [and] CIP ball for easy cleaning,” Silva said. “[There’s] also a unique stir paddle to agitate your yeast without having to expose the yeast to extra oxygen, or lifting the bring to shake the yeast to keep it activated.”
A brewery’s size dictates what tanks and tank systems it should use in its operations. Growth has a lot to do with the clients’ equipment choices. “Most systems in breweries range from three and a half barrels to 30 barrels,” said Silva. “For instance, if you have a five-barrel brewhouse system, you would yield five barrels of beer. As the brewery starts to grow or gain more popularity, the brewery might start looking into doubling the size of [its] tank by going to a 10 barrel. Then, on brew days, the brewer will brew the same recipe twice, usually the more popular recipe, making 10 barrels of product and storing it in the bigger vessel for fermentation, streamlining their process. This is called double-batching. Most breweries will double the size of the tank to the size of their brewhouse.”
Experts say that brewers need to factor in the initial capital costs and maintenance expenses when selecting tanks and tank cleaning equipment. Additional costs include water and chemical consumption needs. As with any industrial process, safety precautions should be exercised when cleaning and sanitizing tanks and using tank cleaning equipment. One of those precautions includes using standard PPE when using chemicals or when using water at high temperatures.
Shared information about tanks and tank cleaning equipment is helpful to craft brewers looking for affirmation on how some products and methods have worked for others.
Additional resources are available through the Master Brewers Association of America, a nonprofit organization with more than 4,000 members in 25 regions from more than 50 countries. The organization offers many professional development opportunities and technical information, including safety in cleaning and sanitizing tanks. Here is their website link…https://www.mbaa.com/Pages/default.aspx
