Page 23 - Beverage MasterAprMay 2021

Craft Brewery
Craft Brewery
Reliable Utilities Filtration for Reliable
Outcomes: Donaldson Filtration Solutions

“Admittedly, in any brewery, there are numer-
ous points in the brewing and packaging process
where filtration can be critical,” said Scott Grimes,
technical training manager for Donaldson Filtration
Solutions, a global provider of filtration solutions
for food and beverage processing. “By starting
with proper filtration for your primary utilities like
air, water, steam and gases, a brewery is on track
to not only produce a great product but just as
important, to be compliant under FDA and indus-
try standards. Those standards include important
topics including hygienic design, allergen-free envi-
ronment, integrity testing, and BSE/TCE statements
certifying that products used are safe and free from
harmful materials.

“For these reasons alone, breweries should be
working with experts to assess and size their fil-
tration needs,” said Grimes. “Product filtration, in
its simplest form, is simply keeping the undesired
brewing remnants out of your beer, especially
when producing bright or lighter beers. You do that
by understanding a brewery’s demands, identifying
where the utilities come in contact with the process
or beverage itself, and then setting up the right
filtration to help mitigate any possible micro-con-
tamination. Trap filters, for example, are commonly
used as post-finning agent filters because they are
very efficient at catching the remnants of agents
like Diatomaceous Earth from entering the bright
tank. They also guard against any powdery rem-
nants traveling downstream in the brewing process.
Trap filters are regenerative, inexpensive, long-last-
ing, and ensure stable, contaminant-free beer that
retains its characteristics and flavor profile.”

“The utilities are an important place to start in
implementing the right filtration for any brewer,
no matter the size or output. Sterile air, free of
any oils and moisture, is used in everything from
wort aeration through the finished product pack-
aging. It’s critical to effective and consistent yeast
propagation and the proper facilitation of the fer-
mentation process. Particulate-free, quality water
is equally critical for use as an ingredient, in steam
applications, and for process water,” Grimes said.
“Feedwater can contain contaminants like pipe
scale, sludge, organic matter, sediment or other
suspended solids. Clean and sterile culinary steam

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