In today’s world, it is important that brewery manufacturers take a responsible attitude towards sustainability and the impact that their business has on the environment, I am pleased to report that Brewiks Microbrewery equipment provides the brewer with equipment that is energy efficient and reduces the impact on the environment by using fewer materials, less power consumption, less water used & ability to recycle water and faster process time so less working hours.
Brewiks is manufactured in Slovenia by Mithraeum & Geterbrewed act as their UK & Irish distributor, we have a close working relationship and highly value their experience which is now in excess of thirty years in the industry. At the time of writing, this Geterbrewed has helped installed just over 20 microbreweries using Brewiks equipment and Brewiks have now hundreds of breweries across the globe.
Brewiks equipment is used by independent craft brewers using four main ingredients: Water, Malt, Hops & Yeast, it is not industrial-scale brewing and therefore brings a much lower environmental impact.
Brewiks boasts a patented mix mashing system and this increases extract making it possible to achieve extract levels with 10% fewer ingredients than competitive brands. Geterbrewed has developed a Brewiks equipment user guide to maximise output.
One of the key selling points with Brewiks is that it is a true plug and brew system and each component part in the manufacturing process has multiple uses making it incredibly useful for reducing floor space. The hot side production equipment in Brewiks 200, 300 & 500 combines kettle & mash tun with counter flow chiller built into the walls & the Lauter tun combines as a whirlpool also. For Brewiks 1000 it reuses heating power at 30kw as opposed to 120kw.
The Brewiks systems are extremely quiet in terms of manufacturing equipment and come well insulated as standard to ensure they are energy efficient. Both hot side production & cold side fermentation have significant insulation to ensure efficiency.
The fermentation side of Brewiks equipment has pharmaceutical grade cooling stripes in the body of the tanks including down into the cone so this allows a very efficient process in cooling quickly and reducing cooling costs.
The Brewiks in built heat exchanger not only cools wort but heats sparging water and all can be recouped and reused
Waste Management using Brewiks equipment
By-Products of the brewing process include:
(1) Spent Grain – The grain is steeped in water to convert the starches into fermentable sugars and is then removed before proceeding to the boiling process. Brewers Spent Grain is a low cost & highly nutritional source of feed for local farmers to give to their animals, this is reviewed by the animal nutritionists to ensure the correct management of nutrients including carbohydrates, proteins, fibres, vitamins, minerals and amino acids. You will find farmers very keen to use this if you record their details and retain them with your batch codes for inspection by EHO that will comply with all traceability requirements. This is well documented to have a positive influence on production efficiency for livestock in both yield and growth performance and is easily used before spoilage due to smaller volumes of production in a craft brewery.
(2) Hot Trub – This is the formation of sediment during the boiling of the wort, it contains colloidal proteins coagulated and spent hops and fine malt particles. Again this is high in nutritional value containing carbohydrates, lipids and minerals in high molecular proteins & polyphenols. The formation of trub is a highly desirable process and can be used as a feed additive or fertiliser. We collect this for our local farmers to reuse.
(3) Brewers Yeast – This is recovered by sedimentation using cooling following active fermentation and can be collected and reused several times (up to 6-8 times depending on correct management of yeast nutrition). The benefits of brewers yeast is well documented for health benefits although in agricultural terms it also has huge benefits at accelerating the decomposition of organic waste and the growth of beneficial bacteria. Brewer’s yeast has a high digestibility and nutrient source and has many beneficial effects in different branches of the food industry including new food products and food supplements.
(4) Water – The water used during the cooling process is recaptured and reused for mashing in the next batch of beer, this recuperation of energy is a significant saving on water heating costs and massively reduces the use of water in the brewing process, this is unique to the Brewiks brand.
Proper management of these products brings many benefits, they can be reused effectively within the food industry & at the scale at which Brewiks produces it is economically viable in comparison to industrial brewing. Brewery sustainability is achieved by optimising process and reducing costs and with Brewiks ability to reuse wastewater and Brewiks equipment having multiple uses and benefits it’s possible to efficiently make sustainably produced beer.
Reducing water consumption was a crucial value that we wanted to adopt at Geterbrewed given our location so we have invested in the Brewiks brand of equipment and this allows us to recapture and reduce our water usage. Water used in the condensing process is captured and reused for cleaning, water used in the cooling process is captured and reused for the next mash and the energy recycled saves on electricity costs for reheating the water again.
To summarise and conclude on Our Brewery Sustainability
All of our waste products from grain, trub, and yeast are taken by local farmers and used for livestock feed or composting. The most important thing for Geterbrewed is to be continually looking at our sustainability efforts and driving forward. Striving for constant improvements so we have a viable planet for future generations. With correct management, the large majority of waste created during the brewing process can be reused for valuable resources. This not only reduces production costs but makes for brewery sustainability plus disposal of waste in an environmentally sustainable manner and in doing this we limit any potential pollution hazards by reusing and benefitting the food industry so in effect the by-products from brewing are indeed valuable and not waste products.
Watch our YouTube video and see why we recommend Brewiks