Program Book - Master Brewers Association of the Americas

P-179
Improved operating conditions and product quality through
regular and effective pasteurizer cleanings (boilouts)
THOMAS SOUKUP (1)
(1) Chemtreat, Inc. Glen Allen, VA
Monumental improvements have been evidenced in the condition
of operating pasteurizers over the last decade. Water treatment
chemical feed and control has been vastly improved, and much
capital has been spent to fine tune the control of water treatment
chemistry. Quality assurance personnel are now acutely aware of
the importance of maintaining hygienic conditions in and around
the pasteurizer. As a result, biological slime formation has been
drastically reduced. With this improvement, contaminants that
were previously undetected now make up the bulk of the deposition.
Conveyor lubricant residues, can lacquer overcoat and “necker
lube”, now represent a major portion of the foulants. Traditional
boilout procedures have been designed to deal with biological
slimes and are not as effective for these organic contaminants.
The changing matrix of the deposits necessitated a change be
made to the boilout procedure and chemistry. This paper details
ChemTreat’s experience conducting exhaustive laboratory and field
trials in major breweries to finally develop an effective procedure to
facilitate the removal of these more tenacious deposits. The work
also documents the correlation of the improved “boilouts” and the
reduction of chemical use and improvement in product package
quality.
Thomas J. Soukup received his B.S. degree in geology from the
University of Pennsylvania in 1979. He joined ChemTreat in 1992
but has spent 27 years in the industrial water treatment industry. His
areas of expertise include food and beverage processing.
P-180
New dimensions in draft line hygiene efficiency
PHILIP THONHAUSER (1)
(1) THONHAUSER GmbH, Vienna, Austria
Today’s draft beer market is characterized by strong competition.
When standing in front of a long bar of beer taps, mature customers
decide not only on brand and lifestyle, but also on quality and
taste! The decision for a “second order” is strongly influenced by
“the refreshing factor”: a fresh and good tasting draft beer, however,
is based on draft line hygiene. If customers complain about poor
beer quality, the defendant might wish “to have a look inside the
line”. Traditional line cleaning is carried out with classic cleaning
chemicals, whereby the effectiveness of the cleaner is not evaluated
or monitored. The decision for the contact time is mostly based on
experience or estimates. Once a cleaning regime has been chosen, it
is used (automatically or manually) for all draft installations without
adoption to the individual hygienic situation in the bar or restaurant.
However when looking closer, it becomes obvious that a cleaning
time can only depend on the grade of pollution in the beer line. The
dirtier the line, the more cleaning is needed. What methods are available
to check the hygienic status of the inner surface of a beer line?
The traditional check of rinsing water either detects the microbiological
residues (classic MB-testing), or ATP containing substances
in the water. In both cases water is supposed to be a good “cleaner”
with good mobilization abilities, in order to solve deposits. When
using swabs, only the accessible parts of the dispensing unit (lower
end of the tap, tap head) can be checked. What remains is quite a bit
of uncertainty. In contrast, a newly patented chemistry makes visible
any organic residues in all areas of the inner pipe surface by means
of Color Change technology. When an alkaline, oxidizing chemical
based on PST comes in contact with oxidizable organic residues in
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beer lines, the original purple color changes its visible spectrum to
green and further on to yellow: In addition, every color species corresponds
exactly to a certain amount of organics. That’s how a precise
evaluation of the hygienic status of the (whole) dispensing system
becomes available for the first time in the US. Chemically spoken,
PST is a redox measurement system in an alkaline environment,
where the immediate oxidation of residues is consequently shown in
an infinite reduction of a color indicator. For an easy and objective
color measurement the portable “verification-case” provides a quick
read out by means of digital imaging. The real-time translation of the
colors into readable numbers (such as passed/failed) is processed by
a special software. Both, the high-tech chemistry and the ease of the
application process will be demonstrated and experiences from leading
European breweries will be presented.
Philip Thonhauser has completed a technical high school degree in
biochemistry und biochemical technology in Vienna, Austria, and
received his MBA in from the universities of Milan, Italy, and Vienna,
Austria. He completed trainee programs in the food and beverage
industries and started working for the THONHAUSER company in
1996, implementing a new controlling and management information
system. In 2002 he became CEO of the THONHAUSER company
(founded in 1978) as his father’s successor. He managed to allocate
huge resources for R&D to develop a revolutionary oxidation-based,
environmentally friendly chemical for chlorine-free color change
as an indication of clean in beverage lines. Under the brand TM ®
DESANA MAX, THONHAUSER reached a great break through in
Europe’s “elite” companies: Heineken and Coca Cola in Austria,
Switzerland, and Germany started using TM ® DESANA MAX
right from the beginning and are the “oldest” satisfied customers of
the product. THONHAUSER was invited to be a board member of
the German DIN (German Industrial Norms) Association. Under
their direction a special DIN (6650) norm for the hygiene of draft
installations has been developed. In the EU, the color indicator is
now mentioned as a official validation tool for the proof of clean in
dispensing systems.