Czech brewery doubles its output
15 Jan 2000
In the Czech Republic, demand for beer is such that the Branik Brewery in Prague had to double its output from 500 000hl/yr to 1m hl/yr and increase the brewhouse capacity from five to eight brews a day.
The brewery is owned by Prague Breweries, in which Bass has a 55 per cent stake, and operates two other breweries in the Republic, producing a total 2.8million hl/yr of which 413 000hl/yr is exported. Prague Breweries produces Staropramen lager, one of the leading brands in the Republic.
The programme of renovation and re-equipment, costing about £700 000, was completed by Alfa Laval Brewery Systems from its newCzech offices, opened in January 1997. The downtime in the brew house was specified as not to exceed four weeks
Three areas were identified as solutions for an increase in capacity; the modernisation of the brewhouse, the installation of blending equipment and the installation of an Alfa Laval separator.
Alfa Laval installed a deaeration system with complete water cooling system, an Alfa Laval Alex blending station including automatic gravity and alcohol control and process control automation. An Alfa Laval BRPX 617 separator, the first to be used in the Czech brewing industry, was also installed as the key unit to fulfil the target capacity.
This unit has three duties; beer pre-clarification, beer recovery from yeast, and yeast separation from waste beer. Pumps, valves and automatic controls were integrated into the existing process.
