Krones launches compact brewhouse

The CombiCube brewhouse is designed for an annual production output of up to 150,000 hl. This makes it suitable for small and mid-tier breweries looking to upgrade their equipment.

Target market​

But Ralph Schneid, product manager for brewing equipment at Krones, said big brewers may also invest in the brewhouse to test out new markets. They may also want to use the maximum of four vessels in the brewhouse to produce seasonal and specialty beers in a separate brewing process, independent of their main brands.

CombiCube B features a frame-based construction, which is new for Krones, as well as standardised vessels for the mashing, lautering, and wort-boiling processes.

Schneid said having standardised rather than customised vessels, brought costs down, as did efforts to keep engineering to a minimum.

“The prefabricated piping system, and its integration into a frame-based construction, mean shot commissioning times for the brewery concerned, enabling the brewhouse to be installed on a minimised footprint,”​ said Krones in a statement.

Flexibility ​

But despite opting for simplicity of design, Krones also claims that the new brewhouse offers flexibility to brewers.

Depending on the mashing process selected, the four vessels in the compact brewhouse can be used at will either as a mash kettle, a mash/wort copper, a lauter tun, or a mash/lauter tun. These are complemented by the whirlpool.

The brewhouse can reach an output of up to six brews a day, and can be operated in an automated fashion using the Botec process control system so that a brew can be completed overnight.

For operators, Krones said that with vessel sizes of between 2.5 and 3.5 metres, the individual brewing processes in the brewhouse are integrated for convenient handling by a single employee.

Krones said the precisely matched vessel sizes also help ensure that the process steps inside the brewhouse achieve optimised harmonisation for the brew sizes of 50 to 100 hl.