Pumping excellence in modern brews

Beer may be one of the earliest brewed beverages, but today it is produced using sophisticated systems and much higher hygiene standards.

As technology has advanced, so too has innovation. Australian distributor for Flux pumps, Malcolm Thompson Pumps, looks at how Flux has worked with one of Germany’s traditional breweries to adapt to the many and varied beer styles now in the marketplace.

The stages of the brewing process mean the beer industry became an early innovation driver for beverage technology. Today, the range of beers extends to non-alcoholic, low-carb, and beer mixer options.

At Badische Staatsbrauerei Rothaus in Germany, there are records dating back to 1681 that show a tavern was at the same location. In 1791, the Benedictine Monastery of St. Blasien founded the brewery Rothaus there and beer has been produced at the site ever since.

With such history, Rothaus straddles tradition and innovation. It continues to use the local spring water and firewood. And its location still holds it in good stead for transport corridors.

But today, the brewery runs on 100 per cent green energy via hydropower from the Upper Rhine and solar power for the energy-intensive bottle washing machines.

From tradition progress grows

While Rothaus Pils is still the brewery’s flagship beer, consumers’ tastes and drinking habits change, motivating brewers to develop new and innovative varieties.

In recent years the brewery has added Pils Alcohol-Free, Weizen Alcohol-Free and Schwarzwald Zäpfle Naturally Cloudy to its portfolio.

The trend towards alcohol-free drinks led to the recent development of a new alcohol-free shandy, Natur Radler Lemon 0.0%, a blend of beer and fruit juice.

Rothaus says Natur Radler is “not just a beverage; it’s a symphony of sustainability, innovation, and craftsmanship”.

With these new varieties, the brewery’s focus remains the same – to maintain the brand’s high standards the technology must be up to the task. This mindset was central for Natur Radler and the pumps needed for its production.

To quickly dose difficult to pump raw materials (eg, highly viscous juice concentrates) under hygienic conditions, portable drum pumps offer new possibilities of adapting to the process requirements and handling the product in a hygienic and gentle way.

For the new shandy, only natural fruit juice concentrates are used as the fruit acid base. The commonly used crystalline citric acid was not added.

Besides sweetness and acidity, the juices of lemon, apple or orange bring a natural aroma to the drink for a well-rounded flavour.

Pumping particulars

Radlers are usually made up of a proportion of beer. For Natur Radler, Rothaus used its dealcoholised Schwarzwald Zäpfle, and blended it witha refreshing lemonade.

But special pump properties are needed to feed these products from the drums in which they are delivered, or cartons with inlay in the filter basement, to the production line across two floors.

The sugar concentration of the fruit juice concentrates is about 70 degrees Brix, which means viscosity is comparatively high.

High pressure is therefore required to pump the concentrate from the drum through the 10-metre-long pipes.  The pumps also need to be designed to be food-safe and easy to clean.

To safely and cleanly meter the higher-viscosity raw materials required, including fruit extracts and concentrates, the brewery utilises eccentric worm-drive pumps provided by the pump specialist Flux-Geräte GmbH.

Laboratory manager, Hans-Joachim Schuldt, says the brewery chose the Flux F 570 Progressive Cavity Pump, which was designed for use in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics industries.

With this pump design, a worm-shaped rotor (eccentric worm) is guided eccentrically into a stator shaped as a correspondent part.

This produces closed cavities during rotation, in which the medium is pumped upwards extremely gently and with low pulsation.

On the suction side, the pump is automatically sealed by the eccentric worm and the medium flows upwards without the need for further sealing between the tube wall and the drive shaft.

Depending on the motor, the pump can deliver media with a viscosity of up to 80,000 mPas with flow rates of up to 50 l/min at a pressure of up to 8 bars.

“This enables high pressure to build up regardless of the respective motor speed, so the pump was ideal for connecting to our long riser pipes,” he says.

Rothaus used an IP55-rated 700-watt commutator drive motor, but a three-phase motor, an explosion-proof motor, or a compressed air motor can also be fitted on the pump tube.

Using food-grade components such as stainless steel or Teflon for the parts that come into contact with the product allows for lasting, trouble-free, and abrasion-free operation, even with difficult media.

Depending on what the pump is used for, it is available  with explosion-proof, food-grade, 3A or FDA certificates.

“It is also important for us that the drive shaft, stator, and rotor can be easily removed and cleaned separately with the hot caustic soda we use.

“There are no seals that prevent the eccentric worm or drive shaft from being pulled out during dismantling. The pumps can also be easily moved from drum to drum,” he says.

For Rothaus, Flux pumps means it can showcase the art of brewing in its traditional and most modern forms.

As its agent in Australia, visit Malcolm Thompson Pumps at mtp.com.au to help you craft your next food and drink product.

This article first appeared in the April/May 2024 edition of Food & Drink Business Magazine.