Continuous Beer Stabilisation

After the excitement of discussing deliberately hazy beer  the talk at the IBD section AGM was on Continuous Beer Stabilisation. To go with their new cross flow filter Fuller's have got a new bit of kit for removing haze forming polyphenols from beer.

Non-biological hazes in beer are mainly caused by the presence of proteins and polyphenols.The polyphenols can be removed by treating the beer with PVPP. In traditional systems the PVPP is added to the beer as a powder and filtered out in a batch process. The Continuous Beer Stabilisation system uses PVPP in cassettes so there is no movement of the PVPP, and no need for cleaning filter screens. The cassettes hold the PVPP but allow beer to pass. They are stacked in columns (three or six) and the beer flows through the cassettes and into a central shaft until the PVPP needs regenerating by cleaning with caustic.

Behold the beer stabilisationmatron

The number of columns means the system can work continuously as some columns can be working whilst others are on standby or being cleaned. The degree of polyphenol removal can be controlled by adjusting the flow rate of the beer. It can also be used as a batch system (as indeed it is at Fuller's). The ability of operate continuously means the equipment is smaller in size than if it was designed for working in batches.

Gripping stuff, eh? And after the thrill of the talk there was still time for the all important networking. Which reminds me, I got a tantalising hint of gossip about ... but I will say no more. Unless it's revealed that what I suspect is true, in which case I will say "knew that".