Beer Pasteurization – When and how it started?
Beer is pasteurized by two methods-
Tunnel Pasteurization
This pasteurization is applied to bottles and cans of beer. In tunnel pasteurization, there is a tunnel of stainless steel. The liquid-filled bottles and cans are passed through the tunnel where hot water at temperature 60 – 65oC is sprayed on the finished product. After the hot bath, the bottles and cans are sprayed with cold water to cool them down to 20 – 25oC. This pasteurization process is an ideal way to pasteurize beer. Tunnel pasteurization is very useful for commercial craft brewers for its advantages, such as –
- Tunnel pasteurization offers an effective process in inhibiting pathogens and microorganisms.
- Tunnel pasteurization is applied to bottles and cans of beer. So there are fewer contamination microbes to beer.
- It is easy to operate and reliable.
The following video shows how beer cans are pasteurized by tunnel pasteurization
Flash Pasteurization
Two types of flash pasteurization are applied to beer –
Steady-state: The temperature, pressure, and flow remain constant during the process. Hot water of constant temperature is circulated in the system at a constantly controlled rate.
Variable-state: The temperature, pressure, and flow are varied throughout the system.
A problem with flash pasteurization is that the beer can be contaminated by microbes during packaging. But the tunnel pasteurization avoids this problem as the beers are already packaged before the pasteurization process.
How pasteurization affects the quality of beer?
Yes, pasteurization of beer can affect the quality of the beer, though pasteurization is very important to prevent the microbial spoilage. During beer aging, fresh flavor decreases, while aged flavor compounds are formed. Especially trans-2-nonenal that is considered to be responsible for the development of cardboard-like flavors formed through oxidative reactions, has received much attention but some other aged flavors such as winey and solvent-like flavors are also formed. In recent years some brewers attempt a process called sterile filtration to exclude beer spoilage.
Source:
https://beerandbrewing.com/
Video source:
https://www.khs.com/
