MicroCube small-scale brewhouse for brew sizes of 25 hectolitres

Dr. Ralph Schneid

KRONES AG, Werk Steinecker

VGS BABU

Head Sales-KRONES India Pvt Ltd

Start small, grow big – no problem with the MicroCube. This brewhouse needs a mere 61 square metres to install a three-kettle configuration.

The fermentation cellar, too, has similarly compact dimensions, which will depend on the number and size of the fermenters and the system components required for yeast and young-beer handling.

The MicroCube brewing system is a coherently harmonised small-scale brewery comprising:

– Brewhouse
– Yeast and fermentation cellar
– Beer-handling kit in the shape of a centrifuge or a filtration system
– Heat and refrigeration supply
– Supply kit for compressed air, CO₂ and deaerated water

Successful concept

KRONES had launched its MicroCube concept with ratings of five and ten hectolitres per brew – which proved a great success. Meanwhile systems for brew sizes of 25 and 40 hectolitres are also available. All in all, KRONES has so far received more than 20 orders for MicroCube systems.

The pre-assembled skids can be installed and commissioned within just a few weeks. The brewing system is suitable both for craft brewers and for more conventional breweries wishing to additionally produce individualised beers – perhaps for test purposes as well.

Minimised space: that’s the quest(ion)

The three – kettle brewhouse module has a footprint of only 7.2 x 8.5 metres. A complete brewery in line with this concept, including all the requisite supply units and fermentation and storage capacities of 1,600 hectolitres, for example, can be accommodated on an area measuring a mere 22 x 39 metres, i.e. on just under 860 square metres. The 25-hectolitre version of the MicroCube enables a maximum of eight brews a day to be produced. Theoretically, this means that an annual output of 40,000 hectolitres of unblended beer is possible.

The MicroCube ups flexibility levels

“If we want, we can produce a brew of just twelve hectolitres,” emphasises Florian Huber, Brewmaster at the monastic brewery in Ettal, which is among the first users of the MicroCube with a brew size of 25 hectolitres.

“What’s more, we have a choice of using either the infusion or the decoction process, and depending on what’s currently needed, we can employ a one-mash, two-mash or three-mash process. And by varying the mashing and boiling parameters, we’re able to correct the malting barley’s quality to a certain extent.”

Technology adopted from large-kettle production

ShakesBeer mash kettle with pillow-plate heating surfaces for gentle heat transfer

• Super-Trend control system for the lautering process for low-in-solids worts
• Stromboli wort boiling system for four per cent overall evaporation
• Dosage vessels for reliable hop supply
• Vapour condenser for heat recovery
• Botec process control system

Calculation basis: 5 days fermenting, 9 days storage, 0.5 days cleaning; 50 production weeks per year