OnTap Magazine

The main disadvantage is the price – these babies don’t come cheap. You’re looking at a starting price of R850 000 for a centrifuge that can process 1000L per hour. Of course, if you take into account the cost of wastage and of course general brand damage if you end up with oxidised beer in the market, it is a solid long-term investment. While spending a day at Hopworks Urban Brewery in Portland, Oregon, I asked head brewer, Trevor Bass, why they chose to invest in a centrifuge. “We were initially interested in moving away from a DE filter and to a centrifuge because of the potential increase in batch yields and a reduction on dissolved oxygen pickup,” he explained. “We saw those benefits immediately, but we also saw an incredible increase in hop aroma on our dry hopped beers, stability of that aroma over time as well as a slight increase in yield for those specific beers.” Hopworks also found the centrifuge useful for producing speciality beers. “We spoke with another brewery that had adopted the treatment of cold steeping coffee directly in the fermenter and then spinning it out with the centrifuge rather than making a cold brew and introducing that to the beer,” Trevor says. “We found the flavour and aroma development was through the roof but without any bitterness or vegetal character. We have since used that process with fruit, spices, cocoa nibs and other specialty ingredients.” Back at Drifter in Cape Town, we recently received our centrifuge and are excited to see it in action. With our output expecting to double this year we will be able to meet the demand while maintaining both our quality and shelf life. One of the biggest challenges we face in the South African retail beer space is the lack of cold storage in bottle stores and shops. By using a centrifuge we are able to increase the shelf life of our beers from three to eight months without affecting those great hop (and coconut!) flavours we love so much. INTRODUCINGTHE BEVERAGE INNOVATIONS