CASE STUDY
Ozone for sanitising beer lines and pipes
Better tasting beer.
Ozonated water can be used as an alternative to chemical cleaning and the sanitisation of beer lines.
The problem
In the commercial brewing industry, wild yeasts and bacteria can build up in the tubing surfaces that beer passes through. These organisms collect on the surface of the tube and create what is known as a biofilm.
This is resistant to many commercial cleaners and results in a build-up of bacteria, which can affect the quality of the beer.
Ozone’s oxidizing ability destroys microorganisms and can break down the structure of a biofilm. The result is cleaner beer lines and a higher quality product.
Ozone versus chemical cleaners
A comparison of the effectiveness of ozonated water versus a traditional chemical cleaner and against enterobacter and yeast isolated from a brewery showed that both systems reduce biofilm from initial levels by 3 logs (ozone) and 2.7 logs (chemical).
Ozonated water gave a significantly higher reduction than chemical cleaner and resulted in a reduction in microbial counts, with the exception of the fob detector, during a dispense protocol that mimicked normal-use conditions.
Source:
An evaluation of Ozonated Water as an Alternative to Chemical Cleaning and Sanitization of Beer Lines
Journal compilation 2007, Blackwell Publishing Ltd Journal of Foodservice, 18 pp. 59-68
Better tasting beer
The study concluded that ozone can be used as a substitute for more standard commercial cleaners used in cleaning beer lines. It leaves no deposits in the system so the composition of beer is not altered.
The study concluded that ozone is a more effective means of cleaning beer lines, which leads to a reduction in organisms and biofilms that can result in better quality product for customers.
The overall conclusion was that the use of ozone resulted in 'better tasting beer'!
Before cleaning
After cleaning
Heat exchanger refurbishment
