After the fermentation process, the beer undergoes a period of low-temperature storage. Although most of the cold turbidity and yeast cells have been settled and separated, there is still a small amount of suspended material in the beer. To prevent yeast cells and other turbid substances from leaching out during the “minimum shelf life” of beer, it needs to be further filtered before packaging. With the increasing competition in the beer market and the rising demand for beer quality, breweries are finding ways to reduce costs and improve beer quality. Among these methods, beer filtration is crucial.
The main purposes of beer filtration are as follows:
Removing suspended matter in the beer to enhance its appearance, making it clear, transparent, and glossy.
Removing or reducing substances that cause turbid precipitation in beer, such as polyphenols and proteins, to improve its colloidal stability.
Removing microorganisms like yeast and bacteria to improve the biological stability of the beer.
Beer filtration can be divided into beer clarification, abiotic stability treatment, and biological stability treatment. Commonly used technologies for beer clarification include centrifugal separation, diatomite filtration, and cartridge filtration. The main equipment used includes centrifuges, diatomite filters, and plate filters. As for abiotic stability treatment, the addition of PVPP, silica gel, tannin, and protease to beer is widely practiced. For biological stability treatment, pasteurization is mainly used for sterilization, while sterile membrane filtration technology is employed for aseptic filtration.
