Tips for Ensuring Optimal Beer Equipment Maintenance

Cleaning and sanitizing all your brewing equipment is the key to ensuring your beer remains uncontaminated. Failure to properly clean and sanitize your equipment significantly increases the risk of ruining your beer. The good news is that cleaning and sanitizing is relatively easy. It only requires attention to detail and common sense. If you can wash and scrub dishes, you’ll have no trouble keeping your equipment clean. The process simply involves soaking, rinsing, or spraying your equipment before it comes into contact with the beer. So let’s dive in!

10 Tips for Maintaining Beer Brewing Equipment

1. Avoid using chlorine-based detergents or disinfectants. This should be obvious, but it’s worth mentioning.
2. If you’re not going to use your equipment for an extended period, make sure to thoroughly clean it. Once the water flow is clear, close the valves. Additionally, clean the equipment thoroughly before reusing it after a long hiatus.
3. Disassemble and clean the heat exchanger after prolonged use or if it has been idle for a while. Do not use a metal brush for cleaning, and avoid bending, twisting, stepping on, or squeezing the heat exchanger plates. Replace any worn-out sealing gaskets promptly.
4. Regularly inspect and ensure the correct connection of the electrical motor, pump, and grounding. Check the oil level of the reduction motor and hydraulic device, and lubricate them as instructed. Regularly check the fastening of stirring and tillage fittings. If any leakage is detected, promptly replace the pump seal.
5. Regularly check the hopper of the grinder for foreign matter and impurities. Verify that the grinder’s fasteners are secure, and ensure the driving belt’s tightness and the reliability of safety protection devices. Clean the grinder roll on a regular basis.
6. Regularly inspect the pressure gauges and safety valve of steam heating equipment. Ensure that the steam trap is functioning properly. Do not start heating until the specified level is reached. During operation, hang warning signs on high-temperature pipelines for steam, wheat juice, and other substances to prevent burns.
7. When filtering, avoid extracting wort at a high flow rate to prevent damage to the sieve plate. When the equipment is not in use, do not place weight on the screen plate to avoid deformation. Keep all mechanical parts running smoothly during operation.
8. Regularly check the plate heat exchanger for leaks, leakage, and fluid flow. Repair any issues immediately.
9. Monitor the concentration of alkali water in the alkali water tank regularly. If the concentration is too low or turbid, replace the water promptly.
10. Regularly inspect all pipe valves for leakage. If any leaks are found, repair or replace the valves immediately.

How do you sanitize your equipment?

Cleaning refers to removing soil, dirt, and visible stains, similar to washing dishes. Anything you use during brewing should be meticulously clean and free of dust or grease. When cleaning plastic items, avoid using abrasive scouring pads or anything that may scratch the surface, as these scratches can harbor microbes.

Sanitizing takes it a step further and involves reducing potential sources of microbial contamination to negligible levels. In other words, you’re eliminating what you can’t see to minimize the risk of spoilage. This is a crucial step in the brewing process. At the homebrew level, it’s relatively simple—clean your equipment after each use, and you can be confident that sanitizing before the next use will be effective.

Sterilization is the third stage, which involves eliminating all forms of life on an object. Unless your home brewing setup is in a fully sealed, hospital-grade clean room, the space you brew in won’t be sterile. Therefore, sanitizing your equipment is the best way to ensure that even at the microbial level, there won’t be enough to cause infection.

How to Maintain a Fermenter?

1. If the joint between the air inlet pipe and water outlet pipe is leaking, tightening the joint may not solve the problem. In such cases, add or replace the filler.
2. Regularly check the pressure gauge and safety valve. Replace or repair any faults promptly.
3. When cleaning the fermenter, use a soft brush to scrub and avoid using hard tools that could damage the surface.
4. The supporting instruments should be calibrated annually to ensure proper functioning.
5. Ensure that electrical equipment, instruments, and sensors do not come into direct contact with water and steam to prevent moisture damage.
6. When the equipment is not in use, clean it promptly and drain any remaining water in the fermentation tank and pipelines. Loosen the fermentation tank cover and hand hole screws to prevent deformation of the sealing ring.
7. If the fermentation tank will not be used temporarily, empty it and drain any remaining water from the tank and pipelines.

Get a turnkey solution for brewery equipment

If you’re planning to open or expand a brewery, you can contact us directly. Our engineers will design and manufacture brewery equipment tailored to your brewing process. We also provide complete turnkey solutions. If you’re considering expanding your brewery, we can offer customized solutions to meet your needs.