Princen Brewery, the Netherlands
Annual production approx. 20,000 hl
Capacity of this BMF system is 30-60 hl/h
Pentair’s new compact Beer Membrane Filtration (BMF) system is the ideal solution for craft and small breweries with a 10,000 to 100,000 hl annual output. The first BMF +Flux Compact S4 was installed at the Princen Brewery in the Netherlands in early 2017 and continues to operate successfully.
“From the beginning, we wanted to concentrate on a Premium Pils to challenge the established brands,” explained Mark Schneider, director of Princen Brewery. His strategy has proven successful and since 2013, the Dutch brewery has continued to grow. Currently, the annual beer production is 20,000 hl that is distributed in kegs and 100 or 200 hl tanks.
“We realized straight away that there was no going back to DE filtration,” Schneider recalls. True to his word, the DE filter at Princen has not been used since the BMF pilot was installed. Princen ordered a BMF +Flux Compact S4 and the brewery leased the pilot system to cover the time until the new filter could be delivered and commissioned. This was a good test on the pilot system that operated nearly 24/7 to accommodate Princen’s production.
“We realized straight away that there was no going back to DE filtration.”
- Mark Schneider, director of Princen brewery
Pentair introduced the world’s first commercial large-scale BMF system for DE-free beer membrane filtration in 2002. Since then, more than 100 BMF systems have been commissioned that currently filter 100 million hl of beer annually. With the introduction of the BMF +Flux Compact S4 Pentair offers craft and small breweries major advantages compared to DE filtration. In addition to eliminating the negative aspects of DE, BMF provides the flexibility of true start/stop filtration, a fully automated process, and a constantly high microbiological safety.
Schneider is pleased with making the move to Pentair’s BMF +Flux Compact S4. “Membrane filtration has made our beer much fresher and lighter,” he said. “Our analyses show this just as clearly as the positive feedback from the market.”