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  • 1.  Putting Mixed Fermentation Beers on Tap

    Posted 12-28-2022 09:47
    Does anyone put mixed fermentation beers on tap?  I'm worried about contamination even with a good CIP afterwards.  Would treating mixed ferm kegged beer with potassium metabisulfite be a bullet-proof solution?

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    Derek Edinger
    Head of Brewing Operations & Co-founder
    Ardennes Brewing LLC
    Geneva NY
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  • 2.  RE: Putting Mixed Fermentation Beers on Tap

    Posted 12-28-2022 11:54
    We keg condition a portion of all our beers at Sovereign Brewing for in house dispensing. We happen to have very short tap lines (6'), so we replace lines instead of cleaning them, breaking down faucets and scrubbing each time. Costs about the same and keeps us from worrying. We serve "clean" beer on the same lines and have never been able to taste an issue, even on the most delicate lagers.

    I personally avoid K meta in beer, because I can often taste it in certain beers that already have high levels of sulfur compounds. It can take it over the threshold.

    At our other location, we've poured everything from brett primary to mixed ferm to spon on 50' lines and had no issues, but we clean weekly and heavily. Hope this helps.

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    Justin Gerardy
    Owner
    Standard Brewing, LLC
    Seattle WA
    (206) 535-1584
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Putting Mixed Fermentation Beers on Tap

    Posted 12-29-2022 12:03
    SO2/KMS is a wild yeast inhibitor.  It is used extensively in the wine industry because the grapes come in loaded with wild yeasts.  SO2 is also generated by (stressed) culture yeast under certain conditions.  There are labeling requirements for certain concentrations of SO2 that must be met.  The level is quite low, if I remember correctly, about 10ppm.  You have to be careful if you add SO2, because if a sensitive person drinks your product and gets triggered by the SO2 content, you could be liable for not labeling correctly.  (And the regulating authorities, FDA etc, don't particularly care where the sulfite came from, either natural yeast product or added as a preservative). I retired from a major national brewer and we routinely analyzed for SO2....none of which was added to the process, it just could sometimes arise from stressed yeast, and at one point one of our other breweries was completely shut down for elevated SO2 in the beer.  As a general rule, once we detected an elevated SO2, the yeast would not be 'salvagable'....we would send the yeast from that batch out for animal feed. 

    SO2 is also a moving target, as when the product is first packaged, the sulfite level analyzed could drop due to oxygen pickup and breakdown into sulfate over time.

    If you are using SO2 as a preservative, it probably needs to be labeled whether or not it ends up in significant concentrations.

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    Joseph Caracausa
    Retired
    Joshua TX
    (817) 933-3545
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Putting Mixed Fermentation Beers on Tap

    Posted 01-13-2023 15:34

    Hi Derek,

    We are constantly switching our draft lines between clean beers, mixed fermentation beers, and even spontaneous beers.  We clean all draft lines biweekly.  We've never seen any contamination issues.  You're more likely to have issues with flavor contamination/crossover from smoked beers and chili beers.  Those carryover notes can be hard to eliminate.



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    Joe Grimm
    Brooklyn NY
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Putting Mixed Fermentation Beers on Tap

    Posted 01-14-2023 18:45
    Dear Derek:

    Assuming you clean and sanitize your draft lines properly I could not see a problem with mixed fermentation beers.  The key to clean draft lines is a combination of the proper chemicals and proper fluid mechanics, equally to what you need to seek in the brewery sanitation.  My former company sold the BeviClean line of draft cleaning products, and we did a lot of validation.  As long as you remove the deposits from the draft lines you will see no problems.  However, often breweries and other draft establishments do not use pumps for recirculation but rely on gas pushing the liquid through the lines.  This can leave you with deposits on the lines which can be temporarily sanitized, but any high velocity movement of beer in the lines or floaters will cause the deposit to be disturbed and then you may have an infection.  Even the color indicators offered by some companies really do not show you if the lines are truly clean but can merely indicate a temporarily sanitized surface with soil and microorganism underneath.

    So once again, as with many answers in sanitation, it all depends on how you clean your draft lines and if you are truly confident in your results.  If you are confident, then it should not represent a problem.

    Cheers, 
       


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    Dirk Loeffler
    Loeffler Hygiene & Safety Solutions
    (404) 229-7583
    loeffler.dirk@loefflerhygiene.com
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    Original Message


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