A Revolutionary Filtration Technique
Reverse osmosis is a method that originates from water purification. In beer production, it has become a powerful tool for making alcohol-free beer.
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Reverse Osmosis – The Precision of Membrane Filtration
The Scientific Principle
The technique is based on a physical principle:
- Basic Principle: Semi-permeable membranes are used that are selective in the passage of specific molecules. Under pressure, the different molecules are separated from each other.
- The Process in Detail: Alcohol-containing beer is placed on one side of the membrane, while purified water is placed on the other side. Through natural migration, the alcohol molecules move to the side of the water. The alcohol is thus ‘filtered’ from the beer.
Advantages:
Flavor Preservation: Since this technique uses a beer with a light percentage of alcohol, in which the alcohol is subsequently removed, it produces beers that closely approximate the taste of an alcohol-containing beer.
Challenges:
- The water consumption for extracting the alcohol from the beer is considerable. Only breweries that pursue a very efficient water policy throughout their entire production can prevent large quantities of excessive water from being lost.
- This method requires an investment in a device to carry out the membrane filtration.
- The operational costs can be high if the water balance in the brewery is not under control.
- Since the alcohol in the beer can only be partially removed with each membrane filtration, it is currently not realistic to achieve a 0.0% beer (<0.05%). Too much time and water would be needed for this. In practice, this technique is used to achieve alcohol-free beers <0.5%.
Conclusion
The practical application of reverse osmosis requires advanced equipment, including membrane systems, pressure regulators, and monitoring tools. Close process control, with continuous pressure and temperature management and control of the flow rate, is crucial. Efficient water management, through optimization of consumption, recycling, and purification, is essential. In addition, process optimization, by balancing flow rates, energy efficiency, and membrane maintenance, is important.
Reverse osmosis is ideal for beer with less than 0.5% alcohol, small to medium volumes, and specific beer types. Limitations are the difficulty in achieving 0.0% alcohol, water consumption, and the cost of the membranes.
