Saturday, Jan 16, 2016 @ 12:27 pm
Demand > Production
The pressure on production fueled by demand is strong here at Tin Whiskers. We are coming upon our second year in business, recently surpassed our first year of distribution, and are now going through our third, and last, expansion within our current space. This March, we will add a centrifuge to our brewery. This will not only allow us to make more beer, but increase the quality control of our product which we pride ourselves in, and you have come to expect.
Post-expansion last June, we increased our capacity by 66%, going from 1500bbls / year to 2500bbls / year. Since then our tanks have not been dry and the increased production has been consumed by customer demand. This was primarily possible due to the recent switch of two of our popular flagship beers (Wheatstone Bridge and Flip Switch IPA) to 4-pack, 16oz. cans - a more easily consumable and visible packaging option.
What is a Centrifuge?
A centrifuge is a large tank that whirls the beer around at high speeds causing denser solids, such as yeast and hops, to be spun out of the liquid through gravitational force. By nature, this will speed up the fermentation process without stripping the beer of the desirable hop and malt flavors that a traditional filtration system would - so the beer is clarified, but never fully filtered. This process knocks off about 4-5 days from the fermentation maturation process and increases yeild, allowing us to produce more beer in less time.
Four days is a lot in the brewing world. The capacity of our current tanks is 2500bbls, but by shortening the fermentation time slightly, we can increase that to 3100bbls or more.
Our new Westfalia GEA Centrifuge processes a minimum of 60bbls at a time, and will not only be used on finished beer, but also on finished wort from the boil kettle. Instead of whirlpooling, the wort will be run through the centrifuge decreasing time between boiling and cooling which reduces the formation of DMS (Dimethyl Sulfides) in the beer.
Our Commitment to Quality
Unfiltered beer can exhibit inconsistencies from batch to batch, especially visual inconsistencies. A centrifuge is equipped with something called a turbidimeter, which is a handy self monitoring system. It compares the amount of haze in the product to preset targets, outputing the beer when it has reached ideal conditions. It ensures the product retains the high quality aroma, flavor and appearnace you've come to expect from Tin Whiskers.
