The Lower the Oxygen, the Better the Beer

For Carlsberg in Italy, reliability of implemented measuring systems allows precise control of oxygen in beer and therefore raises quality. In addition, the need for calibration and maintenance is reduced, leading to greater uptime.   Carlsberg Italia SpA
Although Italy is not known as a beer drinking nation, beer consumption has been steadily increasing over recent de­cades. Carlsberg Italia today oper­ates two breweries – one in Varese in Northern Italy and a second in Ceccano, in the province of Frosinone south of Rome. In Italy, Carls­berg distributes nine different brands.   What counts is the quality and taste
Dissolved oxygen (DO) has an enormous impact on the quality of beer. DO content makes the difference between a beer which retains its taste characteristics in the bottle or can for many months and a beer which quickly degrades and becomes oxidized. Therefore, the control of DO in the beer is very important for all Carlsberg breweries, which are required to keep beer quality high, to maintain production without unnecessary break­downs and to sustain strong process stability paired with as little maintenance work as possible. As a result, only the best and most stable instrumentation to mon­itor and control this critical parameter can be accepted.   Unsatisfactory instrumentation created problems
Carlsberg Italia has been carrying out DO measurements for around 20 years. How­ever, the instrumentation used has had frequent reliability issues. The systems had accept­able precision, but they often malfunctioned which took them out of service. This gave rise to periods in which the process was not being moni­tored, with the risk of the aforementioned problems connected with final product quality.   Chosen solution
After evaluating the situ­ation, METTLER TOLEDO suggested a new solution and Carlsberg arranged testing to determine system performance. As the test phase was highly successful, six measuring systems were installed using the following instruments: 
- InPro 6900 oxygen sensor
- M700 multi-parameter transmitter
- InFit 761 housing   Three measurement points were installed at the filling station, one before and one after filtration, and one at yeast propagation. In addition, an InTap 4000e portable oxygen system was ordered for off-line measuring.   Switch to METTLER TOLEDO was highly beneficial
According to Fabio Mazotti, supervisor for Brewing and Processing, equipment reliability was the “number one problem” for Carlsberg. The measuring sys­tems from METTLER TOLEDO have proven to be far more reliable than the preceding solutions, with less frequent need for maintenance or calibration. Further, the METTLER TOLEDO instruments can be more rapidly returned to service than the previously used equipment; thus the systems spend less time out of operation during interruptions.