How Are Breweries Improving Water, Energy and Resource Efficiency?

Breweries are evaluating new ways to improve resource efficiency while maintaining product quality and operational performance. As operating costs, regulatory expectations and production complexity evolve, many brewers are reviewing technologies and process improvements that support more efficient use of water, energy and raw materials across brewing operations.

With the intention of maintaining the taste and quality consumers expect from established brands, the brewing industry has traditionally adopted proven technologies and refined them over time to improve operational performance and efficiency.

Today, however, breweries face increasing pressure to reduce resource consumption, improve operational efficiency and manage increasingly complex production environments while continuing to deliver consistent beer quality. Industry organizations such as the Brewers Association continue to highlight energy management, water conservation and waste reduction as key areas of focus for breweries looking to improve long-term operational performance.

Against this backdrop, breweries are evaluating ways to improve water management, optimize energy use and make more efficient use of raw materials throughout the brewing process.

Many breweries focus on several key areas when reviewing resource efficiency initiatives:

While each brewery's priorities may differ, improvements in these areas can help support both operational performance and broader sustainability goals. For many breweries, the challenge is balancing these objectives without compromising product quality, production flexibility or operational performance.

Water is one of the most important resources used in beer production.

From ingredient preparation and brewing through to cleaning processes, water is required throughout brewery operations. Traditional brewing methods can consume significant amounts of water, making conservation and efficient use an important consideration for many breweries.

According to data shared by Asahi, global average water consumption is approximately 4.5 hectolitres of water per hectolitre of beer produced. Best-in-class industrial breweries with well-optimized operations can achieve water-use levels well below this global average.

As breweries evaluate opportunities to improve operational efficiency, water-saving technologies and practices can help reduce water usage and support responsible resource management.

Related reading: Beer Clarification Solutions

Energy use remains another key area of focus for breweries. The Brewers Association estimates that producing a barrel of beer requires between 50 and 66 kWh of energy when thermal sources, packaging, refrigeration and ambient heating are considered.

With energy consumed across multiple stages of production, breweries continue to evaluate opportunities to reduce electrical and thermal energy use while maintaining production performance and product quality. Improvements in process efficiency, equipment design and operational visibility can all contribute to more effective energy management across brewery operations.

Waste reduction extends beyond packaging and disposal activities. For many breweries, making better use of raw materials and recovering more saleable product can support both resource efficiency and operating performance.

Beer loss is one example. A typical industrial-scale brewery may have approximately 2–3% of its annual output held within sedimented yeast following fermentation, while for breweries producing multiple brands or operating smaller batch sizes, this figure can exceed 15%. Recovering more saleable beer can help make better use of the water, energy and raw materials already invested in production while reducing unnecessary losses throughout the brewing process.

• PROFi Crossflow Membrane System: In the early 2000s, when DE filtration remained the dominant beer clarification technology, Pall chose to focus its innovation efforts on crossflow membrane filtration as breweries increasingly looked for alternatives to DE-based processes. Today, as breweries continue to evaluate these alternatives, membrane filtration technologies can offer several potential operational advantages.

• Water Consumption: Membrane filtration eliminates the need for pre-runs and post-runs associated with DE filtration processes. Combined with smaller vessel volumes, this can contribute to reduced water consumption compared with DE filtration systems of equivalent throughput.

• Energy Consumption: Pall has completed numerous projects replacing DE filtration systems with PROFi membrane filtration systems, with project results indicating that both electrical and thermal energy consumption could be significantly reduced.

• Waste Reduction: By eliminating DE powder from the clarification process, breweries can avoid the accumulation of DE solid waste, which can amount to hundreds of tonnes annually for large industrial breweries.

CBS Stabilization Systems

In addition to supporting colloidal stability, CBS Stabilization Systems can help breweries address resource consumption associated with stabilization processes.

Benefits include:

• Reduced consumption of cleaning chemicals, water and energy compared with other PVPP regeneration technologies
• Negligible PVPP loss rates
• Reduced accumulation of spent PVPP waste

These capabilities can help breweries support product stability while improving resource utilization throughout production.

Related solution: Colloidal Beer Stabilization

Technology continues to play an increasingly important role in helping breweries understand where resources are being used throughout production.

Filtration, stabilization and digital technologies can provide greater visibility into water use, energy consumption, waste generation and production efficiency, helping breweries make informed decisions about future process improvements.

As breweries evaluate future production requirements, improved visibility into resource consumption and process performance can help support more informed operational decisions.

Pall undertook a global survey of 3,500 beer drinkers to better understand perspectives on sustainable brewing, purchasing habits and knowledge of the brewing process.

Download the full paper by completing the form provided.

Want to know more about what consumers think about sustainable brewing? Explore the survey findings.