The beer brewing process requires oxygen free conditions. In all stages of production (except for wort aeration during cooling), contact between the materials and oxygen must be prevented, primarily to avoid oxidation of alcohol and maltose into acids, which would deteriorate the taste of the beer and compromise its quality. Before sealing the beer, a process step involves pressurizing with nitrogen or carbon dioxide to expel oxygen, thereby preventing reactions between oxygen and beer components and extending the beer‘s shelf life. However, the carbon dioxide recovered during production often cannot reliably supply an oxygen free environment, or it contains too much air mixed in, resulting in insufficient purity of the carbon dioxide. Therefore, many domestic and international breweries use nitrogen as a substitute for carbon dioxide to enhance beer quality.
Nitrogen is an inert gas similar to carbon dioxide and has very low solubility in beer. Because it is difficult to dissolve, nitrogen effectively helps create a relatively high pressure environment (two to three times higher than that achieved with pure carbon dioxide). When dispensing the beer, nitrogen produces many fine bubbles, which give the beer a smoother, more delicate mouthfeel. Nitrogen not only replaces carbon dioxide and prevents oxidation but also improves the foam performance of beer. The bubbles generated when nitrogen interacts with beer are smaller, so nitrogen injected beer has a smoother, more refined appearance and taste. Using nitrogen compensates for the shortcomings of carbon dioxide recovery and has a lower operating cost. Consequently, nitrogen has broad application prospects in beer brewing.
A gas transfer membrane uses the principle of diffusion to transfer gases (such as carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and oxygen/ammonia mixtures) from a liquid. Its working principle relies on the hydrophobicity and gas permeability of hollow fiber membranes: under certain conditions, gases can permeate through the membrane surface while liquids cannot, thereby achieving gas transfer. With a compact design, it provides efficient dissolved gas control. These gas transfer devices can remove dissolved gases from liquids or add gases to liquids. By utilizing hollow fiber membrane technology, they improve operational efficiency, performance, and product quality protection.
The gas transfer membrane can rapidly inject nitrogen into beer with precision and predictability, ensuring that the exact target concentration is achieved, thus saving time and simplifying the production process. Moreover, by adjusting the nitrogen concentration, the desired taste, mouthfeel, and bubble characteristics can be obtained.
The gas transfer membrane is a bubble free inline system that quickly injects gases into water, beer, and wine in the food and beverage industry with high precision and predictability, effectively carrying out processes such as nitrogenation, carbonation, and deoxygenation. While saving time and simplifying the production process, it reduces microbial growth, prevents product spoilage, and extends product shelf life. Introducing this advanced membrane technology into the production process helps improve production efficiency, reduce process uncertainty, maintain or enhance product quality, and achieve product consistency and stability.
Guochu Technology (Xiamen) Co., Ltd. is actively expanding the application of gas transfer membranes in beer nitrogenation. Since its establishment, the company has been committed to membrane separation technology as its core, dedicated to promoting novel separation technologies. It provides integrated filtration and purification solutions for industries such as biopharmaceuticals, food and beverages, fermentation, deep processing of agricultural products, plant extraction, petrochemicals, environmental water treatment, gas separation, and chemicals, meeting the highly differentiated needs of various customers.
Guochu Technology (Xiamen) Co., Ltd. will continue to explore new applications of novel degassing membrane technologies in fields such as food, dairy, beverages, microelectronics, metallurgy, chemical engineering, machinery, and the environment, providing professional gas separation solutions to a wider range of users.
