GEA’s CRAFT-STAR® makes its UK debut
Fourpure Brewing Co., a Bermondsey based craft brewer in the UK, has been producing an impressive range of beers since 2013, including its flagship Pils lager, APA and Session IPA, as well as seasonal specials such as Citrus and West Coast IPAs, and a growing range of unique one-off small batch beers
Founded by brothers Dan and Tom Lowe, Fourpure has established itself as a pioneer and innovator in the craft beer sector. In 2017, it won the SIBA (Society of Independent Brewer) award for the UK’s Most Innovative and Best Brewery Business and, in 2018 it won the SIBA Commercial Achievement award. Wishing to make the best possible use of its current site while expanding production to meet the future demands of its retail customers, the company has embarked on a £2 million growth project. A key part of the scheme is the implementation of a new GEA CRAFT-STAR® skid-mounted brewing system from GEA.
This new investment will allow Fourpure to experiment with new recipes, laying the foundations for when the next expansion comes along, which is planned for early 2019. “We spoke to a number of suppliers,” said Dan Lowe: “However, the professionalism of the team and the capabilities of the CRAFT-STAR® system ultimately made working with GEA an easy decision. We’re looking forward to a longstanding, collaborative relationship.”
Four-vessels, seven brews a day
The Fourpure installation is an off-the-shelf, four-vessel system designed for batch sizes of 40 hectoliters of hot wort and is capable of producing up to seven batches a day. Supplied pre-piped, pre-wired and ready-to-install, the equipment was fully tested in the GEA factory in Kitzingen, Germany, prior to dispatch. A combination of manual and motorized valves provides automatic control for more than 80% of the brewing process — mashing, lautering, wort boiling and whirlpooling — via an easy-to-read touchscreen monitor.
The base frame of the CRAFT-STAR® holds all related pumps, valves and components, as well as the power cabinets. Manual valves are conveniently operated from the front. Flange connections for hot and cold water, steam, condensate and finished hot wort allow the CRAFT-STAR® to be connected easily to media supplies and the wort cooler. The frame also functions as operator platform, including stairs and railing, providing a cost-efficient brewing solution that doesn’t hold back on quality related technological features.
Supporting progressive brewers
“It’s been a pleasure to work with Fourpure,” said John Aitken, Head of Beverage/Food and Dairy sales for GEA in the UK. “They are a very progressive and innovative company and I know that CRAFT-STAR® is exactly the right system to take the company through to the next stage of its development. I am also pleased that we now have our first reference site for this technology in the UK.”
