Getting more out of existing breweries: GEA shows where to unlock capacity, energy and resource potential

• GEA AdaptAx premiere: modular orbital cleaner delivers up to 30 percent higher cleaning force; model calculation shows potential for 650 additional tank hours and 40 percent lower CIP volume per cleaning cycle

• Assess first, then implement: Add Better Consulting and GEA NEXUS combine analysis, prioritization and a long-term roadmap with technical implementation

• Rethinking capacity: Hydract enables precise inline blending and late product differentiation; QBOIL demonstrates retrofit potential in the brewhouse

• Greater product variety on existing infrastructure: GEA compares different routes to non-alcoholic products and more flexible production concepts

• Press events: Tech Espresso on November 10, Morning Insight on November 11

At BrauBeviale 2026, taking place from November 10 to 12 in Nuremberg (Hall 9, Booth 362), GEA will introduce GEA AdaptAx, a new generation of orbital tank cleaners. The product premiere reflects the broader focus of GEA’s trade show presence: how can breweries use their existing plants more economically, flexibly and with greater resource efficiency? Alongside AdaptAx, GEA will showcase approaches to energy and process analysis, brewhouse retrofits and the production of non-alcoholic products, as well as GEA Hydract, a new water-hydraulic valve actuator for precise process control and inline blending. Under the theme “The Better Brewing Journey,” GEA connects plant analysis with targeted technical improvements and ongoing process optimization.

“Breweries today do not automatically need more equipment. They need more ways to get value from the equipment they already have,” says Steffen Rathmann, Vice President Business Line Beverage at GEA. “That may mean a better-tuned process, a targeted retrofit or a new technology that allows existing capacity to be used differently. At BrauBeviale, we will show this range with concrete examples.”

GEA AdaptAx premiere: tank cleaning as a capacity lever

The new generation of GEA AdaptAx orbital cleaners delivers up to 30 percent higher mechanical cleaning force than the previous generation. Depending on tank geometry, soiling and the cleaning task, this can help optimize cleaning time, flow rate and operating pressure.

AdaptAx has a modular design. Different nozzle configurations allow the cleaner to be tailored to the specific application and adapted when process requirements change, rather than replaced entirely. Standard tools are sufficient for maintenance.

A GEA model calculation illustrates the potential across a larger tank farm. It considers 50 fermentation and storage tanks, each cleaned once a week, resulting in 2,600 CIP cycles per year. The comparison assumes identical tank sizes, levels of soiling and cleaning-quality requirements.

• In the model, CIP time falls from 60 to 45 minutes, flow rate from 100 to 80 cubic meters per hour and operating pressure from 10 to 8 bar.
• The 15 minutes saved per cleaning alone add up to 650 additional tank hours, or around 27 days of tank availability per year.
• At the same time, CIP volume falls from 100 to 60 cubic meters per cleaning cycle. Across 2,600 cycles, this corresponds to 104,000 cubic meters less water per year. In a total-loss system, wastewater volume falls by a similar amount.

The actual effects depend on operating conditions. The model calculation nevertheless shows the leverage shorter cleaning cycles can create in large tank farms: they increase available tank time and reduce the required CIP volume.

Understand first, then prioritize

The question of the most sensible next step also lies at the heart of GEA Add Better Consulting. Rather than starting with a specific technology, the approach starts with the plant itself: Where are losses occurring? Which measures can deliver an immediate impact? Which investments fit the longer-term vision?

Add Better Consulting translates data and operating realities into a prioritized decarbonization roadmap. GEA NEXUS follows at the next stage, integrating process engineering with holistic heating and cooling engineering to implement the roadmap. The roles are clearly defined: first assess and prioritize, then integrate and implement.

“A single measure can make sense and still take you in the wrong direction if the long-term goal is missing,” says Dr. Isabel Osterroth, Senior Director Add Better Consulting & Nexus at GEA. “Many companies have decisions to make today and cannot wait for the perfect master plan. What matters is that every measure works toward the same goal. That is why we look beyond the next investment and consider how the site as a whole needs to develop.”

Especially in existing plants, the right sequence and integration into existing infrastructure, automation and ongoing production determine whether individual measures ultimately form a coherent overall system.

More products do not have to mean more tanks

At BrauBeviale, GEA will present the GEA Hydract water-hydraulic valve actuator within the VARIVENT portfolio for the first time. Instead of compressed air, the actuator uses a closed hydraulic system. Precise valve positioning allows the valves to perform continuous control tasks in addition to conventional open/close functions. This enables accurate control of product flows and inline blending.

At Carlsberg in Fredericia, Denmark, the impact of late product differentiation can be seen in practice: in a plant concept designed around this approach, the number of bright beer tanks required falls from 26 to 14, while average tank utilization rises from 54 to 90 percent. Product variants can be created closer to filling rather than being held in separate tanks earlier in the process.
Hydract shows how changes in process control can create additional flexibility without adding further plant components.

Retrofit in the brewhouse

Established core processes also offer modernization potential. With GEA QBOIL, GEA will showcase a retrofit concept for wort boiling. The system uses fractionated boiling and, according to GEA, can reduce the energy consumption of this process step by up to 35 percent. In a brownfield context, a key advantage is that the entire brewhouse does not necessarily have to be replaced.

Non-alcoholic brewing starts with the right process choice

The growing market for non-alcoholic products does not point to a single technical solution. Depending on the product target, existing infrastructure and required production volume, options include adapted fermentation control as well as thermal or membrane-based dealcoholization processes.

At BrauBeviale, GEA will therefore not present one process as a universal solution. Instead, the focus is on the decision-making logic behind the choice: What product quality is required? What infrastructure is already available? And what production volumes need to be covered economically?

In addition, GEA will provide information at its booth on GEA AromaPlus for membrane dealcoholization, digital solutions, heat pumps and separation technologies. On monitors, GEA will present, among other solutions, the GSX Skid and GEA plug & win Beer Recovery. The integrated centrifuge module recovers beer from excess yeast and automatically returns it to the brewing process. Depending on operating conditions, this can increase overall beer yield by up to two percent without interrupting ongoing production.