Efficient wort boiling system
GEA QBOIL® Wort Boiling System
GEA QBOIL® integrates the advanced technologies of fed-batch, fractionated boiling, and rectification into a single, highly efficient process. This innovative system significantly reduces energy consumption during wort boiling, making it an essential addition to any modern brewery focused on energy saving.
How QBOIL® works
QBOIL® uses a specialized stripping column combined with a heat exchanger that functions as a vapor condenser and wort pre-heater.
Our energy saving design continuously feeds wort into the kettle, bringing it to a boil as the lauter tun is still operating. The energy from boiling wort is released as steam and used to preheat fresh wort as it is added.
This steam also removes volatile, unwanted compounds (such as DMS) by stripping liquid wort in the distillation column, while maintaining a low total evaporation.
QBOIL® benefits at a glance
- Energy saving – cuts energy consumption by 35%, making it more effective than other energy recovery systems.
- Enhanced volatile substances removal – maximum efficiency in removal of unwanted volatile components allows low total evaporation.
- Increased efficiency – wort boiling time may be reduced to just 45 minutes, creating faster brewing cycles and increased production (depending on malt quality).
- Seamless retrofitting – update brewing practices and upgrade existing brew plants with minimal disruption.
- Consistent quality – final product quality is improved by reducing the thermal load on wort.
- Sustainability – reduced energy consumption helps lower costs, supports sustainable business practices and appeals to environmentally conscious consumers.
Resource-efficient solution
As one of our most resource-efficient solutions, GEA QBOIL carries the Add Better label.*
QBOIL enables energy efficient wort heating and boiling. This reduces energy consumption by 35% compared to other energy recovery systems for wort heating and boiling, resulting in a higher energy efficiency, less carbon emission and reduced thermal stress.
*The Add Better label relates to the serial product GEA QBOIL, released in August 2025. The comparison refers to its predecessor model, other energy recovery systems on the market e.g. mechanical vapor recompression for wort boiling.
Technical highlights
- Wort stripping – the secret to our low evaporation rate is the distillation column, where a sophisticated system of counter flows and distillation trays removes all the unwanted volatile compounds.
- Fed-batch process – the fed-batch process allows us to directly recover energy spent for wort boiling for pre-heating.
GEA Insights
GEA reports profitable growth for 2025 and expects accelerated revenue growth
GEA’s past fiscal year was one of significant growth and further profitability gains. In particular, the technology group substantially increased order intake, with all divisions contributing here. GEA also made progress in all Mission 30 strategic growth areas. In addition, GEA met key interim targets under its climate plan ahead of schedule. Major milestones in fiscal year 2025 were admission to the DAX index, the award of one of the largest contracts in the company’s history, and streamlining of the corporate structure.
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