Huge New Tanks Will Each Hold 3645 Gals. Of Beer

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22826, 22 December 1948, Page 4

Huge New Tanks Will Each Hold 3645 Gals. Of Beer

Each large enough to contain 3645 gallons of beer, seven huge steel tanks, which, when they were left on the Gisborne wharf some weeks ago attracted a good deal of attention, have now been installed at the brewery of Xew Zealand Breweries, Limited, in Aberdeen road.

; With the installation of these tanks I the Gisborne brewery becomes the | equal of any in the world so far as ! the cooling process for the beer is con!corned. ! The obtaining of the tanks from i America, their transhipment to Gis- ; borne, the haulage from the wharf to | the brewery, and their installation eni tailed a great deal of thought and work i for these involved.

Faced with the deterioration of the present cooling system for beer, which has operated at the brewery for over 30 j years, the directors of the company i were forced to obtain new plant as i quickly as possible. Inquiries were • made in England to see if she could * supply the tanks, but none was forthcoming. American aid was then enr listed and the tanks, which are about to go into operation, obtained. How the Plant Works When brewing takes place the beer goes through various processes, until it ]is placed in hogsheads and the yeast allowed to work out. ‘ From the hogsheads, the beer is placed in the huge new glass-lined tanks to cool and mature. In the specially insulated room in which the tanks are situated, the temperature is lowered by means of a blast of cold air being circulated. This cools the outside of the tanks and the beer inside, but to ensure a reduction in temperature of * the beer in the centre of the tank, cooling pipes containing compressed ammonia gas. are led through the cylinder. Improvements in the flavour and all the qualities of the beer are expected as a result of this new cooling process. Previously the beer was cdoled in comparatively small tanks situated in a chilling room, the temperature of which - was dropped by means of coil pipes having compressed ammonia gas forced through them. Pressure, temperature and capacity gauges on the new tanks will eliminate any guesswork, and those in charge will know to the gallon, how much beer is available at a certain time. New Filter Machine

When ready for bottling, the beer will be led through an outlet valve in the bottom of the tanks and then through a new Alter machine. Before reaching the far end of the filter the beer will have passed through 32 thick layers of pulp, thus removing any impurities or deposits which it may still have contained. From the filter the beer is led either to the bottling machine or into kegs.

After being bottled, capped, pasteurised by immersion in boiling water, which prevents any further fermentation and then labelled, the beer is ready for sale. “Unfortunately, the new tanks cannot be put into operation until early next year,’’ said a brewery official today. “Had we been able to use them before the holidays our capacity would have been increased.”

New Bottle-Washing Machine

This year, however, there was no shortage of beer bottles and all Christmas orders were being dealt with, ha said. This did not hold true with the cordial department, where small softdrink bottles were in short supply.

A new bottle-washing machine capable of dealing with 450 dozen bottles an hour has been installed recently in the cordial factory, and further new machinery is expected shortly. Some 30ft. long, the bottle-washing machine keeps two men busy placing the dirty bottles on a conveyor at one end. The bottles then move slowly through the machine, being cleaned by steam, caustic soda and boiling water. As they issue from the other end of the machine the bottles are examined for cleanliness by another two men, who then proceed to pack them for dispatch to the bottling machine. When all the new equipment planned and on order comes to hand and is installed, Gisborne will have one of the most upj-to-date breweries and cordial factories in the Dominion.