Water treatment in the brewery

J. Fernandez Selles

Abstract
The author refers to Windisch as the first investigator to report the reactions of salts in brewing waters and to introduce lime softening, originally developed for boiler water treatment, to eliminate the bicarbonates of brewing waters. Burton-type-salts are widely used according to his theories. Industrial water treating plants are briefly discussed. Because of minimum requirements for complementary treatment and simplest operation, the sodium zeolite-softener is often suitable for the removal of temporary hardness in waters to be used in boilers, cooling systems, and the bottle shop. Water savings installations for the bottle shop are suggested. The detrimental effects of bicarbonates and alkalinity in various brewing stages and the use of acids or Burton-type salts to counteract them are described. Treatment of the water effluent from a sodium zeolite softener in a Dealkalizer is suggested as a system yielding a water free from bicarbonates and alkalinity, which ought to be suitable for brewing purposes.