Modern keg technology in Germany.

Stein, W. and Hilton, J.F.

Abstract
Keg beer has a fairly large market share in Germany, and the brewing industry consequently takes considerable interest in kegs and kegging technology. Kegs used in Germany come in all shapes and sizes, from 7.5 and 12.5 litre party kegs to 30 and 50 litre trade kegs. (Even larger kegs of up to 100 litres have been used in the past, but have now more or less disappeared). About 20% of kegs are of the new polyurethane coated type and are normally brightly coloured and adorned with the brewery logo, while the rest are still of plain stainless steel. Because there is no way of ascertaining just how much cleaning a keg needs on its return to the brewery, the normal practice is to apply a very thorough multistage cleaning process using water, caustic, acid and steam, which is probably rather wasteful as far as most kegs are concerned but does ensure that even the worst ones are clean enough to be reused. A detailed description of this cleaning process is given. A two headed filling machine is described which allows kegs to be filled at the maximum rate with minimum disruption of beer flow. Descriptions are given of the other processes and equipment used in the most modern German kegging lines.
Keywords : automatic efficiency equipment keg kegging line keg washer performance