"The art of brewing at the highest level"

Katrin Goldhahn*
Rainer Deutschmann**

"The art of brewing at the highest level" is a motto the Stieglbrauerei in Salzburg, Austria, endorses to the full. The brewery attaches the utmost importance to the use of high-quality ingredients sourced locally, applying traditional brewing methods handed down over the centuries. It also strongly believes in cold fermentation and long storage of its beer which is gently filtrated and not subjected to any pasteurization processes. The company also strictly adheres to quality when it comes to its filling and packaging technology. Stieglbrauerei first began using technology from KHS in the 1980s, investing in a KHS keg line in 1987 which gave it loyal service for many, many years. Christan Pöpperl, master brewer and engineering manager at Stieglbrauerei, says, "We were always extremely happy with this kegging system. It was thus perfectly clear that when we recently invested in a replacement, it had to again be KHS technology. We replaced the line in three stages and now have a kegging capacity of up to 540 kegs per hour with our new line." The brewery has also had excellent experience with its KHS glass line commissioned in 1984, investing in a new rinser/filler/capper monoblock, flash pasteurizer, inspection technology and packer in 2006. A few years ago the Salzburg brewery also invested in two bottle washers from KHS. Engineer Karl Sigl, plant maintenance manager at Stieglbrauerei, is pleased. "Our KHS plant engineering convinces us every single day of the week – not least thanks to its maintenance-friendly construction, eco-friendly, resource-saving design and ease of operation."

Over a million hectoliters of beer sold per annum

Stieglbrauerei has been practicing "the art of brewing at the highest level" since its founding in 1492. Always a family business, since 1887 the brewery has been in the capable hands of the Kiener family, with Dr. Heinrich Kiener taking the helm in 1990. He now runs the brewery together with his wife Alessandra Kiener.  

* Manager, KHS Austria GmbH, Wiener Neudorf, Austria. 

   Phone: +43 2236 62510

** Director of Kegging Global Product Account Management, KHS GmbH,  

   Bad Kreuznach, Germany. Phone: +49 671 852 2977

Under his management the brewery's output has doubled; 

in 1990 Stiegl sold just 500,000 hectoliters of its brew, with this figure up to 1.03 million hectoliters in 2012. 

 "The Austrians' favorite beer"

According to a survey carried out by the Spectra market research institute the beer with the red steps is even the Austrians' favorite beer, with its popularity evenly spread across all age groups. "This is probably because we're authentic, don't pretend to be something we're not and uphold our tradition without forgetting to also look to the future," explains Dr. Heinrich Kiener. 

Over 20 styles of beer in its range 

With over 20 different types of tipple Stiegl is encouraging the Austrians to indulge in a variety of beers. Throughout the year it brews a number of beers and mixed beer beverages, among them Goldbräu, Spezial, bock beer, pilsner, Paracelsus Zwickl, light beer, wheat beer, a non-alcoholic sport wheat beer and elderberry, grapefruit and lemon shandies. It also has a range of seasonal specialties, such as Herbstgold, and Stiegl house beers which are prepared in a creative brewery and what Stiegl likes to call their specialty cellar.

Pöpperl states, "If you want to credibly practice the art of brewing at the highest level, we believe it's extremely important to keep trying out new beer recipes and presenting the consumer with innovative specialty beers. In our creative brewery we produce seven house beers a year in a limited edition which are marketed in the high price segment." Some of the most recent brews include Männerschokolade ("men's chocolate"), a beer which – as the name suggests – also contains chocolate, Weihnachtshonigbier or Christmas honey beer as a top-fermented specialty beer comprising special malt, aromatic hops and acacia honey, and a number of international beers like Imperial Stout and Double IPA.  

In 2010 Stiegl added what it terms its specialty cellar to the creative brewery in order to complement classic production. "With this we've created a facility where we can produce specialty beers in larger batches and present them to a broader public, among other things," smiles Pöpperl. "We also demonstrate just how diverse our brewery is with our range of ingredients, which currently consists of 20 types of malt, 15 sorts of hop and ten different yeasts we use for brewing."

Only local ingredients used, with the quality thereof personally controlled by the owner and master brewer

Another distinguishing feature of Stieglbrauerei is that since 2012 only ingredients from Austria have been used to make Stiegl beers. The brewery thus literally brews beer for the local region from the local region. As far back as 2004 the company began drawing up long-term contracts with Austrian farmers, assuring the latter fair prices and motivating them to continue cultivating barely and hops for brewing. Stiegl profits from the excellent quality of its raw ingredients which the owner and master brewer personally make sure of in the fields before the harvest each and every year, creating a classic win/win situation for all concerned. 

Awarded five DLG gold medals in 2012

With the brewery making such high demands of quality, it comes as no surprise to learn that Stiegl has won many awards for its quality beers. The privately-owned company is especially proud of the five DLG gold medals it won in 2012 for its Goldbräu, pilsner, wheat beer, sport wheat beer and Paracelsus Zwickl. "Winning these gold medals was a perfect end to 2012," says Pöpperl happily, "when we also celebrated 100 years of our Goldbräu brand." 

Classic Stiegl Goldbräu has 85% share of sales

Even though one of Stiegl's chief philosophies is to produce an enjoyable variety of beers, most of its sales are attributable to its classic brews. At the top of the sales league is Stiegl Goldbräu Märzen, the specialty Salzburg beer with 12° original gravity, with 85% of total sales clocked up by this product alone. Pöpperl describes what Austria's favorite Märzen tastes like in the following words: "It's soft at the first sip, then rich and harmonious. It convinces the palate with its full-bodied undertones that have a slight edge to them and its typical trace of hops on the aftertaste." Stiegl's wheat beer holds second place in the sales statistics; introduced in 2011 this specialty beer has worked its way up to number two in the Stiegl portfolio in the space of just two years. Stiegl's pilsner ranks third, with Stiegl Paracelsus Zwickl coming in fourth. What's interesting about the latter is that of Austria's Zwickl beers it has an approximately 40% share of the food retail market and is only brewed with local, carefully monitored ingredients which – and this is another feature unique to Stieglbrauerei – are organically grown on Stiegl's own farm in Wildshut near Salzburg.   

Growth both in Austria ...

Stiegl beers are most prominent in Austria in the Salzburger Land (for obvious historical reasons) and in the neighboring federal states of Upper Austria and Tirol. Says Pöpperl, "Our beers are aimed at people of all ages who value quality. This policy is valid both at home in Austria and abroad."

... and abroad

Austria may be the core market for Stieglbrauerei yet exports are becoming an increasingly important factor.  In 2006, for instance, only about 1% of its total produce was exported; this figure now stands at 5%. The main brands distributed outside Austria are Stiegl Goldbräu, wheat beer and grapefruit shandy, with the biggest export markets being Western Europe, North America and Australia. "Quality beer from Stiegl also has an excellent reputation on our export markets," Pöpperl smiles. 

Hospitality and retail trade two equally successful mainstays

Stieglbrauerei is equally successful in both the hospitality and retail trade,  with about half of its sales distributed to each of these two sectors respectively. This ratio is reflected in its use of containers, with about 60% of its beer bottled in glass, around 30% racked in kegs and the remaining 10% filled into cans.

Restaurants and bars benefit from full consultancy service and appropriate kegs

If we take a look at the types of keg racked for restaurants and bars, the 50-liter keg still makes up the majority of all keg sales. However, its popularity is now waning in favor of the 20 and 25-liter keg. The brewery also racks 15-liter party kegs. Says Pöpperl, "Our policy is to always provide our barkeepers and restaurateurs with the size of keg that suits their turnover. A keg should be emptied in two to three days maximum. This is the only way the consumer gets the beer quality we want him or her to have." Stieglbrauerei is very active when it comes to quality assurance for the hospitality trade, providing training courses and plenty of tips on beer hygiene and beer care. "We're doing all we can to make beer more and more presentable even in top-class restaurants," Pöpperl explains.  "This includes convincing the restaurant trade that beer must be appropriately presented in different shapes and sizes of glass in full accordance with the occasion and variety of beer." 

KHS kegging technology with an output of up to 540 kegs per hour

For the brewery it goes without saying that the same exacting standards of quality must be applied when racking Stiegl beer into kegs. To quote Sigl, "This is why we again specifically opted for KHS technology. By investing in our new kegging line we've doubled our previous keg output, now racking up to 540 kegs per hour with our three Innokeg Till Transomat 5/1 Duos. Our keg setup therefore also has us very well prepared for future growth in sales."

Gentle depalletizing process

On the new keg line pallets of returned empty kegs are loaded by a forklift and conveyed in two lanes and then in one after passing the shuttle car. An Innopal PK1EKN1 portal system is the depalletizer of choice here; it fully automatically processes all kinds of empties stacked to various heights. After a pallet enters the depalletizing area, the gripper head travels to the top layer on the pallet, measures the pallet height, and simultaneously scans the keg contours. The system can precisely detect whether the keg being handled is a 20-liter or 50-liter keg, for instance. Amply-sized clamping plates grasp the kegs to remove them layer by layer. What's known as a "floating system" integrated into the depalletizing head adjusts to the position of each layer to ensure gentle depalletizing even if the empty keg pallets have not been precision stacked. 

Deformed keg inspector boosts line availability

Just recently KHS developed the Innocheck KIL deformed keg inspector specially for the field of kegging technology which is now in use at Stieglbrauerei. Sigl tells us about it. "This system enables us to remove foreign and deformed kegs at the beginning of the process, thus making production even more efficient and boosting our line availability." The process is as follows: the kegs are checked by a laser beam in multishot mode. The outer wall of each keg is scanned many times and at different points while being transported through the inspection unit. The laser beams, which project line patterns onto each keg, are visualized by camera technology, with a total of four camera stations providing a 360° view of each keg. Any deformations can be pinpointed in detail and very quickly by studying the geometry of the recorded laser lines. 'Bad' kegs are channeled out automatically.

Exterior washer meets highest demands for hygiene

In this way only inspected, 'good' kegs travel onto the Innokeg Till AK exterior washer where the keg exteriors are washed in several zones. "As we make such high demands of hygiene, we believe that keg exterior washing is both essential and indispensable," states Pöpperl. "Our KHS exterior keg washer manages the process easily and to our utmost satisfaction." The kegs are pre-washed with a caustic solution and mixed water. Optimally arranged spray nozzles, with spray patterns that are adaptable to the respective kegs, remove coarse impurities from the sleeve area and the shoulder of the keg. The main washing process initially consists of an intensive treatment with caustic to reliably remove inkjet labels, among other things. The washed-off soiling is removed from the machine by the coarse waste discharge where it is collected and disposed of. The caustic drips off in an interim module and is returned to the caustic tank, this being followed by a further main washing of the keg using mixed water. Any final soiling is removed by means of a filter fleece and collected and disposed of there. Brush stations give the keg exteriors an additional mechanical clean. Before the kegs leave the external washer, they are sprayed with fresh water as the last step in the wash program. The cleaning times in the exterior washer can be selected as required and are reliably monitored by a PLC controller. 

Periphery included

A fitting position inspector, fitting tightener, decanter, cap stripper and cap inspector are incorporated into the keg line upstream of the washing and racking process.

Three Innokeg Till Transomat 5/1 Duos with two processing segments wash the keg interiors and rack the kegs

Three Innokeg Till Transomat 5/1 Duos installed in parallel make up the heart of the line. Each Innokeg Till Transomat 5/1 Duo has two processing segments with one racking head and five active washing and sterilizing stations. Before the kegs have their first interior wash, they undergo an obligatory check for leaks. This inspection takes place prior to all further interior washes and before racking to ensure that each and every keg is correctly sealed against the relevant treatment head. If any leaks are found, the keg is cycled through all the stations but isn't treated. After the leak test the keg is opened and a residual pressure check carried out to ensure that the keg and fitting are in order and haven't been manipulated. During the first interior wash any beer residue is blown out with sterile air and the keg interior sprayed with mixed water to remove any coarse soiling. This mixed water is water collected from the last hot water spray during the washing process, giving Stiegl a key benefit in that it saves water, wastewater and energy. Says Sigl, "Respectful treatment of the environment and its natural resources takes top priority here at Stiegl. Any plant engineering we use always has to be sustainable. We always find that with KHS technology ecological friendliness is a given."

Pulsed spraying for a superb cleaning process

As in the pre-wash the main wash uses a pulsed spraying process but with caustic and acid in place of the mixed water. This has an outstanding cleaning action on the inside surface of the keg (keg interior and riser pipe). A rinse with hot water then reliably removes any remaining disinfectant which may still be inside the keg. All interior washing processes are monitored by the two-component pressure and wet/dry signal probes. Once the hot water has been removed, the keg is blown out with steam to sterilize the keg and displace all residual oxygen, thus creating ideal conditions for the racking process. When the keg is disconnected from the final washing station, the fitting closes automatically to ensure that the keg remains sterile. Before the actual racking process the kegs are completely blown out to remove any remaining condensation and then pressurized with carbon dioxide. 

DFC (Direct Flow Control) filling process minimizes oxygen and gas pickup in the product 

Stiegl's kegs are racked using DFC (Direct Flow Control) filling technology where the filling process is regulated by means of a control valve in the product infeed. Thanks to the slow filling phase, which lasts until the fitting is covered with product, and the subsequent fast filling phase the contact area between the pressurizing gas and the beverage is kept deliberately low. The racking speed is monitored at all times and the oxygen and gas entering the product are minimized. Another advantage of the DFC system is that the fill levels are precisely controlled by volumetric monitoring through electromagnetic inductive flowmetering and, above all, CO2 consumption is reduced by 40% as the keg doesn't have to be pressurized to product pressure.

Final full keg inspection

Racked kegs are sent to the full keg scales. In the next stage in the process a camera checks whether there are any leaks in the fitting and 'bad' kegs are channeled out automatically. 'Good' kegs have their fittings sealed with a protective cap and are coded by inkjet. 

Palletizer like the depalletizer

The full kegs are palletized by an Innopal PK1BKN1 palletizer which is very similar in design to the depalletizer. However, the gripper head here is considerably more robust as it has to process full instead of empty kegs weighing up to around 75 kg each (50-liter kegs). 

Extremely flexible

We come back to Pöpperl who claims, "We're more than satisfied with our new keg line – not least because it gives us plenty of flexibility for the future. For example, we can process other types of keg on this line, once we've made the relevant adjustments, and also handle Petainer kegs with the use of adapters." Sigl states, "We're planning on sticking to our present range of keg sizes in the future, but it's nice to know that the system leaves all kinds of opportunities open to us. We can therefore react quickly to any new customer demands." "I consider the fact that our keg line is configured for the use of transponder technology to be another great advantage," adds Pöpperl. If this system is implemented at Stieglbrauerei, each keg is precisely identified by the keg information system before it's fed into the kegger – throughout its entire lifetime. All processes on the line are also exactly recorded and stored, allowing all kinds of assessment to be made, among other things. For example, the average life of a keg per distribution channel can be determined or the number of times it's been recirculated since the last service, plus all kinds of past production data can be retrieved, such as the style of beer, date racked, racking line or gross tare weight, etc.  Says Sigl, "With a transponder system we can access all racking and distribution data collated over the entire lifetime of any one keg, thus giving us greater transparency. We can safely say that with KHS technology we're best equipped for the future."