GEA Membrane Unit to Produce Hard Seltzer

The rise of hard seltzers continues at a strong pace! These alcoholic beverages containing carbonated alcoholic water and various flavors are becoming increasingly popular and, at the same time, the need for cutting-edge manufacturing equipment to meet consumer demand is also growing. 

The neutral alcohol base used in a hard seltzer derives from a fermentation process with no distillation step. And although the fermentation stage is similar to that used in beer production, the carbohydrate source is normally a simple sugar rather than malted barley. As a result, byproducts such as residual sugar, salts and long-chain color/aroma components often occur. 

As part of the downstream processing stage, it’s necessary to remove these flavors, aromas and/or colors from the seltzer base to ensure the production of pure, clean end product and ensure a high-quality neutral base for hard seltzer 

GEA’s membrane filtration unit can be designed for both batch or continuous mode, can be custom made to accommodate a wide range of plant sizes and capacities and comes with a dedicated clean-in-place (CIP) system. If required, an additional polishing step can be included to produce a higher quality base material.

With flexibility in mind, these modular units can easily be integrated into an existing brewery to create a flavored alcoholic beverage process line. Furthermore, they’re compact, low cost, well-automated, and efficient to run. Minimal operator intervention is required. 

Key benefits of the membrane unit

• high yield, high-quality neutral alcoholic base (clear, tasteless, aroma-free) 
• compact, hygienic design for easy cleaning and maintenance
  
• automatic operation 
• easily integrated into existing manufacturing plant
• use of economical and sanitary polymeric membranes with long life span
• easily expandable for increased capacity
• short lead times
• OPEX less than alternative technologies.

As a trusted supplier of equipment and engineering expertise to the beverage sector, over 100 membrane units have already been purchased from GEA to purify alcoholic bases produced by fermentation around the world. As well as being able to process fermented sugar solutions, the technology has often been used to handle a wide range of other alcoholic products, such as beer or cider.

For customers wishing to test a product sample, scale-up or optimize a process, or compare the results or capabilities of different types of membranes, contact our knowledgeable experts and arrange a trial.