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CRAFT BREW INNOVATION MARCH 2022
control over process and throughput, and the trending and batch protocol are really fabulous. And we can use historical data to inform our process decisions when we’re working out a new recipe or a new process.” The level of automation enables the operator to spend less time turning valves, focusing efforts more on monitoring the process more closely. “With an automated system, you have the ability to drill in and really dial in pHs and temperatures—the small things that make a big impact over the long term with flavor and beer stability,” McManus says. “Also, it provides a level of repeatability that is the hallmark of what you’re trying to do in brewing—get it right, and then do it over and over.”
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The Industrial Arts brewhouse is already pretty loaded, O’Neil says, so he doesn’t think there’s much they might still add. But the modularity of the CombiCube nonetheless provides some key flexibility. “The way it’s engineered, where there’s access to everything, if you wanted to do something wild like add a second kettle or some other piece of equipment like that, they would be able to splice that in,” he says. O’Neil was impressed with the flexibility of the Krones Steinecker team as well. “Maybe it’s just that philosophy of being modular, but it’s really helpful that it’s not a rigid approach,” he says. “This was a very cooperative project, and they really wanted to make our wort. They did not try to tell us what our wort should be like, but they did tell us that some of our engineering ideas were insufficient.” O’Neil also adds, “They found solutions for the things that were really important to us that they weren’t necessarily offering if we didn’t ask.” A key factor giving Steinecker the edge for a brewery like Industrial Arts is that it understands the operations of large-scale facilities and is applying those same principles for craft brewers, shrinking the technology down as needed, O’Neil notes. “I think that gives them an edge vs. some of the smaller, more craft-oriented suppliers who are trying to scale up,” he says. Twenty years ago, the kinds of technologies that Steinecker offers were only available on the biggest systems. “That’s one of the things that has set our brewery apart is that we’ve been a small brewery operating more like a bigger one, using technology, using control, inventory tracking software—all the tools that we could find to make us better, more efficient at what we’re doing…hopefully with the result of delivering the freshest, most flavorful and hoppiest beer to the market.” ●
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