Give your lines some V.I.P treatment! When done right, a draft beer poured fresh from the tap can fill the consumer with anticipation of a wonderful taste experience. But is that anticipation always justified? The sad truth is that what’s in the glass may be more about testing the consumer’s immune system than their taste buds. Now instant ‘Verification In Place’ (VIP) gives you confidence that your hygiene standards are up to scratch from the brewery to the tap. Philip Thonhauser, CEO, Thonhauser GmbH There are many reasons why a poorly maintained line system can ruin a beer. The problems can range from a lack of staff training to unacceptably long intervals between line cleans, and negligent cleaning that leaves more dirt and bacteria behind than it removes. To detect rampant contamination in a tap system in a timely way is difficult. Well, it used to be. Usually, beer-‐spoiling organisms become evident only once they have done their damage of causing flat beer, fobbing and off-‐flavours. At this stage, colonies of microbes in the system have probably acquired a concentration of at least 1 million per millilitre. 1 This means that hygiene has already been compromised and microbes are being released into the beer where they cause a reduction in beer quality. Flavour alterations in draft beer are rarely the cause of physical or chemical defects, though these may occur in the beer left 1 in a line overnight. Microbiological contaminations, once in the system, can be hard to remove because the slimy biofilm that develops in the system provide an excellent, protective habitat for microbes. Once established, they are difficult to remove through mechanical and chemical cleaning procedures.2 The resulting propagation of germs can even spread against the direction of flow in the line, and reach the keg (known as retrograde propagation). It turns the tap system into a simple flow-‐through germ propagator and reduces the quality of ALL beer that flows through it. Traditional methods of verifying that all parts of the system are clean include rinse water sampling and swab testing. There are downsides to these techniques – namely time, cost and the reliability of extrapolating the health of an entire system from isolated samples. The Thonhauser DESANA range of products is designed to tackle specific hygiene challenges in water, ice, beer and soft drink dispensing systems. In addition to the superior cleaning power of the DESANA range of products, the patented technology provides instant verification of clean in real time (VIP). Simply put, the cleaning fluid begins as purple and changes colour as it oxidises organic materials in the system. The colour changes can be observed by eye so that the operator can confidently assess the cleaning status of the line. Each colour indicates a level of organic contamination – when no change of colour is observed, the system is verified as clean. This means that cleaning can stop as soon as the line is clean, thereby delivering a fast and efficient clean on well-‐
maintained lines. Results show substantial savings in water usage and chemical as well as time. The Thonhauser Persulphate Technology has been used at major global breweries for several years, approved by well-‐known names such as Anheuser-‐Busch, Molson Coors, Heineken and SAB Miller. The process itself is extremely user-‐friendly: 1. Prepare the cleaning solution with TM DESANA VERIFY or MAX. Using a single-‐dose sachet of TM DESANA MAX eliminates the chances of under-‐dosing or the wasteful use of chemicals. Sachets also offer the benefit of minimal handling and storage, longer shelf-‐
life and reduced shipping costs. 2. Take a control sample. 3. Pump or dispense the cleaning solution through the system and leave to dwell for 3 minutes. 4. Pull off some of the cleaning solution and 2 compare it to the control sample. Here, you are checking the entire system, not conducting a spot-‐
check. If the colour has turned yellow or green, organics are present in the line (and tap) and more dwell time is needed. Pull through to clean solution and leave for a further 3+ minutes. 5. Pull off another sample and compare to the control. On particularly dirty lines it may be necessary to repeat steps 2 to 4, but our findings show that dwell times reduce once a baseline clean is achieved. 6. When the solution matches the control, the line is verifiably clean. Results are immediate, reliable and give you confidence that your line cleaning is achieving a result that your customers will see and taste. For more information about the Thonhauser range of Verified Clean hygiene products -‐ including TM DESANA MAX FP -‐ for breweries and bars, contact Avani Solutions Limited on +441638 563237 or email [email protected].
uk. www.verifiedclean.co.uk 1
Back, W: Mikrobiologie der Lebensmittel – Getranke. B. Behr’s Verlag, Hamburg, 2008. Page 52 2
Hauser, G: Hygienische Produktions-‐
technologie. Wiley-‐VHC, Weinheim, 2008, page 140