Beer Bath

Water is a key natural resource used in the beverage and brewing industries, not only for formulating the beverage, but also for other uses such as testing during the bottling process. In an era where people are concerned about protecting the earth and its natural resources, these industries are placing much effort in finding ways to join the cause to become more sustainable and decrease their water footprint. The PolyScience® Forced-Age Testing Bath, also known as a beer bath, from Cole-Parmer is one product that can help the beverage industry decrease water consumption while increasing efficiency, as shown in the following application: A bottling plant for a large beverage manufacturer in North America was taking samples off the production line and performing quality testing. The technicians were placing 8 to 12 bottles at a time in various sinks throughout the lab, and then running cold tap water on the bottles to decrease the temperature of the samples from 160°F to 70°F. This was a time-consuming process. The water was flowing from the spigot continuously 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Realizing the process was inefficient and a huge waste of natural resources and money, the supervisor began looking for solutions to minimize water consumption and conduct a more efficient testing process. While researching products, the supervisor came upon the PolyScience Forced-Age Testing Bath and requested a demo. During the demo, the unit was preset to 60°F. After placing 8 samples at 155°F into the testing bath, it only took 11 minutes for the samples to reach 75°F and an additional 6 minutes to get them to 70°F. The PolyScience Forced-Age Testing Bath (catalog number 14575-05), with temperature range -10 to +60 C, has a large open surface area. The reservoir has a 50-gallon (189 L) capacity. The hinged, gabled polycarbonate lid optimizes temperature stability (when operating at low temperatures and high room temperature conditions, or when using the bath at elevated temperatures) and allows any condensate to drain back into the bath. The testing bath is specially designed for the following applications: accelerated shelf life tests of beer and other beverages, food stability testing, product quality analysis, and asphalt sample tempering. Seeing the positive results during the demo, the bottling plant purchased two large-capacity PolyScience Forced-Age Testing Baths. The plant is now experiencing a constant temperature in the baths which is providing more consistent temperature in samples; reduced times to get the samples down to their required temperatures; and savings in water and money by eliminating the gallons of tap water going down the drain that have an associated cost. For more information on Cole-Parmer's complete line of baths and circulators, go to ColeParmer.com or call 1-800-323-4340.