Mohren Brewery modernises final packaging and optimises brewing process

The Mohren Brewery is continuing on its sustainability course. After introducing Austria's first returnable lightweight bottle and investing in a state-of-the-art bottling plant, Vorarlberg's market leader is reducing its carbon footprint with further measures. A new robot increases efficiency in palletising. The family-owned company is also reducing the amount of compressed air needed in the brewing process, thus lowering energy consumption.

Sustainability has been practised at the Mohren Brewery for decades. The oldest brewery in Vorarlberg is a pioneer of returnable lightweight glass bottles, operates energy-efficient filling and washing facilities and uses solar power from its own production. In addition, with heat recovery during the brewing process, the family-owned company relies on a resource-saving brewing method. With compressed air optimisation, the Mohren Brewery has realised further savings potential. A new dust filter and two malt elevator fans will follow before the end of 2023. A new packing robot has also increased the throughput time by 13 per cent to 33,000 bottles per hour.

Efficient brewing process
In the brewhouse, hops, malt, water and yeast are turned into beer. During lautering, the mash is separated into the solid component spent grains and the liquid wort. For filtering, the lauter tun is emptied by means of compressed air and the spent grains are transported into the silo. The Mohren Brewery supplies around 4,000 tonnes of the nutrient-rich by-product as cattle feed to regional farms every year.

By installing a so-called spent grains blower, the Mohren Brewery saves compressed air and thus reduces energy consumption. "Sparging is one of the most energy-intensive operations in the brewing process and is carried out eight times a day for about 30 minutes. By separating it from the general compressed air network, we only need 1.5 bar instead of 7.5 bar for it," explains master brewer Tim Groeger.

Ongoing modernisation
"Brewing beer combines traditional craft, state-of-the-art technology and regional responsibility. We use the best ingredients for Vorarlberg beer, continuously improve our processes and consider the entire production cycle," emphasises Managing Director Heinz Huber. When it comes to climate and environmental protection, the family-owned company does not follow trends, as Huber notes: "We honestly care for our living space and therefore do without questionable certificates in order to sell seemingly climate-neutral beer."