Encapsulated/air-free crushing and mash production

Details Encapsulated/air-free crushing and mash production Encapsulated/air-free crushing and mash production

2000-02-18

2003-03-25

Sherrer, Curtis E. (Department: 1761)

Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products

Fermentation processes

Of farinaceous cereal or cereal material

C426S029000, C426S518000, C099S286000, C241S006000, C241S012000, C241S018000, C241S031000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06537596

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to crushing and mash production with a view to the preparation of beer in a brewery, the raw material to be processed being broken up in a mill system and then mashed in.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The beer-preparation process begins in its first phase with the crushing of the raw materials. In this phase the raw material arriving for processing is broken up in a malt mill, for example in a hammer mill, roll mill or disc mill, and is transformed, according to demand, into a crushed malt of highly diverse composition and consistency. In the course of the breaking-up of the raw material arriving for processing—for example, malt, barley, millet or the like—the various constituents of the raw material are exposed, by reason of the structural transformation, to the atmospheric oxygen that is present in the atmosphere within the malt mills. This results in oxidation processes and enzymatic activities which have a negative influence on the beer-preparation process, since they have effects impairing flavour and stability.
Further oxidation of the raw-material constituents occurs in the course of the subsequent mashing-in of the crushed raw material at the end of the mill system. Since the activity of the enzymes and the associated oxidation processes are intensified considerably in the course of mashing-in as a result of the addition of water, the undesirable oxidation of the raw materials in the premashers used for mashing-in, in the doughing screws, in the mash pumps and in the mash vessel is continued and intensified. All the more so, since by reason of brew-specific properties the temperature of the admixed water in the course of mashing-in is around the optimal temperature for the effectiveness of the enzyme groups.
SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to make available a process for crushing and mash production in a mill system, wherein oxidation of the raw materials employed as a result of crushing and mashing-in is minimized or eliminated. It is a further object of the invention to make available a plant for crushing and mash production in which the process according to the invention can be carried out. These objects are achieved by means of a process having the features of the invention.
With the process according to the invention the mill system is filled with an inert gas prior to being filled with the raw material to be crushed. The atmospheric oxygen in the interior of the mill system is substantially displaced by the inert gas. This means that substantially no atmospheric oxygen is present any longer in the mill system prior to the mill system being filled. After the immediately ensuing filling of the mill system from the raw-material silo the mill system is substantially sealed in gas-tight manner. This sealing of the mill system relates to all parts of the plant where atmospheric oxygen could penetrate unhindered into the mill system, that is to say, in particular, into the charging shaft for the supply of raw material. The transition of the mill system to the mash vessel situated downstream is sealed by the liquid in the pipelines and in the mash pump. As a result, crushing and mashing-in of the raw materials is then effected in the mill system, which is encapsulated in gas-tight manner, in a substantially oxygen-free atmosphere of inert gas oxidation of particles of raw material can therefore be greatly, minimized.
During the filling of the mill system with raw material from the raw-material silo the mill system has to be opened for a short time. As a result, some air is able to penetrate into the mill system through the raw-material supply. Some atmospheric oxygen is also introduced into the plant with the raw material that is supplied. In case, with a view to further quality enhancement, displacement of this residual oxygen or of residual oxygen that has penetrated as a result of other smaller leaks is desired, the mill system can subsequently be flushed, at least zonally, with inert gas. In this way atmospheric oxygen that has penetrated during the filling of the mill system or via other leaks is displaced. To this end, excess gas volume is pressed out of the mill system by means of inert-gas overpressure, for example. Flushing with inert gas may also be continued after the start of the crushing and mashing-in process. As a result of this it is possible for the entire crushing and mashing-in process to be managed in a controlled inert-gas atmosphere. Hence, during the production process only slight traces of atmospheric oxygen are available, and undesirable oxidation processes are substantially avoided.
It is particularly advantageous to generate an inert-gas atmosphere having an inert-gas overpressure in the mill system. As a consequence of this overpressure no atmospheric oxygen is able to penetrate into the plant as a result of small leaks which may be present. The design tolerances with respect to the impermeability of the plant to gas may therefore be made wider, permitting a reduction in cost in connection with the manufacture of the requisite plant components.
The inert gas should be fed into the plant with an overpressure in the range from 2 to 100 mbar. In this connection the plant should exhibit sufficient impermeability to gas in order to be able substantially to maintain this overpressure.
By way of inert gases, use may be made of all gases that prevent, or at least minimize, oxidation of the raw materials during the crushing and mashing-in processes and that at the same time are unobjectionable as regards food technology. It is particularly advantageuos, however, to employ an inert gas that is heavier than air. If the inert gas is heavier than air, the atmospheric oxygen in the mill system is displaced upward by reason of the higher specific weight of the inert gas. Inert gas that is introduced into the mill system collects at the lowest point of the mill system and, proceeding from here , fills up the mill system. The residual air which may be contained in the mill system consequently floats on a cushion of inert gas and can therefore be displaced further and further upward simply by adding further quantities of inert gas. This has advantages, particularly when the plant is not to be flushed with a current of inert gas after being filled with raw materials. In this case, oxygen introduced with the raw material can be displaced upward in the plant by the heavier inert gas to a location where oxidation of the raw materials is not to be feared, since the raw materials have not yet been broken up.
Since the process according to the invention serves to produce a foodstuff, carbon dioxide, nitrogen or similar gas mixtures should preferably be used by way of inert gases. These gases have sufficient oxidation-inhibiting action to prevent the undesirable oxidation of the raw materials. Since these gases are also contained proportionately in respiratory air, no relevant toxic effect arises by reason of the influence of these inert gases on the raw materials.
Particularly preferred is the use of nitrogen obtained from air by means of a preceding gas-separation process. Since air has a high nitrogen content, this inert gas can be produced from air in sufficient purity and very cost-effectively with the aid of a gas-separation process. By way of gas-separation process, use may be made, for example, of membrane separation processes that are known as such. Production of the nitrogen from air has the advantage, moreover, that the plant thereby presents an equalized emission balance with respect to the inert gas. Nitrogen that is discharged from the plant mixes again with the air from which the nitrogen was previously separated. Overall no nitrogen is emitted from external sources. In principle it is immaterial, according to the invention, in which direction the inert gas flows when the mill system is flushed. The direction of the current is primarily determined by where inert gas is supplied and at which point of the mill system excess inert gas is able to flow out, sin

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