Carlsberg & Alfa Laval: Making Craft Beer Energy Efficient

Combined, Carlsberg Group and Alfa Laval have more than 300 years of expertise and innovation. 

The companies have worked together to scale up craft beer production without compromising quality or sustainability at Carlsberg’s Fredericia, Denmark facility. 

Anders Kokholm, Brewmaster at Carlsberg in Fredericia, explains: "It is challenging to handle several new products in a plant that is made for large-volume production of mostly pilsner.

“We are now making a number of craft beers in small batches, and rapid changeover is key. And of course, we can’t allow even a hint of flavour to cross over from one beer to another.”

Alfa Laval’s solutions haven’t just addressed these problems – they have also resulted in energy, water and chemicals savings at the facility. 

Carlsberg Group’s sustainability efforts

By 2030, Carlsberg Group aims to reach zero carbon emissions at its breweries and achieve net zero across its entire value chain by 2040.

The company is producing a beer using solely regeneratively grown barley in partnership with agricultural cooperative DLG and Viking Malt. 

Peter Haahr Nielsen, CEO of Carlsberg Denmark, says: "Around 24% of Carlsberg's Danish CO₂e emissions come from agriculture, which supplies the raw materials for our various products.

"We, therefore, see great potential in converting to regenerative agriculture to reduce our CO₂e emissions and to contribute positively to biodiversity."

It has also started to reuse carbonic acid from its brewing process in Falkenburg, Sweden.

Mikhail Zaripov, Utilities Manager at Carlsberg Sweden, says: “Thinking circularly and making use of residual products is natural for us. By recycling, processing and purifying the carbon dioxide from the fermentation, we create new carbonic acid for our drinks.

“This means that we save on our resources and the environment, while also reducing the purchase of carbon dioxide in the future.”

How Alfa Laval and Carlsberg work together

To get beer ready to serve, yeast bodies and hops sludge need to be separated from the liquid. 

Instead of waiting for gravity to pull the materials apart, a centrifuge accelerates this process. 

However, these centrifuges can consume significant amounts of energy and affect the downstream filtration process. 

Anders explains “We quickly saw significant reductions in our power consumption with the new Alfa Laval separators.

“At our flow rates, separation now consumes roughly half the energy it used to.

“Another sustainability advantage of a high-efficiency separator is its effect on the filter lines. Less clean beer would lead to more frequent cleaning and higher consumption of energy, water and chemicals. 

“If we can prolong the lifetime of our membrane filters by 25% and reduce maintenance, there are significant cost savings for us, and it is also a huge sustainability improvement.”

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