Scope – Detailed Engineering Design and Specification implementing a new Hard Seltzer production plant within an existing major brewery:

• Liquid Sugar intake, storage dilution and blending, feeding into existing fermentation
• Modifications to existing beer storage tanks for fermented and filtered alcohol base and other bulk ingredients
• Blending of base with bulk ingredients, multiple flavour dosing, chilling and carbonation of Seltzer
• Interface with existing packaging lines, including new dedicated surge tanks

We are also working on the same site on an EPC (Turnkey) project including integration of new and upgraded malt handling, brewhouse additions, yeast, unitank & dry hopping systems, into the existing plant.

Offering the Hard Seltzer Industry

• Concept Studies / Front-End Loading (FEL 1-3)
• Detailed Design
• Specialist Equipment Design and Manufacture
• Leading Hard Seltzer Technologies
• Process Engineering
• Project Management
• Functional Safety and Hazardous Area Design
• Automation and Control

The flexible integration of old and new has enabled not only production of a range of both major beers and up and coming scale-ups of craft beers, but also innovative products including a new Hard Seltzer range

Overall Scope

• Design Study
• Turn-Key Implementation
• Engineering
• Manufacturing
• Group Brewing and Cellar equipment
• Automation
• Group collaboration on Cold Block

Engineering Services offered 

• FEL 2.2 Study with phased expansion (1 to 3)
• Detailed Design – Phases 1 and 2 – From Material Handling through Brewhouse and Cellars, plus CIP, Water and Utilities
• PFD, P&IDs. Utilization and 3D – Modelling
• Tender Specifications – FDS Development
• Implementation – Phase 1
• Brewhouse and cellar equipment procurement
• BrewMaxx automation development and FAT
• Installation, supervision and commissioning

Offering the Hard Seltzer Industry

• Concept Studies / Front-End Loading (FEL 1-3)
• Detailed Design
• Specialist Equipment Design and Manufacture
• Leading Hard Seltzer Technologies
• Process Engineering
• Project Management
• Functional Safety and Hazardous Area Design
• Automation and Control

Briggs of Burton were involved in the design, engineering, and supply of specialist brewing equipment and automation to the new brewhouse for Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, Texas. Owned by The Gambrinus Company, the Spoetzl Brewery is the oldest independent brewery in Texas, first producing beer in 1909.

The expansion project involved the integration of a second stream into the existing Briggs of Burton Brewhouse and upgrading the existing brewstream to include a new Brew Receiver and wort pre-heater. The project allows up to 175 US BBL x 12 Brews per Day (BPD) through the upgraded Brewhouse and milling system. As part of the engineering design, optimisations to water, energy and CIP were identified and realised through modifications including a Briggs Energy Recovery System. Briggs of Burton also provided the automation and control for the new equipment based on Siemens PCS7.

Brewing Equipment

• Up to 175 us bbl cold wort brewlength
• Upgrade to malt and corn handling intake system
• Two Briggs designed Cereal Cooker / Mash Vessels with Premashers
• Briggs Brewery Lauter Tun
• Briggs Wort Receivers for both brewstreams, with wort preheaters
• Briggs Wort Kettle with Briggs Symphony External Wort Heater (EWH)
• Briggs Vapor Condenser for the energy recovery system
• Briggs Whirlpool with Briggs trub jetting machine
• Briggs wort aeration system
• Integration with Cellars and Yeast through new wort / beer valve manifold
• New automated Recovery CIP system supplying both brewstreams

Brewing Engineering

• Front End Loading (FEL) study and subsequent project implementation
• Brewhouse Mass and Energy Balance
• Development of utilisation charts using Briggs Capacity Modelling Tool
• Piping and instrumentation diagram (P&IDs) for Dry Goods, Brewhouse, CIP, Water, Steam & Condensate, and Air
• Process calculations for main equipment, piping, and utilities
• Produce equipment lists, valve and instrument schedules
• Vessel, equipment, piping plant layout drawings
• 3D modelling of major plant equipment and piping within the new Brewhouse area
• Preparation of Request for Quotation (RFQ) packages for all items as detailed on the P&ID’s / equipment layout drawings
• Develop User Requirement Specification (URS)
• Develop Functional Design Specification (FDS)
• Support in the integration of the new Grain unloading system, transfer, milling and weighing system to the new and existing Brewhouse
• Installation supervision, support and commissioning

Briggs of Burton’s Brewing team provided processing engineering design and specialist brewing equipment to the $300 million expansion in 2007. This made the MillerCoors Shenandoah Brewery, located in Elkton, Virginia (Shenandoah Valley), one of the most modern large-scale breweries in North America.

Briggs of Burton engineered a complete twin-stream Brewery, each stream being capable of 1,000 US BBL x 10 Brews Per Day (BPD), allowing MillerCoors to brew up to 8 million us bbl of beer a year. Shenandoah Brewery is notable for producing MillerCoors biggest brands including: Coors Light, Miller Lite, Blue Moon Belgian White Ale, Miller High Life, and Keystone Light. Shenandoah Brewery is a world class operation with improved product quality and consistency obtained at a lower production cost.

Brewing Equipment

• Design and integration of railcar malt intake and storage system
• Design and integration of twin stream malt handling and cleaning system
• Design and integration of liquid adjuncts intake and storage system
• Two 1071.5 us bbl (1257 hl) Mash tuns each capable of handling 19,500 kg malt grist with Briggs Pre-Mashers
• Two 42 ft (12.8m) diameter Lauter Tuns
• Four 1185 us bbl (1389 hl) Combi-Kettles including Briggs Symphony External Wort Heaters (EWH) and trub jetting machines
• Two Briggs Wort Oxygenation units
• Design and integration of 2 vessel Briggs rapid growth yeast propagation system, delivering 220 us bbl at 200 million cells / ml in 36 hours
• Design and integration of yeast collection and pitching system including 4 x 120 us bbl yeast vessels
• Design and integration of 2 x 200 us bbl scrap yeast vessels and tanker loading system.
• Integration with 40 x 3,030 us bbl new FVs, and design of beer, yeast, CIP and DAW systems, including sampling.
• Integration and design of green beer transfer systems and chillers, including integration with existing railcar beer system.
• Integration with 12 x 5,500 us bbl existing (but unused) MVs, and design of beer, CIP and DAW systems, including sampling.
• Integration of 2 x 400 us bbl/h membrane filter lines, including buffer tanks, centrifuges and chillers.
• Integration with existing beer blending and Prime beer system.
• Integration with existing DAW supply and conversion of an existing tank for DAW storage.
• Design and integration of fully cleanable CO2 supply and collection pipework systems

Project Facts

• 350,000 man hours design, 12,000 drawings and specifications (all disciplines)
• Placement of 13,000 cubic yards of concrete. Briggs not involved in Civils, Structural and Architecture (CSA) on project.
• 2,015 tons of structural steel, 10,000 sq.ft of new process equipment buildings. Briggs not involved in Civils, Structural and Architecture (CSA) on project.
• 2.2 million man hours of construction across all trades
• 33 miles of process and service pipework requiring 45,000 site welds
• 350 graphics, 10,000 control/ equipment modules, 2,400 phases and unit operations, 750 procedures
• I/O checking 6,500 devices

Briggs of Burton completed the process design of the brewery from railcar malt intake through Brewhouse, Fermenting, Green Beer, Maturation, Membrane Filtration and interfaces with blending, CIP and utility distribution.