What are the key compressed air and nitrogen requirements for microbreweries?
Any time compressed air and industrial gases like nitrogen come into direct or indirect contact with food, their purity and quality are crucial. In many countries, regulatory or industry standards apply.
Beer is no exception.
That means you have to make sure that no contaminants, such as oil, moisture or particles, are introduced during the brewing process.
One way to ensure this doesn’t happen is to use the right equipment. For example, as the name indicates, an oil-free compressor can guarantee that no oil ruins the quality of your beer.
However, this is not an absolute necessity. You can use an oil-injected compressor if you lubricate it with food-grade oil.
As for the other potential contaminants, the proper air treatment is key. That means using a dryer to get rid of any moisture and (process) filters to eliminate other contaminants, such as bacteria, remaining malt, and particles.
Because the nitrogen you generate on-site comes from compressed air, you don’t have to worry about using any additional treatment. If the incoming air has a sufficiently high quality, so will the nitrogen.
What you do have to think about, on the other hand, is the purity of your N2.
In Europe, food-grade nitrogen must have a minimum purity of 99%. However, most breweries prefer their N2 to be even more pure than that and strive for a purity from 99.5-99.9%. That’s no problem for an on-site generator that allows you to set select your desired purity.
At that purity level, there should never be any quality issues – even in top-quality craft beers.
