For any craft brewer, the holy grail is achieving consistent quality and exceptional flavor. However, a silent predator waits in the wings of every hop boil and fermentation cycle. Corrosion has always been a problem for brewers. It’s well known that traditional brewing equipment – frequently made from steel or stainless steel – can fall victim to the insidious effects of rust.
From off-flavors that can ruin a batch to costly, time-consuming equipment failures that disrupt production, until recently, beer makers have had few cost-effective, sustainable ways to protect themselves against it. But, beyond the realm of malt and hops, a solution has emerged from an evolving landscape of brewing innovation: non-corrosive alloys. These specialized materials promise to shield flavor profile purity, operational excellence, and sustainability.
The Science of Corrosion’s Bite
At its core, corrosion is simply a material’s disintegration due to its interaction with its environment. This can be as multifaceted as equipment breakdown in brewing due to consistent exposure to wort, water, cleaning solutions, and even the ambient air. It affects not only the structural integrity of tanks and piping but also releases metal ions into the beer-making process, affecting the taste and aroma of the beer in ways that aren’t easy to control. A brewer could take an excellently balanced IPA and add a metallic, astringent-tasting twang. Or take a perfect pilsner and tarnish the beer’s crispness with a hint of rust. The disappointment of both brewer and beer drinker is palatable.
Of course, there is the financial challenge. The need to repair equipment, the need for product recalls, and the loss of production all cut into any brewery’s bottom line. Minimizing downtime and ensuring equipment longevity are concerns that cross-craft brewers have.
Enter the Alloy Advantage
Champions of Material Science: The brewing world is uniquely demanding, and traditional equipment often faces its greatest enemy as a silent villain: corrosion. Non-corrosive alloys emerge here to win the fight as champions of material science, offering a solution that safeguards the integrity of your equipment and the purity of your masterpieces.
Forged for Resilience: Crafted with chromium, nickel, and molybdenum, these specially formulated metals establish an impenetrable line of defense against corrosion. While traditional options succumb to the elements of brewing, non-corrosive alloys tower overhead, refusing to surrender their structural integrity or surface stability.
- A Diverse Arsenal: An array of alloy types exist, each harnessing its distinct properties to cater to the demands of various and particular brewing applications:
- 304 Stainless Steel: The industry’s workhorse, offering excellent corrosion resistance for tanks and piping, ensuring the safe storage and transfer of your precious wort.
- 316L Stainless Steel: This alloy, with an increased molybdenum content, delivers even more excellent protection from chloride-induced corrosion. It is ideally suited for coastal breweries or any bringing applications where salt poses a liability.
- Nickel Alloys: In the searing environments breeding kettles and heat exchangers, there’s simply no substitute for nickel alloys. Alloys such as Inconel present superior heat resistance and insulation from corrosion, ensuring consistent boil temperatures and shielding your wort from the unwelcome embrace of metallic flavors.
- MP35N: Rounding out this fraternity of superiors is MP35N material, a high-strength nickel-cobalt alloy renowned for its incomparable resilience. Exhibiting an unrivaled resistance to corrosion and unbeatable tensile strength, it thrives in brutal applications such as heat exchanger tubes and centrifuge components. Here, the material endures these processes’ extreme heat and punitive cleaning chemicals, ensuring your brew remains pure and delicious as intended.
Non-corrosive alloys offer a wealth of benefits, including rust resistance. Smooth, non-porous surfaces mean less risk of bacterial contamination and easier cleaning. Ultimately, you have safer beer, less waste, and greater efficiency for your brewery.
Why not take it to the next level? In addition to rust resistance, non-corrosive alloys offer many advantages over traditional materials, including:
- Superior Corrosion Resistance: With product holdings free from metallic off-flavor compounds, you can guarantee product integrity and protect your beer’s subtle flavor profile.
- Enhanced Durability and Extended Life: Say goodbye to maintenance-related downtime and costs, giving you more time to craft exceptional brews.
- Improved Cleanability and Sanitation: Brew in a safer environment with less intensive cleaning and chemical exposure. As you can see, the advantages of non-corrosive alloys go well beyond fighting rust.
When you choose to power your brewery with non-corrosive alloys, you’re not just buying equipment; you’re buying peace of mind. Now, you can protect your equipment to focus on pushing the creative envelope and delivering consistently clean, flavorful beer.
From Mash Tun to Taproom: A Journey of Alloy Protection
Imagine a brewhouse where wort freely dances through corrosion-resistant tanks, unimpeded by metallic taint. A piping system where liquid effortlessly flows, unsoiled by rust. This is the world enabled by non-corrosive alloys.
Fermentation tanks of 304L stainless steel protect precious batches from off-flavors, safeguarding consistent favorites from keg to keg. In whirlpool tanks, where hops and wort meet in a pas de deux, these alloys prevent the metallic bitterness that darkens the delicate, hoppy profile. Even in the brutal environment of a heat exchanger, nickel alloys deliver heat transfer as effectively as any steel without affecting the flavor of your beer.
There’s more to the story than that, of course — plenty more. Bell’s Brewery, one of the country’s most celebrated brewers of classic and esoteric beers, found that switching from carbon steel to 316L stainless in its fermentation tanks paid off in several immediate ways: Sanitizing the tanks became easier; cleaning costs went down; and the beer was notably better, said the brewery’s John Mallett. In a hot-side piece of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery’s Delaware-built equipment, nickel alloys meant that it could expect “decades” from the piece without changing its bounty of flavors for usability, said Dogfish Head’s Doug Zentz.
The Taste of Untainted Perfection
Non-corrosive alloys play an integral role in preserving the sensory experience to such a dramatic degree. They prevent metallic ions from adulterating the beer’s taste and mouthfeel, ensuring that the flavor profile created by the brewer’s artistry remains pure.
The proof? In liberty! Blind taste tests between beers brewed in traditional and non-corrosive alloy equipment by charter rogue BrewDog — any wonder why we picked them for the story? This is a brewery that loves the necessary Rumpel in its Stumpel — showed such an overwhelming preference for the beer containing zero post-ferment metallic ions in a blind taste test that the brew week and all equipment needed to be removed before we even snapped the gate lock and it never returned. “The beer from the non-corrosive alloy equipment was not only preferred,” says BrewDog’s Nicole Surratt, “it was preferred 100% of the time, and people cited a cleaner, crisper flavor with no metallic flavor notes.” Behind the subjective endorsements are the objective endorsements. Beers brewed in non-corrosive alloy tanks went into independent testing, and they have demonstrably better taste indicators than the incredibly impressive standard. In every case, beers brewed with non-corrosive tanks have less than half of the iron or other metallic contaminants, leading to a smoother, more enjoyable drinking experience.
Beyond the Brew: Sustainability and ROI
In today’s eco-conscious world, sustainability considerations hold increasing weight. At face value, non-corrosive alloys make the brewing process greener in several ways: Their extended lifespans remove the need for replacing equipment frequently, significantly reducing the environmental impact of material production and disposal. Moreover, their cleaning characteristics require less water and harsh chemicals, reducing the brewery’s environmental footprint.
But the benefits don’t end there. The extended lifespan of non-corrosive alloys supplies a robust return on investment (ROI) for breweries. Reduced downtime, repair/replacement costs and lower cleaning and maintenance expenses drive increased operational efficiency and profitability. Indeed, studies have illustrated that breweries transitioning to non-corrosive alloys can substantially increase their profitability within just a few years of implementing these materials.
Conclusion
The future of brewing is one of innovation and sustainability. Non-corrosive alloys feature prominently in this evolution, enabling brewers to achieve unparalleled flavor, unyielding production, and environmental responsibility. As brewing techniques evolve, these advanced materials will play an increasingly vital role in concocting the perfect pint.
For those seeking to elevate their product, unlock operational efficiency, and contribute to a sustainable tomorrow, embracing non-corrosive alloys is not just a wise decision — it’s a transformative investment in brewing excellence. By leveraging the power of these cutting-edge materials, brewers ensure the purity and flavor of their creations and the fortune of their craft for the long haul.
