At the HCT lab a new brewing technology based on controlled hydrodynamic cavitation was conceived and developed, which led in 2016 to a joint patent between CNR and the private partner Bysea S.r.l. (WO/2018/029715), to the registration of the CAVIBEER® brand, and to the realization and installation of the first industrial grade plant, tested and optimized at the San Gimignano Brewery from 2017.
Birth of an idea
The idea of applying hydrodynamic cavitation to the brewing process was born from some of the properties exhibited by cavitation, and in particular from the ability to disintegrate solid substances, to enhance the extraction of bioactive compounds from solid materials (particularly from hops), to inactivate the bacterial load, as well as from the degassing properties.
The introduction of hydrodynamic cavitation in the brewing has made the process much faster and more efficient, bringing together traditionally separate phases in a single process and eliminating others. The step of pre-cutting the grains is no longer necessary, as the cavitation automatically pulverizes malts and grains, which can therefore be introduced whole. Boiling is also avoided, a long and burdensome phase, since all the processes, from the microbiological safety of the wort, to the expulsion of unwanted volatile compounds, to the extraction of alpha-acids, aromas and flavonoids from hops, are completed at temperatures below 100 ° C.
Advantages
CAVIBEER® technology has many advantages, ranging from the drastic reduction of process times (extraction, saccharification, disinfection, sterilization) and the consequent extraordinary energy efficiency, to the improvement of the structural qualities and the shelf life of the product. Moreover, the technology has a structural simplicity, robustness and reliability over time, low management costs, automation, scalability from 1 hL to over 100 hL.
Acknowledgments
CAVIBEER® technology substantially modifies the entire brewing cycle of beer, unchanged for centuries. It has been the subject of numerous independent international reviews, the first of which was published in the prestigious MIT Technology Review in 2016. It was also included by the important trade magazine Draft Magazine among the six most important technological innovations of 2016 in the brewing field.
More info: http://www.cavibeer.com